While I was standing in the dark on top a small hill in the town of Ushguli, trying to compose this very image, I felt a small nuzzle on my legs. I turned around and it was a stray dog. Not just any stray dog, but one that I had fed a few cookies earlier in the day while hiking on a trail a couple of miles away. How it found me in the dark so far away from where I had seen it earlier is a mystery that may be hard to solve.
It just lied down beside the tripod quietly. And it didn't want anything. Just a few pets and scritches. I can still picture that scene, a mutt with floppy ears lying down and watching walk back and forth on that small hill under a moonlit sky. It was one of the friendliest strays I had ever met.
After finishing this star-trail shoot, I headed back, wondering if I would ever see that mutt again. And to my surprise, it showed up just as I was about to board the van taking me away. I almost wanted to bring it with me...
Ushguli
Georgia
The Cap on Concepcion
It was a long and weary day. Just 12 hours prior, I was scrambling on all fours up the slippery steep scree of the Concepcion Volcano, wondering if I could even make it down alive. But I did. And stayed up awake long enough to capture the night as it came alive under moonlight and starlight.
Even as my eyes were refusing to stay open after the tiring hike, I pursued with the objective of capturing the night sky. The cool breeze and the clear skies were encouraging, and the rise of the waning moon turned the night sky into day. Perhaps what captivated me most was the sombrero that formed atop the volcano, adding a unique dimension to the scene.
It certainly was a test of perseverence, doing hard work after getting tired of doing the hard work I already did. But it was worth it.
Ometepe
Nicaragua
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
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Refuge in the mountains
Out in the middle of a green valley in the western Tien Shan mountains lies a stone refuge. At 3200m, this seemingly desolate refuge is miles away from the nearest village, with nothing but tall treeless mountains with grassy slopes all around. The setting is remarkably beautiful, but for what purpose was this built? Why does it have 31 rooms, with many hidden passageways? And why was it so far away from anything? Mysteries abound this stone refuge, the Tash Rabat Caravanserai.
I had heard about this place during my initial research into Kyrgyzstan. My interest was piqued by the fact that it was a caravanserai that was not built along any major caravan route. But being so far off from the main cities, I had put off visiting this attraction. Thankfully, not only did I get an opportunity to visit, I also got to spend a night by one of the yurts next door.
Despite the half-moon, the clear night sky, bereft of any haze thanks to being at 3200m, afforded a great opportunity to capture some star trains. I set up on a nearby hill, and with an entire retinue of herding animals to provide company: galloping horses, barking dogs, and grazing cattle wandered all over, but thankfully never knocked my tripod. 15 exposures and 90 minutes later, I ended up with this star trails image over Tash Rabat
Tash Rabat Caravanserai
Naryn Kyrgyzstan
Heading: North
It was a bright moonlit night high up in the mountains of the Olympic National Park. The silence of the still night was only broken by the sounds of hooves treading the ground as stealthy deer grazed in the grassy meadow all around me. But under the full moon, even the deer could not stay hidden for long. And I was keeping a close watch on them, for the last thing I wanted was one of them wandering into the tripod and knocking the camera that was shooting this image.
The bright moonlight had made it challenging to find a suitable composition for shooting the night sky. The horizon was bright, not from moonlight, but from the setting sun, while high above, all but the brightest stars laid hidden from both me and my camera. Wandering around, I finally spotted a grove of trees pointing up towards the Pole star; it was as though nature herself had stretched out her arms to point me to the north. And the near full moon had ensured that these still denizens of the forest would not stay invisible.
I shot a total of 17 exposures, each5 min long at F8, ISO 800 to capture this moonlit star-trails.
Olympic National Park
WA USA