SLEEPING IN FOR ONCE
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There was no sunrise shoot this morning.
After all the early mornings and late nights, we actually got to sleep in.
Well, sort of.
I decided to make a quick stop at the hardware store next to the grocery store because we had a problem.
Flies.
There always seemed to be one flying around inside the car, landing on our faces, buzzing around the windshield and generally driving us insane.
I needed a fly swatter.
Priorities.
PRAIRIE DOGS, OF COURSE
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We ended up driving down Sage Creek Rim Road to check out the prairie dogs at Roberts Prairie Dog Town.
There were a couple of bison around, and a pronghorn, but they were pretty far away. Even with a telephoto lens, they weren't close enough to make much of a photograph.
So I focused on the prairie dogs.
As I mentioned in an earlier post (Northbound Through the Plains), I could watch these little guys all day long. They're so cute.
I looked around for some models, but many of these prairie dogs were pretty skittish compared to the ones I'd photographed at Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
They weren't exactly interested in cooperating with my photography plans.
SCOUTING FOR THE NIGHT
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Eventually, it was time to move on and check out a potential location for sunset and the Milky Way.
We photographed some of the landscape during the day so we could get ideas for compositions later that evening.
That's one of the things I've learned about night photography. You can't always figure out your composition once it's completely dark. It's much easier to scout the landscape while you can actually see what you're doing.
After scouting the area for sunset compositions, we made a quick stop at another location.
There was a vault toilet.
Nothing unusual about that.
What was unusual was what we saw outside.
A pair of hiking shoes.
We all looked at them.
Then at the vault toilet.
Then back at the shoes.
Were we supposed to take our shoes off before going inside?
Once we'd taken care of the necessary business, we walked around for a bit and noticed a lone bison sitting near one of the formations.
Just minding his own business. I didn’t have my camera on me so I wasn’t able to capture the bison.
Eventually, we got back into our cars and headed back toward town.
THE COFFEE DISAPPOINTMENT
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Some of us stopped at a local coffee shop because we were getting a little tired. We knew we'd need a jolt of caffeine if we were going to stay awake for another night of photography.
I ordered a caramel latte.
I was really hoping it would be as good as the one I'd had at Cedar Pass Lodge.
It wasn't.
Not even close.
It tasted watered down, and my taste buds couldn't find the caramel flavor anywhere.
What a letdown.
But while we were there, something much nicer happened.
The church bells rang.
I just stopped and listened.
There was something incredibly calming about hearing those bells in the middle of town. After all the driving, photographing, processing and trying to stay awake, it was one of those little moments you don't plan for but end up remembering.
With our caffeine fix—or at least what we hoped would qualify as one—we headed back to the motel.
AND THEN IT FINALLY CLICKED
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Back at the motel, we had more instruction on processing our photographs.
One thing in particular had always frustrated me: editing my photographs in Photoshop.
I understood the concept of what we were trying to accomplish, but actually doing it correctly was another story.
For someone who isn't a photographer, one of the things we were working on was essentially taking different parts of a photograph and combining them to create the final image. Sometimes the sky looks best with one exposure while the foreground looks better with another. Photoshop lets you blend those pieces together.
The concept wasn't the problem for me.
Executing it was.
Remember my Photoshop struggles from Part I? We worked on it again, and I tried following the steps.
And then...
It finally clicked.
The one thing that had been holding me back for years.
I finally got it.
It was a game changer.
I sat there working on this photo or that photo, and honestly, I didn't really care how they looked at the time.
I just kept repeating the process.
Again.
And again.
I wanted to make sure I could remember the steps.
I could always improve the look of the images later.
As long as I understood the process, I knew I could work on the finished photograph afterward.
For the first time, I felt like I actually understood what I was doing.
Grumpy Grandma Under the Stars
Can you see her? Combed-back hair and hands weaving through it, with the Milky Way rising overhead. Foreground and sky captured separately the same evening.
SALTY STEER — AGAIN
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Class was over, and we decided to eat at the Salty Steer again.
Yep.
Again.
It was an easy choice, and they had pretty good food.
I ordered the salmon with vegetables.
Again.
I couldn't go wrong with that.
ONE VOLUNTEER
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After dinner, we returned to our rooms to gather our gear.
I had cleared out the front passenger seat because I figured it would be nice to have some company for the evening.
But I made one thing clear.
Whoever rode with me needed to be willing to stay out late if the night was good.
I wasn't going to leave early just because everyone else was ready to go.
Fortunately, I had one volunteer.
We headed out.
A DIFFERENT LOCATION
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We didn't actually shoot at the location we'd visited earlier that afternoon, and that was okay.
I actually loved this location.
There were so many different compositions to choose from.
We put on our snake gaiters once again and headed out.
Although I liked where we were initially taken, Ian wanted to show us some other options, so I followed him.
Yeah...
It was a little freaky. The path ran right along the edge of some deep crevasses.
I really didn't want to slip and fall.
But I wasn't going to be a wimp about it either. I really wanted to see what the other compositions looked like.
And I'm really glad I did.
We took our foreground shots and then moved on to the next location before the evening turned completely dark.
I definitely didn't want to be caught out there in the darkness.
Those crevasses were enough of a reason to head back.
TWO CAMERAS, TWO GOALS
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Once again, we were able to set up our star trackers and start shooting.
This time, the focus was on star trails for anyone who wanted to give them a try.
I figured I'd try it too, but with my GoPro Hero 13. I didn't want to miss the opportunity to photograph the Milky Way with my astro-modified camera.
An astro-modified camera is basically a regular camera that has its standard filter removed or modified so it can capture more of the red light that's present in the night sky.
I set up both cameras.
My astro-modified camera was for the Milky Way.
For star trails, you can point your camera toward Polaris—the North Star—and keep taking photographs for an hour or more. As the Earth rotates, the stars appear to move across the sky.
When the images are combined, the stars form long, curved trails that create multiple concentric circles around Polaris.
The start trails didn’t go well. I bumped the tripod and there were too many lights from headlights, car lights. It was my first attempt with the GoPro so I learned a few things.
If you’re going to do star trails, don’t do them where there will be lights around. And, once you start the camera, step away, and stay away.
My other camera was focused on the Milky Way.
I also took a few images using my red (H-alpha) filter.
Before long, the Milky Way core was getting ready to disappear below the horizon.
Time goes by so fast when you're enjoying what you're doing.
Everyone eventually started packing up.
Everyone except me and the other photographer who had his star tracker.
We stayed out late.
I think it was around 11:30 p.m., but honestly, I can't remember.
I was having too much fun.
AFTER THE MILKY WAY
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Once the Milky Way decided to go to sleep for the night, we turned towards other parts of the sky and started photographing whatever we could.
The North America Nebula.
The Pleiades.
The California Nebula.
There was still plenty to see, but these require additional editing so I just wanted to show you the image right out of the camera. Maybe one day I will sit down and learn how to process these.
North America Nebula. Can you make it out?
Eventually, though, we knew we had to call it.
We had an early morning coming.
WHO IS DRIVING AROUND OUT THERE?
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As we stood there enjoying the night sky, we started seeing a truck driving around with an extremely bright light.
I thought it was a park ranger looking for someone.
Was someone lost?
Had someone committed a crime?
What was going on?
Later, I learned that it may have simply been a rancher looking for one of his escapees.
Cattle.
Of course.
Suddenly, the bright light made a lot more sense.
NOPE. NOT TAKING BIG FOOT ROAD
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It was probably time to head back.
We had a very early morning ahead of us—witnessing something I hadn't experienced since 2021.
We were told we could take Big Foot Road or the main road back to town.
Big Foot Road came with a warning.
There could be black cattle wandering along the road, and because it was dark, we might not see them until it was too late.
The possibility of hitting a black cow in the darkness?
Yeah.
I'll pass.
We took the main road back to town.
THE LAST PARKING SPACE
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When we finally got back to the motel, there was only one parking space left.
Of course, it was the one closest to the road.
I wasn't thrilled about that.
Being right next to the road made me a little uneasy, especially because I wasn't entirely sure how safe the town was at night.
But at that point, I was tired.
Very tired.
FAIRY LAND
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I'm actually glad I had company that evening.
We had fun, had some laughs and spent the night photographing things we enjoyed.
Eventually, it was time to call it a night.
We said our goodnights and headed off to fairy land.
I was going to need the sleep.
There was another early morning ahead.
