Sequoia High Sierra Camp Night Sky Photography

Gearhart View II
September 11, 2012

Here's a photo of the night sky looking up through the trees taken from the Sequoia High Sierra Camp (SHSC), California just inside the Giant Sequoia National Monument at an elevation of 8,650 ft. shot at 11:30 p.m. PDT.  The point where I set up my tripod, if you are familiar with the SHSC, was in a small clearing in front of the "Gearhart" tent (#25) which is about 200 feet north of the bath house.

I shot this with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera and a Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM lens at 16 mm. The camera was set to ISO 3200, f/2.8 with a 30 second exposure.  Focus is a challenge so switching to manual focus using live view, I attempted to focus on a very bright star near the center of the frame.  The single image was processed in Lightroom 4.2. The trees were illuminated by a combination of a few solar powered lamps on the ground, a gas lantern in our tent and my head lamp used to "paint" the trees.

Today's digital cameras make this type of photography easier but it still requires understanding some basic rules of the art and science of shooting the night sky.  It's a process of continuous learning and experimentation.

Many thanks to professional photographer, Jennifer Wu who tried to teach a class room full of Canon Live Learning EOS Destination Workshop attendees how to photograph the night sky one rainy weekend in Yosemite a couple of years ago.  What she taught, at least in theory, got me seriously interested in this type of photography.  Throw in hours of Google searches and YouTube tutorials and there is no shortage of ideas and inspiration.

The teacher in me likes to share what I'm learning on this journey but I have a very long way to go before I achieve the results of some of the pros who inspire me.

Happy shooting!