Night
January Wolf Moon
In 2020 I had to find a new way to create due to restrictions and an over abundance of caution due to the global pandemic. I have this curiosity for night photography and I think I’ve hone my craft over the past year due to the fact; 1) you have to go out late 2) most the time you’re by yourself in the dark. What night photography has taught me, patience and planning.
It’s pretty easy to look up in the sky at night and think, “Oh wow, full moon is out!” and run inside and grab your set-up and start shooting. Over the course of the past year, I’ve gotten better at the quick set-up in the dark but man, it can be cold in the winter. Now, I try to plan ahead and note the moon phases or when the Milky Way will rise. I have my layers, headlamp, heat source and camera gear ready.
Patience is taking shot after shot of the object in the sky. Readjusting to align the camera with the moving night sky and taking more shots, checking the photo, adjust, reposition, click at least 50-100 times. After you think you’ve got your shots, there is the post processing. For this image, I stacked 60 photos into this one photo with photoshop. I’m no Adobe suite expert but photoshop’s “Automate” tool will do a decent job of stacking. The finishing touches are added in Lightroom.
Emerald Bay Blue Hour
Happy New Year everyone! What a crazy year 2020 was. Here’s to looking forward to beautiful things in the coming year.
It’s been awhile since I posted here. But my energy has been renewed and I hope to rekindle this blog post in the coming months. The photo above was taken early morning in August 2020. I was looking for shooting stars and as usual, they would shoot pass me where the camera wasn’t pointing. I was going to pack it up and call it but in the distance, the glow of the rising sun towards the East called me to stay a bit longer. The results, this pano of Emerald Bay during blue hour.
enjoy!
Moon sets
Last week, I scrambled down to the East shore of Lake Tahoe to a spot known as Bonsai Rock. While I was taking photos, I noticed the setting moon nicely centered from my spot on the shore. I used my headlamp to brighten the water below me and the boulders in the water. 
Starry night
Driving at night beholds the star lit sky above. I pulled over and scrambled up some boulders and watched the starry night sky pass before me. The only sounds, nature and maybe a car or two passing by.
Dark is the night
Was out last weekend practicing my night photography. Decided to try out the shot in black and white. 
Looking Forward to 2017
Hi all
I’ve been a MIA on WordPress for awhile now but will be back starting 2017! Here’s a sneak peak!
#15 Photograph Fireworks
This week I pulled #15 from the Lightbox Photography Cards set. “This is a tough challenge, but it doesn’t have to be a big show. Go out and get some sparklers, a tripod and a remote release and experiment till your heart’s content.” I pulled this card and thought, “where am I gonna get fireworks, it’s August?!? and ‘sparklers’ are definitely out of the question in bone-dry California.” Instead, I went with Nature’s Fireworks. It was the annual Perseid Meteor Showers and found my opportunity in the night sky last week.
Backpacking
Heading out for another backpacking trip in the Tahoe Basin today. Here are some shots from last month’s trip around Tahoe 🙂 Stayed at Round Lake a couple of nights. It’s an easy hike that meanders through a large meadow and ends at an alpine lake. Beautiful sunrises, sunsets and so many stars that you fall asleep if you try to count them the all. All made better with great company. Got to get out more 🙂
Night in Arches National Park
The full moon was a few nights before but it still provided great lighting in the park.
Night Lights
End of Day 2, Mother Nature treated us to the best night light show. There was lighting flashing south of us that lit up the thunderclouds. Then the Milky Way danced overhead as we looked for shooting stars.
Snapshots by Kats 