ENDLESS SKY

This is the tent of a campsite neighbor at Sage Creek Campground in Badlands National Park. We had of course no control over the brightness of the light in their tent but I gave it a try anyway and included the sky with all its stars. The campground is in a remote location but there is unfortunately still some light pollution from the town of Wall, known for the “World famous Wall Drug store”.

If I remember this right, we had only two or three nights without seeing the stars during our trip through the Dakotas, but in the Badlands we probably enjoyed it the most.

A black background may help to view this image, and if you click on the photo you can see all the stars that were recorded by the sensor in the camera.

NIGHT GLOW

Last night it was the first time that we managed to be at the Great Galena Balloon Race over in Galena, Illinois. We arrived in time for the famous night glow of the balloons. Photographing balloons at night was a first for me and it was an enjoyable learning experience and some “candy for the eyes”. Having a tripod is a must for a halfway decent photo, unless you like to use blur as an artistic mean of expression, which IMHO is a valid way to go. As with many events where people gather by the hundreds, if not thousands, keeping the picture free of clutter (other people, golf carts, picknick coolers, etc.) is difficult, but something you need to have an eye on.

I went out with the Nikkor 24-120 mm, f/4 attached to the D750 and this was not a bad choice. The glowing of all balloons at the same time is announced over loud speakers but you only have a few seconds to make your shots. The zoom lens allows for quick changes.

Back home and in front of my computer I try to analyze where the mistakes were made and what really worked to tell the story about this event. I enjoyed this challenge very much and hope to have another chance to try it again soon.

On our way back to the car we saw this constellation of “heavenly” bodies above the road and trees. The moon was behind a thin layer of clouds while Jupiter and Venus were clearly visible despite the light pollution from nearby cities.