When you forget your professional lighting and need to light a tree intersecting the milky way, you improvise. Having realized there was no light source I could conjure up in the foothills of Mt. Hood, I thought why not my phone? But even at the lowest flashlight setting it was too powerful! Luckily I happened to be wearing a plain white t shirt and immediately realized I had a diffuser. Shirt off and shot setup, I began waving my light onto the tree like it was a magic wand. Ta Da!
The story behind the shot complements the value of such a beautiful composition.
Thank you very much Cathleen! It felt funny to be standing there shirt off and waving/flailing about to light this tree. I always enjoy telling the story now :)
It's such a great story, Daniel. Truly.
So, I lived in Burns for 18 months... (bailed out after the Malheur Standoff). But one night... in an undisclosed location... I was out on the desert, alone, camping out... doing my second ever Milky Way experiment.
I'd scouted all over during the day. No scary humans, just a couple of juniper trees that had Christmas tree shapes... and the dead juniper I used as my foreground. Sun went down... no problem. Coyotes sang near enough I could hear them as they ran off... not even a teeny bit scared. Experienced my first 10 level dark sky, no moon, saw my shadow by Milky Way light... WOW! But when I started to think those damn juniper Xmas trees were walking around... holy crap! And I don't drink.
Yeaaahhh! I stayed put, but I didn't like it one bit. LOL Until I got home and processed my shot. God I loved that desert. :)