Devil's Garden after Dark

As sunset approached it became apparent that the lack of clouds in the sky meant a (slightly) less spectacular sunset. All was not lost as a lack of sunset clouds meant a perfect night for star photography and the location meant some interesting possibilities.



Thule and I watched the sun retreat behind the distant mountains and the sky slowly loose it's light. I had scouted out a few locations that might prove interesting. Once the night get dark enough the hoodoos took on a different character. The 3-dimensional shapes became 2-dimensional silhouettes.



I started making 30 second exposures with my Sigma 20mm f1.8 lens. 30 seconds is the maximum amount of time to give the stars the appearance of not moving, however zoomed in you can see very slight movement. We moved around from hoodoo to hoodoo having a ball.



My crown jewel image was to be a star trail under the arch with the North Star clearly visible. I must have made 15 30-second exposures getting the composition the way I wanted. Finally I started the 80 minute exposure. I was very pleased with the outcome.

I learned from the experience a few days earlier when I got really cold at Goblin Valley. For the last exposure we went and sat in the car with the heater running. It was very comfortable.

Roger
(-:)