Night Shots of Camp

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From the borderlands of far West Texas:

roaddude_XV2-milkyway-7124-900.jpeg

Other than a light in the rooftop tent and an iPod on the rack strut, all the ground light is from my propane fire ring.

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Road

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Camped around a hundred nights in New England woods around lakes this past summer and fall and enjoyed experimenting with different basecamp setups.

I'd stay for three, four, or five nights then move to a different environment and experiment with another setup.

In this setup I have two sidewalls attached to the awning so the work areas at each end of my trailer were protected from the wind at the back. It's amazing how much more comfortable it can make the setup, even without walls on the front side. Depending on which way the breezes are coming from, sometimes I set up walls on this side and have the back open, and if really cold set it up to be more fully enclosed.

workingbasecamp_1461-1250.jpeg

I had a blast experimenting with different lighting for images, too. In these shots I was playing with the warm light from backpacker style UCO Candle Lanterns for lighting under the awning, with the cooler temp light from headlamps set on top of the awning to light the trees in subtle ways. Also used a hanging Coleman battery LED light in the van and one of my Ready Light pods in the back of the trailer to create the cool shadow in the image below.

I have as much fun playing with photography and lighting when camping as I do setting up different styles of basecamp.

workingbasecamp-190929_1451-1250.jpeg

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Checking email while I have the chance in far west Texas at a single shelter road side pull-off. You're allowed to stay for the night as long as you don't set up a tent, etc.

roaddude_nightsky-altudapicnic-7947-2.jpg

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Road

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Road
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How do you get such gret shots?
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Magic.

No, lots of practice and patience, trying different ways to capture the best light of the night sky through long exposures with a good camera, great glass, and a solid tripod.

To end up with an image like the one you commented on, there was a ton of walking back and forth from camera to trailer, adjusting boxes to block the light from the firering so there wouldn't be a hotspot in the image, adjusting the height of the flame in the firering to control how much light it was giving off, adjust the light up in the RTT, get the right angle from the camera, checking the results, go back and tweak the setup a little more, etc.

All in the middle of the night in the desert, often all night long.

It's a blast, and you learn a ton about stars and constellations if you're paying attention.

I offer personal and small group workshops in night sky photography if anyone is interested. DM me or send a note through my website.

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Mark Low

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Mark Low

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Big G

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Love the Aspens in your shot, where were you camped there?

I don't usually take pics of Camp so how about these (I think I've posted them on OB before but could not find the threads quickly):
My Avatar pic Orion rising over my Camp in Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP last October:
View attachment 76026

Camp mates enjoying a fire in Glendo SP Wy. While Scouting sites for the 2017 Eclipse:
View attachment 76027


Boort
Absolutely love these pics of the heavens.
 
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