Outdoor Photography Be Flexible
I had been planning a photo trip to Apache Lake in Arizona for a long time. I had been wanting to photography long exposure star and universe images in a location that would not have ambient light coming from our modern cities and get a clear shot to the stars above.
Apache Lake was a perfect spot. I had camped there before and wanted to go back to a wonderful location that had the lake in front of the camp ground and mountain ridges all around. The trip was a long way from Phoenix and the mountains shielded our location from city lights.
I decided on taking my 7-year-old son and a 14-year-old nephew. It would be a great guy’s day/night out. We would build a camp fire, cook around a outdoor grill and sleep in sleeping bags and have fun taking images together.
But I had one BIG problem!
The clouds had rolled in and I could not see the sky at all when we finally got to the location.
Long exposure outline of the stars and mountains I painted a Saguaro Cactus with fire.
I knew that is what I would do. You put your camera on a tripod and open your lens manually and then take your flash light and go around a object. I wanted to do this with cactuses and other desert flora with the lake in the background.
I set up everything and realized the batteries were dead in the flash light.
No Way!! I thought of everything but that. What was I thinking!
My last name painted with light. Can you see the stars poking out?
My nephew painting his name “Brandon” with fire stick.
I switched to plan C as I thought of what to do next. I kept the camera on the tripod and decided the boys and I would paint with light using small branches that had been burning in the fire.
Yes, I could have done these same images in my backyard but I think it was a somewhat good recovery for the night time images that was fun and I think the boys learned something in the process as well as me.
I already had something planned for the next day that would make the photo trip worthwhile.
Who doesn’t love a cross with a fire stick?
…and who doesn’t love a heart with a fire stick!
Next week I will post a blog on the second half of our photo trip and the beautiful HDR images I took on our trip back from the lake on a very scenic drive.
The partly cloudy skies were just perfect for this type of photography.
See you then!
Outdoor Photography Be Flexible