Night under the stars

We were up at 1am and on the road to Arches by 1:30am with the stars shining in the sky.  It was the coldest night we had with wind blowing also.  We drove to several locations for shots to get different features of the park in the photos.  I have posted three shots edited only in Windows photo editor.    I can say that star photography is not going to be a new thing for me especially since the opportunities for being outside with no light and a big huge sky is not even possible close to my house. As you can see finding a good spot for focus is hard to do so the photos are a little soft.    But if I am ever up in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere, I know how to shoot except for finding the correct focus.      You can also tell that the quality of my little Canon SL1 is not the best for shooting stars. 

We got back at 5am, had a little breakfast and napped until 10am.  Then Diane and I took a walk on the riverwalk about a mile away.  It was a gorgeous day!  A photo of the river in the extras.   We went back to the hotel, picked up Joyce and headed into downtown Moab for a tshirt shopping expedition and a late lunch.   I can say that the food served in the restaurants in Moab is really good and there are plenty of restaurants.  This area is known for the rafting on the Colorado River, driving Jeeps and all terrain vehicles over various roads (some with mud!) and of course the two National Parks close by and the state park.  The town obviously relies heavily on the tourist and sport season for their livelyhood.   There were many tourists here and we saw a sign at a different hotel welcoming star photographers.  

The landscape and star photography workshop was a wonderful experience!  Exhausting but very helpful.  We made new friendships which I hope will be continued online as we share our photo journeys.  If you are looking for an all inclusive (less airfare) photography trip to shoot wildlife or landscapes/stars in the US or Africa, check out Tripod Travelers and the work of Tom Mace.   Fun people to lead you on a photo journey. 

One of our fellow workshop people joined Blipfoto too!   Say hello to Ralphy if you get a chance to welcome her to the Blip world.  She is a beginning photographer but already has a great eye and has grasped the workings of her camera.    I could share a photo of her laying on the ground to get a shot but I won't!  

Tomorrow we start toward Dinosaur National Monument and then make our way to Denver stopping to see whatever we can see along the way.  Maybe I will be using my new manual landscape photography skills...but probably I will just shoot in P mode!  

Thanks for all the comments,stars and hearts on the last weeks of photos.  I try to respond to comments but there is not time for looking and commenting as I would normally do!