To see the Milky Way, the ideal time is summer during or around a new moon so that the moon light doesn’t drown it out. Head to a place far away from the pollution of city lights. To photograph the galactic core, I suggest making sure you don’t have a city positioned to the south of your location. Your long exposure will pick up the light from the city.

Taken with a Canon 5D Mk II with the Canon EF 16-35mm 2.8 lens. Settings: f 2.8, 20 second exposure, 6400 iso.

In the video below, you’ll notice a meteor burning up and leaving a cloud of smoke at around the 00:32 second mark.

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Timelapse video tour of Yosemite National Park. You’ll see Tunnel view, Valley View, Cook’s Meadow, Bridalveil Falls, Nevada Falls, Mist Trail, El Capitan, Yosemite Falls, Half Dome, and much more. These were all taken during my recent trip to Yosemite in Mid-May 2010. Enjoy!

The Video:

The Inspiration:
The Manic Star video was a long project in the making. Years ago I remember sitting on the boulders near Skull Rock in Joshua Tree at night looking up at the big open sky. Growing up in big cities, I had never seen so many stars in my life. There were stars of varying brightness and colors. There were shooting stars. There were constellations and galaxies, so clear out there but hardly visible in the city. And it encompassed the entire sky! I felt in awe. Then I got goosebumps as I realized that this is a view of the natural world that our ancestors saw every night.

To see what our ancestors saw, I got a glimpse of how they experienced the world. The moment was empowering, inspiring and humbling. And it gave me the idea of wanting to do something to capture and share with others the beauty and power of nature under the sun and the stars.

For many of us who live in cities, the bright city lights drown out all but the brightest stars. As a result, we are cut off from the source of much inspiration, imagination, creativity, knowledge, and wisdom that our ancestors have drawn upon for thousands of years. It’s only in recent history that many of us have become cut off from this profound celestial connection.

While this video can only capture a tiny fraction of the experience of actually being out there in the beauty of nature, I hope that it’ll inspire you to make your own journeys to reconnect with nature, the stars and the sun.

Music:
The song is an edited version of Manic Star by Conjure One. If you haven’t checked out their album, I highly recommend it! You can find it on Amazon, iTunes, etc.

Scenes:
1. Silhouette of a Joshua Tree in Joshua Tree National Park, California
2. Another silhouette of a Joshua Tree in Joshua Tree National Park, California
3. West Mitten Butte, Monument Valley, Utah
4. West Mitten, East Mitten and Merrick Butte, Monument Valley, Utah
5. Grand Canyon under the full moon, Arizona
6. Moon setting at Sunrise at Grand Canyon, Arizona
7. Snowstorm after Sunrise at Monument Valley, Utah
8. On the Wildcat Trail. Wide angle shot of West Mitten, East Mitten and Merrick Butte, Monument Valley, Utah
9. West Mitten Butte, Monument Valley, Utah
10. The Tepees, Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona
11. Overlooking Blue Mesa, Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona
12. Noon time at West Mitten, East Mitten and Merrick Butte, Monument Valley, Utah
13. Sunrise, Joshua Tree National Park, California
14. Storm clouds over Sedona, Arizona
15. More Storm clouds over Sedona, Arizona
16. Sun rising, Joshua Tree National Park, California
17. Somewhere in Monument Valley’s 17 mile drive, Utah
18. The night sky above Canyon De Chelly, Arizona
19. Sun setting over Monument Valley, Utah
20. Spider Rock, Canyon De Chelly, Arizona
21. Sun setting, Joshua Tree National Park, California
22. Horseshoe Bend at Sunset, Page, Arizona
23. East Mitten, Monument Valley, Utah
24. Grand Canyon at Sunrise, Arizona
25. Along the White House Trail, Canyon De Chelly, Arizona
26. Sunset in Joshua Tree National Park, California

Equipment:
Canon 5D Mk II
Canon 7D
Canon SX200IS with hacked CHDK firmware and intervalometer.
Canon 16-35mm 2.8L
Sigma 20mm 1.8
Sigma 24-70mm 2.8
Canon 300mm 4L IS
Manfrotto 190CX Carbon Fiber Tripod
Manfrotto 460m Magnesium head

The Petrified Forest is known for its very colorful petrified wood. Most of the wood have crumbled into little bits but there are still large pieces lying around. The area is huge but the park has limited hours to prevent people from coming in late at night to steal some of the petrified wood. Still, there are stores outside the park where you can legally purchase some.

I almost didn’t stop here but I’m so glad I did. I was on my way from Canyon De Chelly to the Grand Canyon. Saw that a winter storm was moving through the Grand Canyon until the afternoon so I made a stop here to wait things out. Arrived late morning and stayed until mid afternoon.

Weather wise, it started depressingly overcast, then occasional rain/sleet, then the sun came out with some really dramatic clouds. That made the stop worth while. In Blue Mesa the weather made the place even more other-worldly. Still, it was tough lighting. Spots of cloudy plus spots of bright sun. From time to time, I had to wait for clouds to block the sun before shooting. The  direct sun makes the lighting too harsh and bright, washing out softer colors and subtle details.

Light and weather conditions really make a huge difference here — more so than any of the other places I visited. I was up in the Painted Desert area when it was just overcast and my photos were flat and dull. If I had turned back at that point, I would have wrote this place off.

I think the best times to be here are sunset (best), sunrise, or interesting weather like this. I feel really very lucky to have captured these images during mid-day. Thank you mother nature! I hope to return here again to see a sunset light up the Painted Desert.

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I am currently in Page, AZ. It’s a small town whose main industries are tourism and the nearby Navajo Coal Power plant. As a photographer there are a lot of attractions in the Page area: Upper and Lower Antelope Canyons, Horseshoe Bend, Vermillion Cliffs and the Coyote Buttes and more.

Weather hasn’t been what I call perfect, but I’ve kept my journey flexible. Been constantly checking weather updates. Saw today was a sunny day so I headed up to Page from Sedona through the tail end of a storm that dumped a lot of snow in Flagstaff. As soon as I got north of Flagstaff it’s been sunny skies.

It’s winter time and not too many people are visiting Upper Antelope Canyon today. In the summer months this place is packed with photographers trying to photograph the famous beams of light. Those beams depend on the angle of the sun and in winter the sun doesn’t shine into the canyon in the same way.

For Upper Antelope Canyon, you can only enter with a Navajo guide. They also have a choice of two types of tours: a 2.5 hour photography tour for photographers and a shorter 1 hour standard tour. I highly recommend the photography tour as the guide will give you tips on how to photograph the canyon, as well as what may make good shots. My photo group was 4 people including our Navajo guide. And the other two people in my group weren’t really photographers — just wanted the longer tour time that comes with the photography tour. Our guide’s 4×4 ran out of gas on the return so we got an extra 30 minutes in the canyon with perhaps 12 other people total.

Upper Antelope Canyon is really a magical place. But with so many people wanting to see it, it can be quite a zoo with tours going in and out like clock work. I guess it’s great for the Navajo as there’s not much else going for this sad looking town.

Some tips for visiting Upper Antelope Canyon:

1. Summer is the best time photography wise as you’ll get the beams of light. However it will be crowded and may only get a few good photos without people walking into your shot.

2. I rather go in the winter. Less people. It’s more laid back and you don’t have to worry as much about people walking into your shot. The quietest time is the week of Christmas.

3. Bring a tripod if you want to take some good photos home. I saw a lot of people without tripods. Camera flash will kill the delicate colors. And since it’s dark, if you don’t use a tripod your shots will come out blurry.

4. Switch your camera’s white balance to shade. Shoot RAW if you have the option so you can correct mistakes later.

5. Prime time to be there is supposed to be mid day — 11 to 1 — but my guide said afternoon is also nice since you’ll get different colors. If you’re looking for light beams go in the summer.

6. You have a choice of guides for Upper Antelope Canyon. I went with Chief Tsosie’s Antelope Slot Canyon Tours as they had better times to visit. The other groups went too early. Also our guide played the flute inside the canyon. Wow it was amazing.

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I was shooting in the Los Angeles Arboretum a few days ago and wandered upon a group of turtles perched on top of a floating log. At first glance, turtles don’t seem like interesting subjects.  They don’t move much, standing in the same spot for hours at a time sun bathing and perhaps contemplating the meaning of life. I never paid much attention to them. But this time I decided to sit down nearby to observe and do a little contemplation of my own.

The first few minutes were quiet and still. They noticed my presence and we were just looking at each other in silent curiosity. Looking closely at their faces and subtle body movements, their unique personalities start to show. There was the really big turtle that lazily turned his head at me and stuck up his nose as I was initially sitting down. There was the upstart turtle that swam onto the log shortly after I arrived and proceeded to push over the other turtles and climbed onto the big turtle. There was the shy turtle on the right edge of the log who tucked his head closer into his shell each time something happened nearby.

Growing up in a big city, I was not exposed to nature until college. And it wasn’t until my 20s that I started to appreciate nature  — not just for its physical beauty but also for its ability to heal and strengthen our souls. Out in the open sky, the crisp mountain air and the unpaved trails is where we can go to reconnect with the natural world and the many generations of humans who lived before. Out here we can see what our ancestors saw, walk where our ancestors walked and learn lessons from nature just like they learned.

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Milky Way and the Night Sky in Joshua Tree National Park

The Leonid meteor showers occur every year around November 17th-18th and I decided to make the crazy 5 hour round trip drive away from the lights of Los Angeles to the dark sky of Joshua Tree National Park in one night. Altogether I saw about 15-20 meteors per hour in the wee hours of the morning. Some look like your typical shooting stars but a few were bright fireballs with long and big streaks. But even without the scheduled meteor shower, the view of the sky from inside the park is spectacular.

This is something we urban dwellers don’t get to see very often — a sky fully peppered with stars normally too dimly lit that they get drowned out by street lights and human activity. Here you have a clear view of the Milky Way — a cloud-like haze that spans much of the sky. You can differentiate different colored stars. You can discern satellites and planets. You can see Mars shining brightly with a distinct orange-yellow glow.

Out here away from the distractions of urban life, you can start to feel the vastness and infinity of the universe.

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Read my post about Packing for a Night Photography or Star Gazing Trip

Autumn in Owens Valley

Autumn colors in Owens Valley near June Lake, Mono Lake, Lake Sabrina, Bishop, Rock Creek, Big Pine, Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest and more.

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Crystal Jellies at the Aquarium of the Pacific

Underwater aquarium photography taken at the Aquarium of the Pacific. No flash, fast lenses (50mm 1.4 and 24-70mm 2.8), lots of patience and a monopod.

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Purple Flower Macro Close-up

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