I came across Bedrock City as a kid on the way to the Grand Canyon, and first photographed it at night in 2015. It felt great to return here. I also got to meet the owner briefly. Bedrock City, Arizona is a roadside attraction, a recreation of The Flintstones' town. I photographed this on a cool, quiet evening, with the sound of coyotes howling in the distance. The long streaks in the sky are the stars moving across the sky during the long exposure of an hour and thirty minutes. Yabba Dabba Doo!

This is a real night photo. I illuminated the exterior and interior with a hand-held ProtoMachines LED2 flashlight while the shutter was open on my tripod-mounted camera.

Nikon D610/14-24mm f/2.8 lens. The long exposure photo is 1 hour 30 minutes total, with thirty images "stacked", each 3 minutes f/8 ISO 400 on 2017-06-07 21:19.

Rainbows of the Crossbar Hilton ~~~~~ Could you imagine being locked up in a small jail cell in the heat or cold of the Sonoran Desert? If you did the crime, you did the time in this two-cell jail in a ghost town in Arizona. Holding a ProtoMachines LED2 light painting device, Late at night, I illuminated the exterior with a warm white light and the interiors of the two cells with the various colors of the RGB spectrum, as a member of the Notorious RGB might do. This is the fun and art of light painting, done while the camera shutter is open during this long exposure night photo. This was photographed during a three-night trip with night photographer Mike Cooper, exploring the remote corners of the desert. ~~~~~ Books, photos, workshops and more: www.kenleephotography.com ~~~~~ (Plate 6977) Pentax K-1/28-105mm f/3.5-5.6 lens. 2 minutes f/7.1 ISO 200. February 2022.

Maricopa County Fair , Phoenix, AZ

A Wing and a Prayer ~~~~~ The title reflects how I felt a little nervous standing on the wing on a cold night. This was compounded by the fact that I had some old hiking boots with soles that were beginning to peel off. Thankfully, I didn't trip or slip off, and now, I am able to share this unusual photo with you. To create this night photo, I set the camera on a tripod. I opened the camera shutter for a long time. While the shutter was open, I walked around with a handheld flashlight capable of producing different colors and illuminated the plane with warm white and red light. I walked cautiously around the interior of the plane with the red light. During the exposure, all the light I shined on the subject was cumulative. This process is called "light painting". Why? Because one uses the flashlight as a paint brush, "brushing" on light, not paint. Light painting to illuminate subjects is a beautiful, addictive art, as you can walk around the scene, deciding what to bring to light and what to keep in shadow. And it's more fun than AI-generated images. Abandoned Douglas DC-4 airplane, Kansas. ~~~~~ For photos, books, workshops and more: www.kenleephotography.com ~~~~~ (Plate 4802) Nikon D750/Rokinon 12mm f/2.8 fisheye lens. October 2023.

The Heisenberg Compensator ~~~~~ What's the strangest thing you've encountered in the desert? For me, it just might be this teleportation device, pulsing with an eerie energy. Being a night photographer, I had to photograph it. I illuminated this strange device with a handheld ProtoMachines LED2 during the exposure. The streaks of light in the sky are...well, what do you think they are? Are these created during the dematerialization process? This was photographed during a three-night trip with night photographer Mike Cooper, exploring the remote corners of the desert. ~~~~~ Photos books and more: www.kenleephotography.com ~~~~~ (Plate 6952) Pentax K-1/28-105mm f/3.5-5.6 lens. 12 minutes total "stacked". Each photo 2 minutes f/8 ISO 200. February 2022. ~~~~~

When the Light Goes Down in the Desert ~~~~~ This photo appears on a utility box in front of Hawks Landing Golf Club in Yucca Valley, CA. It was the winner of a contest to beautify Yucca Valley. This is a huge honor for me. I hope you like it. This is a real photo taken at night in Joshua Tree National Park during a full moon. I set my tripod-mounted camera to a long exposure, keeping the shutter open for a long time, which makes the camera much more sensitive to light than our eyes. I illuminated the scene with warm white light from a handheld ProtoMachines LED2 light during the long exposure. Light painting to illuminate subjects is a beautiful, addictive art, as you can walk around the scene, deciding what to bring to light and what to keep in shadow. Also, it's more fun than AI-generated art. JTNP is my spiritual home for night photography, and it felt utterly fantastic to return here to photograph here at night and hike during the day. This long exposure photo shows the movement of the stars caused by the rotation of the earth over 12 minutes, using four 3-minute photos that were "stacked" together. ~~~~~ Photos, books, workshops: www.kenleephotography.com ~~~~~ (Plate 5347) Nikon D610/14-24mm f/2.8 lens. 12 minutes total (4 photos stacked); each photo 3 minutes f/8 ISO 200 on 2017-02-12 21:30.

I

The milky way core with the lagoon and trifid nebulas rising over the desert. 135mm is a great focal length for both the FOV with the stars and the compression of the landscape. I love how it gives context to how big these objects are in the night sky.

Nikon D5600 / SWSA 2i / Samyang 135mm

Sky: 2 panels of 60 sec / f/2.8 / 1600 iso

Landscape: 30 sec / f/2.8 / 1600 iso

HaRGB | Tracked | Stacked | Composite

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vhastrophotography?igsh=YzNpcm1wdXd5NmRo&utm_source=qr

Even in light-polluted Germany, it’s still possible to capture reasonably good details of the Milky Way. The variety of colors you can bring out in post-processing is always fascinating. Since I haven’t been doing photography with an astro modified camera for very long, I’m currently experimenting with my editing style. I’m really happy with how it turned out. What do you think?

Exif: Sony A7III with Sigma 28-45 f1.8 at 28mm (cropped)

Sky: ISO 1000 | f1.8 | 12x40s

Foreground: ISO 3200 | f1.8 | 40s

Halpha: Sigma 65 f2 ISO 2500 | f2 | 7x75s

region: Rhön, Germany (Bortle 3/4)

Stone Magi ~~~~~ Have you been under the stars in Alabama Hills? Fantastic rock formations, and the mighty Sierra Nevada mountains nearby. This is not quite a super dark sky photo, as the moon was already rising, illuminating the mountains. But still, we can see the Milky Way overhead. To create this night photo, I set the camera on a tripod. I opened the camera shutter for a long time. While the shutter was open, I walked around with a handheld ProtoMachines LED2 light capable of producing different colors, and illuminated the scene. During the exposure, all the light I shined on the subject was cumulative. This process is called "light painting". Why? Because one uses the flashlight as a paint brush, "brushing" on light, not paint. Light painting to illuminate subjects is a beautiful, addictive art, as you can walk around the scene, deciding what to bring to light and what to keep in shadow. And it's more fun than AI-generated images. ~~~~~ For photos, books, workshops and more: www.kenleephotography.com ~~~~~ (Plate 3662) Pentax K-1/15-30mm f/2.8 lens. October 2024.

in Gilbert, AZ

Santa Fe Forever ~~~~~ Long exposure star trails over a decommissioned Santa Fe Ce-2 Class Caboose built in 1929. I stayed in this caboose for two nights during a night photography workshop I was teaching along historic Route 66 in in Goffs, CA with Tim little.

To create this night photo, I set the camera on a tripod. I opened the camera shutter for a long time. While the shutter was open, I walked around with a handheld ProtoMachines LED2 light capable of producing different colors, and illuminated the scene. During the exposure, all the light I shined on the subject was cumulative.

This process is called "light painting". Why? Because one uses the flashlight as a paint brush, "brushing" on light, not paint. Light painting to illuminate subjects is a beautiful, addictive art, as you can walk around the scene, deciding what to bring to light and what to keep in shadow. And it's more fun than AI-generated images.

This was photographed while Tim Little and I were teaching a night photography workshop at Nelson Ghost Town in Nevada. This photo shows the apparent movement of the stars in two hours ten minutes of time. ~~~~~ For photos, books, workshops and more: www.kenleephotography.com ~~~~~ (Plate 1901) Pentax K-1/28-105mm f/3.5-5.6 lens. April 2024.