Mesa Arch Starry Night

Recently, I've seen some amazing night photography from some of my peers. Some of this has been spurred by the incredible light sensitivity - high ISO capabilities - of recent imaging sensors. It has inspired many to stretch their creativity and continue taking photos long after sunset.

I couldn't pass up the opportunity to try my hand at night shooting and light painting while spending time under some of the darkest skies in all of North America - the Utah desert. Another photographer, Eric Vaughan, and I spent over an hour at Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park - Island in the Sky District. The sky was very dark by 8pm and we began experimenting with exposures, strobes, and a large "million candle power" hand held spotlight. It was a lot of fun and the instant feedback of viewing images on our camera's LCD screen made the trial and error much easier and more successful. The following image was taken with my Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L @ 17mm, with an exposure of 25 seconds @ f/4, ISO 3200 and a dash with the spotlight across the arch. I'm amazed and the number of stars visible and the relative lack of noise. This image probably won't hold up for large prints, >16"x20" due to the amount of noise and slight trailing of the stars. But the fact that this is only a 25 second exposure just blows me away. I will continue to experiment with some of the newer blending and night shooting techniques and try to further improve the resulting image quality.