Astrophotography and Night Scapes

Arches Astrophotography and Night Scapes The American Southwest

Shooting Star over Delicate Arch at Night, Arches National Park, Utah

This image is also featured on my Landscape Astrophotography website: Delicate Arch at Night, Milky Way and Shooting Star, Arches National Park, Utah This is spectacular Delicate Arch, the most iconic and popular of the arches in Arches National Park in Utah. Looking back on 2012 I realize I made…

Phil CollaJanuary 13, 2013

Landscape Astrophotography

New: check out my website for Landscape Astrophotography! What is Landscape Astrophotography? Here is my take on it! Landscape Astrophotography is the discipline of photographing scenes that include both astronomical elements and terrestrial landscape elements. The motivation for landscape astrophotography is a desire to depict the night sky, including stars,…

Phil CollaJanuary 10, 2013

Astrophotography and Night Scapes Beautiful Views of San Diego San Diego

Night Star Trails over the Downtown San Diego City Skyline

San Diego City Skyline Night Photograph with Star Trails I met friend and photographer Garry McCarthy at 0-dark-30 yesterday morning, with the goal of photographing the downtown San Diego city skyline with star trails circling above. Exceptionally clear skies are required for this sort of photograph since any moisture or…

Phil CollaJanuary 6, 2013

Astrophotography and Night Scapes Sierra Nevada

Milky Way Arching over Sky Rock Petroglyphs at Night, Bishop

Sky Rock Petroglyph and the Milky Way Galaxy, Bishop, California This image has been a goal of mine for some years. Ever since I first saw Sky Rock in person, and realized how fully its skyward gaze ties it -- and its visionary creator of many centuries ago -- to…

Phil CollaNovember 28, 2012

Astrophotography and Night Scapes Canyonlands The American Southwest Utah

False Kiva at Sunset, Canyonlands National Park, Utah

False Kiva Photo, Sunset Canyonlands National Park, Utah One afternoon in Canyonlands National Park I came up with an ambitious plan: to hike to False Kiva on the edge of the Island in the Sky mesa, photograph the dusk and early evening there, hike out and then shoot Mesa Arch…

Phil CollaOctober 16, 2012

Arches Astrophotography and Night Scapes The American Southwest Utah

Delicate Arch and Milky Way Stars at Night, Arches National Park, Utah

Delicate Arch at Night, Milky Way and Stars Overhead. Arches National Park, Utah. I spent a wonderful evening photographing Delicate Arch in Arches National Park. It was warm and dry, with a clear star-filled sky overhead and just a speck of breeze. I photographed Delicate Arch and the moon at…

Phil CollaOctober 15, 2012

Arches Astrophotography and Night Scapes The American Southwest Utah

Pillar of Stone, Milky Way, Stars and Clouds, Arches National Park, Utah

This sandstone pillar in Arches National Park, which probably has an official name, looks to me like an enormous totem pole. I photographed it at night with a short enough exposure to freeze the stars but long enough that the quick moving clouds blurred across the sky. Lighting was tough…

Phil CollaOctober 11, 2012

Arches Astrophotography and Night Scapes The American Southwest Utah

Balanced Rock and Milky Way at Night, Arches National Park, Utah

Balanced Rock at Night, Arches National Park Balanced Rock rises 128' (39m) above the surrounding land, just off the main road in Arches National Park. It is an outstanding example of erosion and sandstone layering. The precariously perched capstone rock is made of harder sandstone than the layers beneath. As…

Phil CollaOctober 8, 2012

Arches Astrophotography and Night Scapes The American Southwest Utah

Photo of Delicate Arch and Milky Way, Hiker, Light Painting

Photo of Delicate Arch At Night and The Milky Way Galaxy, Arches National Park, Utah I recently made a short trip to Arches National Park to do some photography. One of the photos I made is a self-portrait, showing me light painting Delicate Arch at dusk with the Milky Way…

Phil CollaOctober 6, 2012

Astrophotography and Night Scapes Canyonlands Panoramas The American Southwest Utah

Milky Way Over Mesa Arch, Panorama, Canyonlands National Park

Panoramic Photo of the Milky Way Arcing Over Mesa Arch, Canyonlands National Park, Utah Earlier this year I spent an evening photographing Mesa Arch, the famous and oft-pictured natural stone arch at the precipice of Canyonlands National Park. I photographed Mesa Arch at sunrise twice previously -- quite fortunately alone…

Phil CollaOctober 2, 2012

Astrophotography and Night Scapes California Sierra Nevada Yosemite

Stars Over Half Dome and Glacier Point, Yosemite National Park

Stars Over Half Dome and Glacier Point, Yosemite National Park If you want to be alone at Glacier Point, the popular overlook in Yosemite National Park, there are two ways to have the place to yourself: visit in the depths of winter, or visit in the wee hours of the…

Phil CollaOctober 1, 2012

Astrophotography and Night Scapes California Joshua Tree The American Southwest

Milky Way Rising Over Joshua Trees

Joshua Tree National Park is the closest National Park to my home, so I visit it several times each year. It is a desert park, arid and sometimes quite hot, and given its proximity to Los Angeles it can be crowded on weekends which makes exploring Joshua Tree National Park…

Phil CollaSeptember 29, 2012

Arches Astrophotography and Night Scapes The American Southwest Utah

Tower of Babel and Starry Night, Arches National Park, Utah

Stars over the Tower of Babel, Arches National Park, Utah The Tower of Babel is one of the most imposing and distinctive sandstone structures in Arches National Park. An enormous narrow freestanding wall or "fin" of Entrada sandstone, the Tower of Babel may, over the course of eons, erode into…

Phil CollaSeptember 27, 2012

Arches Astrophotography and Night Scapes The American Southwest Utah

Landscape Arch and Milky Way at Night, Arches National Park, Utah

Landscape Arch and Milky Way at Night, Arches National Park, Utah Landscape Arch in Arches National Park, Utah, is considered to be the longest natural arch in the world, having a span of 290 feet (89m) . Landscape Arch is gradually falling apart, with at least three sections of the…

Phil CollaSeptember 26, 2012

Astrophotography and Night Scapes California Trees White Mountains

Ancient Bristlecone Pine Trees, Pinus longaeva, White Mountains, Inyo National Forest

Ancient Bristlecone Pine Trees, Pinus longaeva, White Mountains, Inyo National Forest Ancient Bristlecone pine trees (Pinus longaeva) live in a relatively restricted area of eastern California, Nevada and Utah, typically at altitudes above 9500'. The ancient bristlecone pine tree is considered to be the world's oldest species of tree (and…

Phil CollaJune 12, 2012

Astrophotography and Night Scapes Yosemite

Yosemite Falls and Star Trails at Night

Yosemite Falls at Night, with Star Trails and Polaris Yosemite Falls is easily the one waterfall near which I have spent the most time over the course of my life. I am in Yosemite often, especially in spring which is my favorite season to be in Yosemite National Park, and…

Phil CollaJune 1, 2012

Astrophotography and Night Scapes Joshua Tree The American Southwest

Juniper, Rock and Star Trails, Joshua Tree National Park

I made a brief trip up to Joshua Tree National Park recently with Garry McCarthy to do some night photography. In Southern California it is difficult to find night skies that are clear enough for productive night photography and heading east to the desert with its dry air and relative…

Phil CollaMay 30, 2012

Astrophotography and Night Scapes Yosemite

Yosemite Falls and Star Trails

Stock Photos of Yosemite National Park. I've updated my collection of Yosemite photos, including the one below which I made at 2am a few evenings before the last new moon. One of the spring lunar rainbows that form in upper and lower Yosemite Falls -- which are a lot of…

Phil CollaJuly 12, 2011

Astrophotography and Night Scapes Icons Joshua Tree

Heavenly Arch on EarthShots

I made a spur-of-the-moment trip with Garry McCarthy to do some night-time photography. We were pretty sleep-deprived by the time we were done, jacked up on coffee and then having to drive several hours home as the sun was just rising, but I managed to make four or five images…

Phil CollaJune 4, 2011

Astrophotography and Night Scapes The American Southwest Utah

Milky Way Rising Over Hoodoos

The first morning of my recent roadtrip around northern Arizona and southern Utah with a few old diving buddies found us at the Toadstool Hoodoos a few hours before dawn. Garry McCarthy is always thinking of ways to creatively photograph the night sky, and on this trip he suggested photographing…

Phil CollaApril 11, 2011

Astrophotography and Night Scapes California Sierra Nevada

North Lake, Dusk to Dawn

I suppose photos of North Lake shoreline in fall are cliche, in part because of the internet and the fact that so many photographers now visit this small area to photograph eastern Sierra fall colors during a few weeks each October. I still have yet to be there when a…

Phil CollaOctober 17, 2010

Astrophotography and Night Scapes

Photo of Jupiter and moons Europa, Callisto and Ganymede

Photo of Jupiter and its moons Europa, Callisto and Ganymede Last night as I put my daughter to bed, we looked out her window. The moon was bright and clear, and below and just to the right of the moon was an especially bright star. When we noticed smaller specks…

Phil CollaSeptember 23, 2010

Astrophotography and Night Scapes California Sierra Nevada

Photo of Mobius Arch, Alabama Hills

Mobius Arch Photograph I made a banzai run up to the Alabama Hills last weekend. The weather forecast looked favorable, and I had not been up along the Eastern Sierra for some years, so it just seemed like the thing to do. I got up early to photograph Mobius Arch…

Phil CollaNovember 10, 2008

Astrophotography and Night Scapes California Landscape National Parks Sierra Nevada Yosemite

Yosemite Falls Lunar Rainbow

After getting word that the waterfalls in Yosemite are pouring at ginormous levels right now (due to a timely combination of last winter's deep snowpack and recent warm weather), I blasted up to Yosemite Valley for a quickie. Indeed, all the falls were huge. As I drove into the Valley…

Phil CollaMay 15, 2006

Shooting Star over Delicate Arch at Night, Arches National Park, Utah

Landscape Astrophotography

Night Star Trails over the Downtown San Diego City Skyline

Milky Way Arching over Sky Rock Petroglyphs at Night, Bishop

False Kiva at Sunset, Canyonlands National Park, Utah

Delicate Arch and Milky Way Stars at Night, Arches National Park, Utah

Pillar of Stone, Milky Way, Stars and Clouds, Arches National Park, Utah

Balanced Rock and Milky Way at Night, Arches National Park, Utah

Photo of Delicate Arch and Milky Way, Hiker, Light Painting

Milky Way Over Mesa Arch, Panorama, Canyonlands National Park

Stars Over Half Dome and Glacier Point, Yosemite National Park

Milky Way Rising Over Joshua Trees

Tower of Babel and Starry Night, Arches National Park, Utah

Landscape Arch and Milky Way at Night, Arches National Park, Utah

Ancient Bristlecone Pine Trees, Pinus longaeva, White Mountains, Inyo National Forest

Yosemite Falls and Star Trails at Night

Juniper, Rock and Star Trails, Joshua Tree National Park

Yosemite Falls and Star Trails

Heavenly Arch on EarthShots

Milky Way Rising Over Hoodoos

North Lake, Dusk to Dawn

Photo of Jupiter and moons Europa, Callisto and Ganymede

Photo of Mobius Arch, Alabama Hills

Yosemite Falls Lunar Rainbow

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