The Skies above Big Bend

It was pitch black when I got done. The last rays from the moon had disappeared a couple of hours ago. and all that remained was starlight. A million stars dazzled the sky with a density that I have hitherto  not seen. While the air was slightly hazy from the desert dust, there were no clouds to mar the sparkling carpet of innumerable burning suns. Constellations, where I could merely pinpoint the keystone stars, now seemed to be made up of dozens of astral bodies. Shooting stars dashed across this starscape lasting for a bright fleeting moment, while satellites made their slow march across this stellar background. But perhaps most disconcerting was the eerie silence of nothingness, where every insect buzzing and twig creaking sent shivers down my spine. I scurried away from this celestial vista as soon as I finished packing my gear.

Such was Big Bend National Park in Texas. I had set up my camera at a desolate vista point in the heart of the park. Claimed as having one of the darkest night skies in this part of the country, the park is a haven for astrophotographers, and I was excited to see what I could capture on that clear starry night. After setting up my camera to record in the last vestiges of moonlight, I promptly proceeded to catch a quick nap, and it was after I woke up that silence of the night got to me. Nevertheless, the shoot of the equatorial plane of stars resulted in this bright star-trail image.

Big Bend National Park
TX US

Support my work by purchasing my 2018 Calendar. All proceeds will be donated to NRDC and WildAid, two organizations whose causes I am very passionate about

The Wall

The Wall
A physical symbol of a divide between two regions. There exists many famous walls, the Great Wall, the Berlin Wall, the West Bank barrier, and the proposed addition to the border wall along the 1989 mi long border between Mexico and the US. But it was this wall, or lack thereof, deep in the heart of Big Bend National Park, that perhaps took me most by surprise.

The hike into Santa Elena Canyon, formed by the Rio Grande river as it cuts through a sandstone mesa, is a spectacular one. The beautiful narrow slot canyon with towering walls and a cooling breeze was a welcome transformation after hiking through a hot desert.

As I continued inwards, the walls narrowed in, and towards the very end of the trail, I spotted this smoothed piece of rock jutting out onto the river, with the other side mere feet away. The sandstone walls here rose hundreds of feet into the sky, opening up a only a quarter mile away. But right where I was, I could almost jump across onto Mexico.

The other side felt no different than where I was, and yet, the symbolism of this divide was powerful. The juxtaposition of the openness of landscape, and the purported urgency to close border, as conveyed by the leaders and the news media, was stark. I spent quite a bit of time contemplating why the nations are so different, and yet share the same piece of land. But all I could take away from this place was this image of the wall, or lack thereof, that I shot at F9, 1/400s at ISO 1600

Support my work by purchasing my 2018 Calendar. All proceeds get donated to NRDC and WildAid

Big Bend National Park
TX USA