This One’s for Mark

Milky Way over Kayostia BeachLast week I made a 6-day backpacking trip along the beach in Olympic National Park. More on the trip later. For now I want to just present one image. This is a nightscape I made near my camp at the Norwegian Memorial last Thursday night.

My friend and fellow photographer, Mark Cole, who ventured with me recently to Palouse Falls, also made arrangements to go to the Olympic coast (without my knowledge of his trip, and him without knowledge of my trip) with the expressed intent of doing night photography. As it turned out, we camped about 1/4 mile apart on Tuesday night near the Ozette River, me on the north side and he on the south side. Tuesday night was cloudy. We met up on the wilderness beach on Wednesday morning, and hiked together for a while, and he confirmed he did not get any shots Tuesday night. After awhile, he headed back to his camp and I kept going.

Mark planned to stay Wednesday night at his camp near the Ozette River. I have yet to talk with him, and I don’t know if he made any decent night shots – but it was again cloudy were I was camped.

Then came Thursday. Mark stated he was only out for two nights, so it is probable he missed this. The Milky Way in all its splendor on Thursday night. So this one’s for Mark. Better luck next time!

Technical details – 30-second exposure, ISO 6400, f4, 17mm on a 17-40mm zoom. Light painting done with a headlamp with a Roscoe diffuser and an orange gel.

Comments

14 responses to “This One’s for Mark”

  1. mithriluna Avatar

    Wow, magnificent.

  2. Frank King Photos Avatar

    This is a beauty, Joe. Excellent light painting, too.

  3. Dharmesh Avatar

    That’s an enchanting night!

  4. Ernie Misner Avatar

    Your patience really paid off big time Joe. Very head’s up using the headlamp with diffuser and gel!

    1. joebecker Avatar

      Thanks Ernie. I learned about using a diffuser from Royce Bair (when he came to talk to the Mountaineers in Tacoma earlier this year, and from his ebook). Also, most headlamps these days use LED bulbs, which give a very blue light. I thought the orange gel would help, and the color turned out much better than I had even hoped.

  5. Lena Avatar

    Wow! It is an absolut magic one…love this photo!

  6. Prismartic Avatar

    Fantastic photo.

  7. bookheathen Avatar

    WOW!!! I haven’t seen the Milky Way in a long time.

  8. Susan Helmus Avatar

    That is just beautiful!!!! I haven’t seen a night sky in so long since it’s blocked by light pollution. Time to get out into the woods. Thanks for the inspiration

  9. brighamstephen Avatar

    Sort of puts everything into perspective.

  10. madisynclaire Avatar

    This is absolutely beautiful… you are so incredibly talented!!

  11. […] I mentioned a recent post, last month I went backpacking in Olympic National Park along the coast with my brother Rob and his […]

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