Astrophotography

Before all the media frenzy

Night sky at Salton Sea Before all the media frenzy of the Jupiter and Saturn great conjunction past Monday, the largest and the second largest planets already appeared to be on their way. Those two bright streaks in the center of the sky were those. People in general weren’t just aware of it. The stars were slowly traversing heaven as the darkness fell all around the lake. Unfortunately though the presence of the bright moon dimmed the view of the Milky Way, and it forced me to settle on the star trails. Would you like to walk down the stepping stones and hop on the swing in the moonlit lake?

As if their arms came back to life

As soon as Thanksgiving arrived, I left town. Although I wanted to hit up the Sierra Nevada, considering how much time I had, it made sense to head for the desert. But I didn’t want to go to the Mojave desert, or Joshua Tree, both of which I had already been. Instead I found myself driving farther south of Joshua Tree and ended up at Salton Sea, which is a salt lake sitting at 236 feet below sea level. It had been on my list for quite some time. My first stop was Three Sisters. Oh boy, was I expecting too much… Because it had been awhile since last rainfall, the field was bone dry and filled with crusts of salt deposits. Nonetheless, what is unique about it is that there are no other trees nearby. It makes it easy to isolate them as subjects, particularly for astrophotography. My plan to capture the Milky Way though was ruined by the Moon as soon as it got dark. I was hoping for even a faint galaxy sight, but it was almost completely washed off that bare eyes could not make out its shape. The shadows cast by the moon though was perfect for timelapse. As the stars traveled across heaven, the shadows also crawled across the barren field as if their arms came back to life...

King of Gods

Milky Way over Lake Sabrina lit by moon Night fell at Lake Sabrina. I was hoping to catch the Milky Way rising over the ridge line as soon as it got dark, definitely before the moon rose (I knew the window of opportunity was really narrow - like less than an hour), but I didn’t have enough time. By the time I finished dinner and returned to the lake, the whole northwest slopes of the lake was fully lit by the moon, and our galaxy was faded quite a bit. The thing that I didn’t expect to see was the green hue conspired by the constant light source at the boathouse at the dock. It was glowing like bioluminescence in the dark. I was quite happy to see the bright reflections of the slopes in the water. What caught my eye though was the elongated reflection of none other than the largest planet in our solar system, Jupiter. Speaking of the largest planet, did you know that Jupiter was the King of Gods in Roman mythology?

Bloody cloudy

SUPER BLOOD WOLF MOON Bloody cloudy After getting anxious and disappointed initially by the overcast sky, I went ahead and set up my camera and waited for the moon to rise. I didn’t know what kind of visibility there would be. The sky was very clear the night before, and clear skies were forecast in the next several days. And yet, that night when we were expecting a total lunar eclipse, it was bloody cloudy. The moon rose, and it was a very hazy one. This moon, aka Super Blood Wolf Moon, was supposedly slightly bigger and larger due to its closer proximity to earth, and it was visible all across North America. And yet here I was, the sky wasn’t cooperating. As night got darker, the clouds started giving way a little to a partially clear night sky. I got super excited as the moon looked crisp. But it turned out that it was a night where a series of clouds constantly moved in and out and blurred the visibility of the moon, especially when the moon turned bloody. The winds never stopped blowing, which forced me to plant the camera super close to my car against the wind with a hope that the wind direction wouldn’t change. And thankfully it rarely did. It wasn’t the best scenario due to the clouds and winds, but I still managed to capture decent shots. With the focal point at 200mm, I put my camera on the crop mode, which helped me get 1.5x closer to the moon. Definitely I learned a couple of things from this. High ISO doesn’t work for me. Period. And clouds are simply a no no for lunar eclipse. And I’ll definitely go somewhere remote to capture the next Super Bloody Wolf Moon when it returns in 2 years.

Infinite moment of truth

JMT DAY 24 - MOONRISE AT KEARSARGE LAKES Moonrise at Kearsarge Lakes It’s not often, but when everything is perfectly lined up, I see something magical unfold before my eyes. I simply stood at the shore while my gaze is locked on the fading Milky Way over Kearsarge Pinnacles that was lighting up by the minute. As if the curtain for the stage was being slowly lifted, the light was slowly spreading across the slopes. And soon my mind started drifting away. If I didn’t see the shallow lake bottom, I could have not told apart which side is up. As if I were in space floating and watching the giant rock formation was suspended in in time. Infinite moment of truth. The galaxy will still be around even after we are long gone.

Cosmic moment of solitude

JMT DAY 24 - MOONRISE AT KEARSARGE LAKES Moonrise at Kearsarge Lakes The inevitable moment of the night eventually arrived. The moon rose, and it started casting its glorious colors on Kearsarge Pinnacles. Everything started emerging from shadows and coming into focus. The pinnacles, crevices, shores dotted with trees. The reflection of the thousands and thousands of stars in the water slowly gave way to the shallow depth of the lake. It also meant that the Milky Way was slowly fading. Soon it would be completely washed off. Till then I just simply let such a cosmic moment of solitude to last as long as it did. Before I’d be completely washed off in the bright moonlight.

It felt like home

JMT DAY 24 - MILKY WAY OVER KEARSARGE LAKES Milky Way over Kearsarge Lakes Ah, the gorgeous heavenly body filled with the infinite number of stars. And then double the amount as they were reflected in the water. At least what my eyes could count. One of the most anticipated as usual and yet unexpected moments at the lakes was the Milky Way rising over Kearsarge Pinnacles. The reflection of it looked like a total mirror like imagery of the very heavenly body, and it felt like the mountains were just floating. I just stood there while counting the stars, as many as I could, but soon last track. Jupiter sank behind the tips of the pinnacles as Mars was tracing the galaxy. What is the purpose of life again? That moment, it felt like home, and my heart told me that there was nothing else was needed.

Almost time to call it a night

JMT DAY 23 - MILKY WAY OVER RAE LAKES Milky Way over Rae Lakes Night fell at Rae Lakes. To my pleasant surprise, it wasn’t as windy as earlier at sunset. And it got me excited. The calm water surface promised the mirror like reflection. Stars came out and lit up the sky. The clouds still lingered, but I saw them sort of giving way to the Milky Way. In the company of Mars. Then, the moon rose. I knew that I didn’t a whole lot of time capturing the galaxy. The galaxy was fading fast as the moon glow started descending the ridge. Which also meant that it was almost time to call it a night.

Only my knee deep

JMT DAY 19 - PALISADE LAKES IN MOONLIGHT Palisade Lakes in moonlight Because we arrived at Palisade Lakes quite late, pitching our tents was late. And then, gathering huge logs and stones and building a wall around my tent to block the wind took longer. Because my camp was made late, I didn’t have time to have dinner before sunset. So, when I was done capturing the sunset, my dinner was late. By the time when I headed back out to the lake to capture the night sky, it looked like someone turned on the light switch in the dark room. The moon that rose high up in the sky shed its wonderful, almost deceivingly daylight like, moonlight on anything under the heavenly body. Middle Palisade (14,012 ft) brooded like a champ while the lake reflected the cool peak in the water. Mt. Bolton Brown (13,538 ft) and its ridge line created a beautiful silhouette. It was windy and yet the water near me wasn’t disturbed. In fact, it was so calm and clear that the bottom of the lake looked like only my knee deep.

Celestial party going on

Moon overshines Milky Way in company of Mars and Jupiter Night fell at Evolution Basin. But the entire basin was not ready to fall in darkness. In fact, it was still bright as day. The moon rose and flooded the world with its bright light that never seem to dim. While the Evolution Lake outlet was illuminating like crazy, in the far distance Mt. Huxley (13,086 ft) jutted up like a spike to reach the starry night sky. The Milky Way overshone by the moon didn’t stand the chance to show off itself. Well, its close proximity to the moon did that, of course. Mars and Jupiter accompanied the galaxy, though, whether it was faint or not. At one point, it felt like there was a celestial party going on. All stars gathered around, whether they were faint or not, and they knew that it was time to come out and play.

Then my mind slowly drifted away

JMT DAY 13 - MILKY WAY OVER SALLIE KEYS LAKES Milky Way over Sallie Keys Lakes Once the moon was set over the ridge, the Milky Way was clearly visible although the sky near the horizon was still quite illuminated by the sunken moon. And Mars, still relatively close to Earth (closest to Earth was 44 million miles away a couple of months ago), looked brighter. Or I was being tricked by my eyes. The ridge backlit by the moon slowly got darkened as the illumination of the sky faded. More stars started coming out, and soon the heavenly body was strewn with thousands of them. The wind was persistent throughout the night, but when it died down momentarily, it felt like as if everything stood still. The lake was so calm that I was able to make out almost every star scattered across the water. Then my mind slowly drifted away. Since we started, we had climbed over 4 passes, and now 5 more passes (Muir, Mather, Pinchot, Glen and Forester) to go before Trail Crest. Oh, and extra 2 more passes (Bishop and Kearsarge) to climb over to pick up resupplies. But, what I didn’t know then was that, except for Glen Pass, which I had climbed before, the 4 of them (Island, Donohue, Silver and Selden) had been relatively easy, compared to what was ahead of us.

It was about time

JMT DAY 12 - MILKY WAY AT MOOSET Milky Way at moonset While the moon was traversing the heavenly body, the Milky Way was washed out quite a bit due to its close proximity. It was getting late, but I decided to wait longer for the galactic core to be seen. I really liked Bear Creek. Although I often find creeks challenging to work with in terms of capturing the galaxy, due to mostly dense, tall trees, this creek offered some clearings, and it was just a matter of patience that one may wait long enough, or till the right time to freeze that moment when the galaxy was erected vertically to his/her liking. Bear Creek was definitely one of those places where I would love to go back and explore the area more. I gotta admit that reaching the creek via Bear Ridge Trail from VVR wasn’t a walk in the park. But the trail offered spectacular views of Mt. Hooper and other peaks as well as several stretches of Aspens along the trail itself. I even created a few waypoints telling myself that I would definitely come back in the fall. But for now it’ll have to wait till next fall. The moon dropped over the ridge that was still being illuminated. The galaxy was risen vertically by then. It was about time.

Persisted under moon

JMT DAY 11 - MILKY WAY OVER THOMAS EDISON LAKE Milky Way over Thomas Edison Lake Once night fell at Thomas Edison Lake, I got the wide angle lenses on my cameras and went back to the shore. It was quite dark at first. Probably because my eyes had been adjusted to the lights at the resort. But the moon was to rise shortly, so I knew that I wasn’t going to stay in the dark for too long. I also knew that I didn’t have a whole lot of time to capture the Milky Way because of the moonrise. I sauntered around the lake clockwise from the landing for a good fifteen minutes to find a spot that I liked. But it meant that I was no longer be able to frame the valley that I had climbed down earlier since I now was facing southeast. With Mt. Hooper risen in the far distance, the wall of tall pines brimmed the earth. Tranquility slowly flowed through me. The sound of water ripples brushed by the gentle breeze filled the starry night sky. The stubbornly persisting low hum of the generator at the resort was now out of earshot. It was fascinating to conjure up the name of the inventor upon the lake that bears his name in the middle of the Sierra Nevada where the generator-produced electricity powered the stores and facilities at the resort. My mind was at ease, and it was only swayed and distracted by the breeze that persisted under the moon.

What Mother Nature had in mind

JMT DAY 9 - STAR TRAILS OVER SILVER PASS LAKE Star trails over Silver Pass Lake Once done with the shots of the Milky Way over Silver Pass Lake facing southwest, I repositioned and pointed my cameras in the direction of Silver Pass. As expected, Polaris, aka the North Star, was hung brightly along with the Little Dipper and Big Dipper above the pass. The nonstop gale of winds continuously stirred the lake, while the howling echoed through this empty basin, that the reflection of the star trails was completely out of the question. What Mother Nature had in mind was certainly not a tranquil lake into the night. While the sky remained clear, I soon realized that it was not just the winds that got me shivering, despite the layers of clothing. The dropping temperature made me wish that my sleeping bag was one of the items that I brought with me there. Part of me kept wanting to call it a night and head back to camp since I knew it was a losing battle. No one wants to hypothermia to happen, and I certainly did not. It almost did once in the past, and I remembered how bad it was. But, as is often the case, I stick around a bit longer. I really wanted to take as many shots as possible for star trails.

Lonesome gazer at lake

JMT DAY 9 - MILKY WAY OVER SILVER PASS LAKE Milky Way over Silver Pass Lake By the time when we arrived at Silver Pass, which offered us a spectacular view, an excessive amount of clouds were rolling in the area fast, and the winds started picking up in every direction, as if it didn’t make up its mind. We hurriedly tramped down the pass and soon reached Silver Pass Lake. It was quite windy and we definitely felt that a shower was in store. It wasn’t easy to find a spot where our camp could be sheltered in behind trees, but eventually we found one, and a quick downpour was only a few seconds away from completing our camp setup. This long lake that sat at the foot of Silver Pass was quite barren with no trees. The winds swept through the basin like a wind tunnel. The part of the shore where I ended up to capture the Milky Way offered no protection from the winds, and I had to just toughen it out in my layered clothes. Part of me really wished that I had brought my sleeping bag with me to keep myself warm. As expected the galaxy, led by Jupiter, appeared and traversed the sky, and soon Mars followed. The elongated reflection of the red planet in the water looked quite mesmerizing. As if the glow was trying to reach out to the lonesome gazer at the lake.

What enveloped my ears

JMT DAY 8 - MILKY WAY OVER DUCK TULLY HOLE Milky Way over Tully Hole Dusk turned into night. And as I expected, the Milky Way slowly faded into view in the middle of the sky over the rocky ridge line. I knew I didn’t have a whole lot of time capturing it from where I was because the pines by the creek jutted up high into the sky would blot out the view of the galactic core. The sound of Fish Creek rushing was more deafening as the night got darker. And yet the sky seemed brighter as more stars coming out. Soon my eyes were fully adjusted to what was surrounding me again. While my eyes were fixated at the galaxy in silent wonderment, what enveloping my ears was the resonance of the forest… Pines and Spruces exhaling through the cool air, the creek swirling and swerving slowly carving out its path, the hollow branches crackling and twigs breaking nonstop... Then, my mind slowly drifted away and started wondering how often Tully Hole was visited by furry omnivores. So far we had not run into any of them, and we hoped it stayed that way. In spite of our bear canisters. The damp forest felt colder as the temperature further dropped. The galaxy rose quite perpendicularly to Earth. It was time to call it a night.

Straight out of fairy tale

JMT DAY 7 - MILKY WAY AND PERSEIDS OVER DUCK LAKE OUTLET Milky Way and Perseids over Duck Lake outlet On my way back to the campsite after taking shots of the Milky Way with a higher vantage point, the mesmerizing reflection of the galaxy at the outlet of Duck Lake literally stopped me. It was getting late, but I just couldn’t take my eyes off of it. The shallow outlet filled with fallen trees as if beavers created a dam and brimmed with tall trees that blocked high winds seemed to be just a perfect sanctuary for solitude. With the sky lit up with the stars, the purple wildflower decorated pool seemed like straight out of a fairy tale. With the backdrop of the galaxy traveling across the sky strewn with thousands of stars, the Perseid Meteor Shower continued. I never got tired of counting them in wonderment. Mars seemed to be shining brighter than usual that night although the red planet must’ve traveled farther away from us since a couple of months ago when it was at the closest distance to Earth. Part of me wanted to stick around a bit longer to enjoy solitude here, but I knew better. I had to get up early next morning to catch sunrise.

Could not have been timed any better

JMT DAY 6 - MILKY WAY OVER DUCK LAKE Milky Way over Duck Lake It was getting dark fast at Duck Lake once the sun fell behind the mountains. The twilight sky was clear of clouds, and the winds stopped blowing fairly often to let the stars shine in the water. In order to capture the reflection of the Milky Way, I knew I had to be on the opposite side of the lake (as opposed to the outlet of the lake where most of the campsites were), so I decided to hike up the trail towards Mammoth Crest, aka Duck Lake Pass. I didn’t know how far up the trail that I had to trek to find a spot. By the time I was settled down on a huge slab in the talus off the trail, which was precarious, to say the least, the reflection of the galaxy was almost reaching the lakeshore. I quickly set up my cameras. In the company of Mars, Jupiter and meteoroids, the galactic core shone brightly and was majestically traversing across the heavenly body. The Perseid Meteor Shower continued throughout the night, which I lost count after a while. Although I enjoy this particular meteor shower every August, I thought to myself that it could not have been timed any better than this night to witness the spectacular astronomical event unfolding before my eyes.

In stream of meteoroids

JMT DAY 6 - MILKY WAY OVER DEER CREEK Milky Way over Deer Creek Ever lingering smoke at Reds Meadow, predominantly from Lions Fire, gradually dissipated as we continued our journey southbound. The skies cleared up, and the fresh air filled our lungs. And we were assured by the northbound hikers that the rest of the trail would be clear of smoke. When we arrived at Deer Creek Campground, not a single soul was seen at first. Although later three more hikers joined us, solitude was easily found. While my JMT buddy Henry journaling the day on the voice recorder, I was scouting the area for sunset and night photography. The downside of camping here and later on at other creeks, as far as photography was concerned, was that it was quite challenging to find clearings, specifically for the galactic core, while having interesting subjects in the foreground. However, one of the upsides was that it got very dark at nightfall. As we were two nights away from the supposedly most visible night of the Perseid Meteor Shower this year, I was extremely delighted by the sight of the heavenly body already frequently showered in the stream of meteoroids. While the galaxy was slowly plying across the star strewn sky. While Mars was smearing its red glow on the water surfaces here on earth.

Jutted upwards reaching for stars

JMT DAY 5 - STAR TRAILS OVER DEVILS POSTPILE Star trails over Devils Postpile What waited at Reds Meadow for us was smoky skies caused by another fire called Lions Fire. It was as thick as hazy mist that never seems to lift at chilly morning. The smoke was burung inside our lungs. First order of business at Reds Meadow was resupply. Our resupplies were delivered at the campground by Henry’s family, while his son being picked up and ending his short journey with us on the trail. Once our camp was set up, we headed over to the resort where we took a shower and got our batteries charged. Night fell, and it was time for astrophotography. I retraced our track back to Devils Postpile, where we had plodded by before reaching the campground. I dawdled up and down the trails around the monument to find a good spot to frame it with the Milky Way, rising in the southwest. But I soon learned that it was not possible because the galaxy and the monument simply could not be aligned together while the monument’s iconic facade was facing west. So, I decided to do star trails instead. Very simple composition - posts erected in slight curvy shape was the center of the focus with the piles of crumpled posts in the foreground and stars traveling across the heavenly body.

Part of scene

JMT DAY 4 - MILKY WAY OVER ROSALIE LAKE Milky Way over Rosalie Lake The sky darkened as night fell at Rosalie Lake. Maybe it was the small size of the lake that seemed to be overpopulated with trouts. Maybe the rocks risen like rolling hills letting the heavenly body stretched overhead from one end of the other in a planetarium. Or maybe the dense forest enclosing the lake with a sense of peace and seclusion from the outside world. I was no longer looking in a fish bowl. I was part of the scene. The winds that had been brushing against the water for quite some time persisted in the dark. The stirring never ceased, like a glass of water quivering in a constant hum. Either the wind itself was stirring the water or the sound of it was vibrating it, it was clear that no reflection of the stars was promised. As the night got darker, the stars shone brighter. As if heaven dropped to earth that much closer to listen what was constantly disturbing the tranquility.

In our lifetime

JMT DAY 3 - MILKY WAY OVER BANNER PEAK AND THOUSAND ISLAND LAKE Milky Way over Banner Peak and Thousand Island Lake: JMT201803003 As the evening grew darker, the faint Milky Way appeared in the middle of the sky, contrary to the same galaxy appearing over the ridge line in mid-June. The wind stopped blowing, which promised a tranquil night with the stillness of Banner Peak in the water. Jupiter and Mars were traversing along with our galaxy across the sky strewn with thousands of stars, and I was simply mesmerized yet again. I recently finished reading a book called Black Hole Blues, chronicling the journey of scientists for over 50 years trying to detect gravitational waves, like Einstein had predicted. This effort, resulting in detecting its first gravitational wave in late 2015, having travelled the universe 1.4 billion light years, got me more curious about spacetime. Eventually (after billions of years, when the human species will be likely long gone) all the stars will die, like our sun will in about 5 billion years (although our galaxy will likely collide with the Andromeda Galaxy first). And they will turn into black holes, which eventually will also disappear. Regardless of any of that, it is truly remarkable to witness what already had happened billion light years ago in our lifetime.

Our galaxy would look same

JMT DAY 2 - MILKY WAY OVER BANNER PEAK SEEN FROM ISLAND PASS Milky Way over Banner Peak seen from Island Pass: JMT201802003 The night was calm, and the sky was clear of smoke. The faint Milky Way got slowly brighter as the sky got darker. Thousands of stars were strewn across the heavenly body. Soon Mars followed, and its bright reflection in the lake was just unmistakable. Mars is the planet that everyone who is into us becoming an interplanetary species is looking at lately. But, let alone the fact that we wouldn’t be able to breathe or walk around like we do here on earth, there is no water that we can call lakes and walk around. It is projected that it would take at least six months to travel to Mars one way. And space radiation is considered number one risk in sending humans to Mars at this point. I understand that it is the first step to become an interplanetary species, followed by more space travels and planet discoveries in the future, although many will be born on other planets once we become a true interplanetary species, I wonder if it is truly worth leaving everything behind. But one thing is certain. Our galaxy would look the same when it were seen from Mars.

First night on John Muir Trail

JMT DAY 1 - MILKY WAY OVER MT. LYELL AND FORK BELOW DONOHUE PASS Tuolumne Meadows to first lake below Donohue Pass: JMT201801002 Night fell at the first lake below Donohue Pass. Contrary to my worry that the night sky would be quite hazy by the smoke from the Ferguson Fire, the heavenly body stayed clear and the stars shone bright. Of course, the Milky Way was going to be erected quite vertically by the time when it was dark enough for it to be seen since it was already early August. The upside of it was that I didn’t have to wait too long to capture the galactic core fully seen even though it wasn’t late. For instance, it was already clearly visible at around 9:45 pm PST, as opposed to close to midnight if it were some time in June. The downside of it of course was that the duration of the galaxy traversing the night sky was a whole lot shorter. In fact, it was pretty much half the duration, compared to some time in June. I knew that me being near the outlet of the lake would not let me be able to frame Mt. Lyell and its adjacent peaks AND the Milky Way together when it rose. So, I had scouted father down Lyell Fork and found a spot that I could work with. Once it was dark, I returned to the spot and composed my shot. It had been a long day. I didn’t even eat dinner till I was done with the sunset shots. And when I did, I chowed it down fast so that I could be ready for astrophotography. Did I already mention that I had been lugging a 70 plus lb backpack during the day? The camera gear alone weighed 30 lb. I was physically exhausted. But I wanted to make the whole experience of being out there worthwhile. And I was truly a happy camper capturing the beautiful moments on the first night on the John Muir Trail.