Over two nights in May I was able to fulfil a dream of observing the night sky properly. In the UK there are very few true dark sky areas and my previous attempts to observe the sky at night have been hampered by clouds, light pollution and poor timing.
So on a recent holiday in the United States I was able to time a camping trip in the desert near Page AZ at the time of a new moon and with clear conditions.
On the first evening I concentrated on a start trail because there was a little cloud in the southern sky. I wanted to include the covered wagons as part of the foreground so I have managed to locate Polaris in the top left of the shot so the stars sweep upwards from the desert floor. Additional lighting was provided by people returning to the campsite and lighting everything up with their headlights. This image is a stack of around 270 images.
On the second night I had hope for clear skies so that I could point my camera south to get the milky way arching across the desert. However as the evening wore on heavy clouds gathered and I went to bed a little dejected feeling that an opportunity had been missed. However at 2am I woke up to answer a call of nature. As I stepped outside the tent I experienced such a sense of awe and wonder as I saw the sky as I had never seen it before. There were no clouds and there above and in front of me was the biggest expanse of star filled sky I forgot that I had needed the loo and set up my camera to capture a few shots.
Whenever I look at my photos I think I could have done better, or I wish I could have framed it differently... however I am so happy that I got to see this and these images will serve as a reminder of that wonderful experience and the feeling of wonder. I hope that one day I will be able to capture something similar but if I don't I can still say that on this trip one of my ambitions was achieved.
