The Traveling Widower

Tag: moab-utah

  • Arches & Astrophotography – Random Thoughts

    Star-filled night sky above rock formations with the Milky Way visible.

    April 24th, 2026

    Time for one of those mind dumps of all the odd thoughts that have crossed my mind this past week.

    Astrophotography

    I’ve never been more than just mildly interested in astronomy – I like looking at starry skies, and can pick out one or two constellations, but I rarely go out of my way to look for comets, satellites, eclipses or any other astronomical event. The same goes for night sky photography – I’ve never been able to even get a good shot of a full moon, and have never made much of an effort to learn how to do that. Last summer was my first attempt, when I spent an evening at a (mostly) dark sky state park (Mitchell Lake)  up in the Sierra, to photograph the Milky Way. I did some Google/Youtube research, and made a few reasonably good shots without really understanding what I was doing. So when I saw the workshop description in a Mike’s Camera e-mail, I thought it might be nice to get some education and hands-on experience, in a National Park that is on my bucket-list to visit. Here’s my thoughts on this rather specialized category of photography, after my five day deep dive:

    • This is probably the most technical genre of photography that I’ve been exposed to so far (yes, another intended pun). You really need to understand low-light photography, the relationships between ISO, aperture and shutter speed, how images are stored on sensors, and all the bells and whistles that your camera has and how to use them. You cannot just set your camera on fully automatic, and hope for the best, even with the new AI features in the latest offerings from the camera manufacturers. Someone asked me what my Kelvin settings were….I knew at that point that I was in trouble.
    • Adobe Lightroom (or an equivalent image processing software package) is mandatory once you have captured an image, no matter how good your camera is. And, you need to have more than just basic experience with the software to produce anything worthwhile unless you are really lucky. Example of luck: a passing car light painted the Balanced Rock as I was shooting. Came out pretty nice. 
    • It’s really incredibly dark in designated dark sky locations – you need to be able to work your camera and tripod without light. And you need to be comfortable with walking down potentially rough paths with minimal lighting from red-light headlamps. If you have balance issues (I do – really awful neuropathy), a hiking stick will be a must – it is easy to lose your balance when you are standing in the dark, and it is easy to trip and fall even when you are simply shuffling in place. Unfortunately, one person in our group did take a fall one night – she did some damage, but was able to continue on that evening, and for the rest of the workshop. A dedicated photographer!
    • And not only will it be pitch-black dark, depending on the time of year and what you are focusing on (ex. Milky Way, meteor showers, etc.) you will likely be up way past your usual bedtime. Get used to staying up until the wee hours of the morning, and learning how to nap for a few hours during the day. You never really catch up on sleep until the trip is over.
    • Another thought struck me the other day, related to the dependency on post processing tools such as Adobe Lightroom. There is a great deal of artistic creativity involved in generating those beautiful star and Milky Way photographs you see in magazines and galleries. You really do not get that with the naked eye, at least in the two locations where I’ve recently seen the Milky Way. So much depends on the sensor in the camera, and how the camera stores all that information down to the pixel level. Our eyes and brain cannot do what the camera and computer can do to process that information. When you process the image with Adobe Lightroom, you are adding (or removing) colors, adding brightness to the stars, accentuating the colors and brightness of the Milky Way core, and even bringing out some of the detail of the foreground, which is completely dark to the naked eye, and underexposed in the image. Some post-processing is considered kosher in club competitions and contests – but it just seems like the processing required to make a starry sky shot really pop is pushing the limits.

    Some thoughts on the Workshop 

    I’ve done a few hands-on photography trips before, but these were all one day and done, not multi-day with significant travel requirements like this one. I was not sure what to expect, but this definitely exceeded all expectations both known and unknown. The trip was offered through Mike’s Camera, but organized and run by a photographer who has his own workshop company, specializing in all aspects of night-time, low-light photography. I do not normally advertise for anyone, but this one was special:

    Image 10 Photographic – www.image10photographic.com, run by Craig Wennersten

    He is a veritable fountain of knowledge when it comes to low light photography, and works closely with each member of the group, no matter what their experience level is with their equipment. He plans out each evening, based on his knowledge of the area, the weather conditions, and from mapping out the times the stars will be positioned at each location to get the best photographs possible. Craig runs workshops for the Milky Way, Northern Lights and other astrophotography experiences. Check his Web site out if you are interested in a great learning experience.

    OK, end of advertisement. I’m not getting paid for it – just thought he was a great guy and with all the tens of viewers I have on this blo, it might be nice to give him some free blogosphere visibility.

    What was really different for me, as I mentioned in a previous blog, was to be on a trip where the focus was entirely on photography, with a bunch of fellow ‘gear heads’. The National Geographic/Lindblad trips typically have a number of semi-serious photographers, and their is always a NG photographer on board who are more than willing to provide guidance and advice – but this workshop was a non-stop learning experience for me. I now have a much improved understanding of many of the features of my Sony A7R5, as well as more than just the basics on setting ISO, shutter speed and F-stop for low lighting situations.

    We also spent a lot of time discussing (and using) Adobe Lightroom Classic, for post processing. Craig has a very detailed workflow for processing Milky Way images, which he demonstrated (using one of my shots) in one of our afternoon sessions, and then shared a document which describes each step of the workflow in detail. Absolutely invaluable information. It is absolutely amazing what you can do to a RAW image with this application, especially once you gain some expertise with all the features.

    As an example of novice vs. expert, here is my first attempt at post processing (top), versus what Craig was able to do in a few minutes (bottom). Mine was OK, but his really brought out the color and increased the contrast between the dark sky and the stars.

    Silhouette of a towering rock formation against a starry night sky with the Milky Way visible.
    A night sky filled with stars and the Milky Way, featuring striking rock formations in the foreground illuminated by faint red light.

    Moab and Arches National Park

    I was really impressed with Moab – yeah, it’s extremely touristy with lots of tacky souvenir shops and 4-wheel adventure tour companies, but then there are lots of really good restaurants and brew pubs (can’t say that from experience though), multiple ice cream/gelato shops (tried four of them, yum), and lots of nice hotels. There’s even a parking lot for food trucks. This is usually the kind of place I try to avoid, but I kind of liked the place. 

    It seems like every time I go to a national park that I’ve never been to before, I forget all the other parks I’ve been to and it becomes my new favorite. This time was no different. I spent the better part of seven days, day and night, wandering through ANP, and did not have the time to explore much beyond the parking lots. I also missed out on sunrises, which should be spectacular with all the red rock formations, and would love to see more sunsets as well. I will not cross this off my bucket list yet – I really do want to return again. But spend more time when the sun is out. 

    Highs and Lows 

    Best Day Overall – probably the Monday everyone else left. I did not enjoy being alone, but I was able to see a lot of the park during the day, did some hiking, had time for a dip in the spa, and had perfect weather for my solo Milky Way shoot that night.

    Worst Mistake – not checking out my selected setup spot at the Sand Dune Arch. I should have noticed that the two trail signs would wind up in my photos. All I had to do was find a spot a 20 feet away in either direction. Duh. Fortunately, I can sort of hide the signs with post processing. A close second was my major, time wasting goof when we were shooting for a star trace, sitting in the car for an hour without confirming that my camera was actually taking photos.

    Best Arch – well, I did not see them all, but I thought the Double Arch was the most impressive. I’d like to have seen that at sunrise or sunset, and perhaps done a night session there as well. Maybe next time. 

    Best Ice Cream – tough choice, the four I tried were all good. The Moab Coffee Shop had the best gelato though. The Spoke Center restaurenat had excellent ice cream (Orange Creamsicle).

    Worst Conditions – Friday night – the sky was clear, but the temperatures dropped down way past my threshold. That was my other mistake – I prepared for rain, not for cold weather. I wound up buy a set of thermals and even with those extra layers, I had to bail out before the last session. I was numb.

    Best Hike – that’s easy since I only did a few. The Landscape Arch trail. Great views along the way, and a nice workout. I really wanted to do the length of Park Avenue, but ran out of time and energy.

    Best Milky Way Location – another tough choice. I’ll take the Balanced Rock as my favorite since it’s a narrow, impressive feature and you can get the MW centered above it.

    Good Health News – no cardiac issues at all!

    Not so good health news – Hiking during the day on even paths is OK, as long as I’m careful. Rock scrambling is a problem for me now – I had to be very careful in the Double Arch area, and was too wobbly around the Garden of Eden to go very far. And standing still in the dark is a problem – I had to hold on to the tripod at times. Neuropathy sucks.

    Summary – Overall, a really great trip – fantastic scenery, fun group of people, excellent trip lead and a great learning experience. 

    And if you made it this far reading this post, here are a bunch of curated photos.

    A starry night sky with the Milky Way visible above rugged rock formations and a dark landscape.
    Silhouette of rock formations under a starry night sky with clouds.
    Night sky filled with stars and the Milky Way above dark rock formations.
    Silhouetted rock formations under a starry night sky with the Milky Way visible.
    A starry night sky featuring the Milky Way, with large rock formations silhouetted in the foreground.
    A night sky filled with countless stars, with a gradient of colors towards the horizon. The landscape below features silhouettes of desert terrain and shrubs under the starlit sky.
    A panoramic view of a rocky landscape under a starry night sky, showcasing a dramatic rock formation illuminated by soft lighting.

  • Astrophotography – It’s Dark Out There!

    A photographer standing in a snowy landscape at night, capturing the Milky Way above a rock arch formation, with icicles hanging from his camera lens.
    I wish I had that coat on this trip

    April 18th, 2026

    Yesterday was my first real introduction to the world of astrophotography. Maybe I get a badge for that. My first impressions were:

    • The night sky is amazing in places like Arches National Park
    • It’s very dark out there
    • It can also be freezing cold
    • You spend most of your time standing around waiting for stars to move around
    • The technology is complicated, and you have to chanage a lot of things in the dark with numb fingers.
    • And..you have to take on vampire hours.

    The plan for the evening was for a very long one, starting with sunset photos and then moving around to different locations to try out creating star trails, and then photograph the Milky Way as it rises above the horizen. We would be out from 6:30PM to 5:30AM. Yawn.

    The sunset stop was at the Windows Arches area, which I had been to the day before when the weather was windy and cloudy. This time, it conditions were perfect, and the images have much more color and depth to them

    Sunset view of arches in a desert landscape, showcasing vibrant red rock formations and sparse vegetation.
    A scenic view of a red rock formation with a natural arch at sunset, showcasing the vibrant colors of the rock and the clear sky.
    A scenic view of tall red rock formations against a clear blue sky, surrounded by sparse vegetation.
    Landscape featuring red rock formations, sparse vegetation, and a bare tree at sunset in a desert environment.

    Once the sun had set, we headed over to the first stop of the night, further down the road at the Sand Dunes Arch area where would try our hand at star trails – this where you create one of those cool images of a whorl of stars, by creating interval photos focused on the same point. You then use specialized software to stack the images together.

    By this time, it was absolutely pitch black – the red light headlamps give you just enough light to navigate easy trails and parking lots and fortunately, we were shooting from the parking lot. It was getting very cold by now, and the setup for shooting the trails takes quite a while, doing test shots and tweaking settings. I had mine perfect, and when the trip lead said go ahead and start, I depressed the shutter, closed off the view screen to conserve battery strength, and headed carefully over to the car to stay warm. Someone called out to me to question whether my camera was working since everyone else left their views screens open, but I was sure it was OK. I huddled in the car for an hour, noticing a big flash as a meteor fireball passed overhead…big deal, I’ve got it on camera. After an hour, it was time to go so I ventured out carefully to retrieve my gear, and quickly check to see if I had caught the meteor. Well not only did I not have that, but I had nothing but the very first picture. There should have been 500. So much for all the preparation. I figured out what happened later that evening – I have a remote shutter control, which I kept in my pocket. When I reached for the car keys I probably pressed the shutter release, which terminated the process. Oh well, maybe next time.

    We made two more stop afer that, with the temperature dropping rapidly to freezing. By the time we reached the second one, which I had been to when I first arrived in Moab, my legs and hands were numb, and my baloance was way off. We wound up on a dark, rocky trail, setting up on a curved rock with lots of smaller rocks all over the place. Someone was bound to fall. Fortunately it was not me, but the person who did trip and fall did some damage – tore up her hand and had a huge bruise on her head. We had someone with a first aide kit who helped to patch her up, and she was OK a bit later, but it turned out she did have a concussion. I’m going to be even more careful the rest of the trip.

    I got some nice photos at the last stop, and decided I had enough and returned to the hotel around 4AM, while the rest of the group went on to the last stop. I was cold and exhausted. I slept until close to noon. Ready for the next outing.

    I did capture a few good shots, including a few with the Milky Way – I need to do much more processing with Adobe Lightroom before I post most of them.

    Silhouette of large rock formations under a starry night sky with the Milky Way visible in the background.
    A dramatic night sky filled with stars above illuminated rock formations.

    The trip lead gave a presentation on Lightroom Classic this afternoon, using my Milky Way photo for the demonstration – amazing software. This is what he came up with – I hope to be able to replicate that.

    A silhouette of rock formations against a starry night sky, featuring the Milky Way galaxy prominently.
    Edited version of my photo. I hope to duplicate those edits

    Peace