Friday, January 24, 2020

Cedar Breaks National Monument, UT, October 2019

Way back last October (Saturday, October 12, the day before the previously-posted hike), I charged on up from southern California, racing the sunset. Well, didn't exactly charge, but it's tough in fall or spring to get to Cedar Breaks from southern California with enough daylight to do much, unless you're really aiming for some night time shots.
This trip was fitted into the Columbus Day weekend, which makes it a three day weekend for me. Can't do anything about the moon phase, which was pretty much full. So I knew I wouldn't get any real night time shots. But, in addition to hoping to see some fall color (not successful on this night), I wanted to see on the feasibility of framing some shots here with a bristlecone pine in the foreground of a night shot.
The sky doesn't get dark enough with the moon to get much Milky Way, and the tree was totally lit up by the moon. Some intriguing shots, at least. I'll have to aim for heading up here with a thinner moon, maybe a waning crescent, and hiking up here in late spring/early summer, with the Milky Way wheeling over the tree as a waning crescent moon rises. That might make for some cool shots. Depends on when the snow melts on the trail, of course!

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