Todd Caudle - Dec 23, 2004 5:07 pm - Voted 10/10
Cool shot!This is actually kinda neat! Looks like your flash fired, thus illuminating the rain that was falling. Not too many successful night shots around here.
billokc - Dec 23, 2004 6:58 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: Cool shot!If you're referring to the white streaks in the sky, those are stars. This is a nighttime long exposure of about 20 minutes or so. The camera is mounted on a tripod. Since the Earth turns, the stars appear to move in the sky thus creating star 'trails'.
The film used for this was Kodak 1000, which was new at the time (Aug '84). My standard was Kodachrome 64 and Kodacolor 200. I just wanted to experiment with the 1000 to see what results I could get with it doing some simple long exposures. It turned out to be a rather grainy film, and Kodak didn't produce it for very long.
The weather that night was fairly clear except for the clouds seen in the pic. The wind died during the night and at Sunrise it was 27 degrees.
billokc - Dec 23, 2004 7:14 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: Cool shot!Well, this is a little embarassing...I posted a reply before looking at your profile page. So there I was telling a photographer how I took a night shot. DUH!!
As if I needed to tell you how it was done.............
Todd Caudle - Dec 24, 2004 11:23 am - Voted 10/10
Re: Cool shot!Yeah, my first thought was star trails, but then I saw star trails in FRONT of clouds. That's what made me think your flash fired, even during a long exposure, thus illuminating raindrops. Interesting.
On a side note, whenever I'm in the mountains at a place where I can see city lights (camping on Pikes Peak, for instance), I get a strong feeling of loneliness or disconnectedness. It's wierd. I love seeing city lights like this, but it always gives me a funny, uncomfortable feeling.
(paging Dr. Freud, Dr. Sigmund Freud. You have a patient waiting...)
Todd Caudle - Dec 24, 2004 11:25 am - Voted 10/10
Re: Cool shot!Okay, the more I look at this, the more apparent it is that the star trails only appear where clouds don't. I thought the whole sky was pretty cloudy. It's still a really cool shot.
The Lower Marmot - Dec 24, 2004 1:31 pm - Voted 10/10
Re: Cool shot!I remember reading Krakauer describe the same sensation of loneliness while climbing The Devil's Thumb in Eiger Dreams. I felt it a little bit this summer in Peru, but I was in small villages, so it wasn't nearly the same.
billokc - Dec 24, 2004 4:13 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: Cool shot!Disconnectedness.....now there's a new word. I think most anyone who engages in obscure activities feels 'something' that the vast majority of society doesn't even know exists.
Speaking only for myself, I spent many years working all-night shifts which gave me a 'different' view/perspective on our world. In addition, astronomy (or star gazing as some call it) enhances that 'different' view.
Even though it's been a number of years since those two nights at Trinchera base, I do remember having a special feeling of being able to see a very different view of our planet that otherwise can't be seen except from high altitude flight or from earth orbit, not to mention the satisfaction of accomplishing a photo project I dreamed up years ago. And while I was there, I was also quite pleased with myself for being there all night because I was doing something most people would never even consider or dream of doing...sort of like climbing mountains in the middle of winter if you know what I mean.
As far as lonliness is concerned, I never felt that because most everything I do is a solo project, especially something like that. In addition, I knew that I could drive back down to civilization anytime I felt like it--even if it was in the middle of the night.
These days, I have a pretty busy life, but if the opportunity to spend a night there again presented itself, I would jump on it.
billokc - Dec 24, 2004 5:08 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: Cool shot!If you want to see a larger version of this image and other night shots I've done, go to the website shown on my SP user page and then click on the "Nightshots/Astronomy" album. There are also albums for "West Spanish Peak/Trinchera" as well.
Todd Caudle - Dec 26, 2004 9:45 pm - Voted 10/10
Re: Cool shot!You know, I really only get that feeling when I'm somewhere where city lights are within view. It's like I'm up there in the dark, all alone, watching a city full of people go about their routines with nary a thought that I exist. I spend an awful lot of time on my own in the backcountry, or away from civilization on 4WD roads and such, and never feel that way then. There's just something about seeing the world going on without me that seems to put that uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. Strange.
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