A Night at White Pocket

I had wanted to visit White Pocket for a long time. The number of photographs I had seen of the place made a 3-week vacation trip along the West Coast of the United States include at least a one-day stop in this incredible location.

I was lucky to find a seat on a 24-hour organized trip to this place. But in practice, it wouldn’t be a full 24 hours, so I knew I had to make the most of my time.

During the daylight hours, besides trying to take some interesting photos, I focused on finding a spot that at night would give me what I wanted: a composition where the Milky Way could be displayed in all its splendor. White Pocket is indeed one of the best places to observe the Milky Way, thanks to the low light pollution you can find there.

When night fell, the first thing I did was focus on capturing a panoramic shot of the Milky Way as accurately as possible. To do this, I used my MSM rotator. I ended up taking as many as 9 shots, and since each exposure lasted 2 minutes, creating this panorama took quite a while. I must say it was time thoroughly enjoyed. The silence, peace, and complete darkness made me feel truly at ease.

Once I had captured the Milky Way panorama, I set out to take a panorama of the ground. I headed to the spot I had found earlier in the morning: a flat area surrounded by two large mounds, and in front of me, a couple of puddles that led directly toward the Milky Way.

If capturing the Milky Way photo took me a long time, the ground photo took even longer. The reason is that the ground is composed of two panoramic rows, each with nine photos, and each photo was made up of seven identical shots. I took these shots to reduce noise during post-processing.

Even so, I didn’t mind. I thought I was creating the photo I wanted. And I knew I was there for that very reason: to take that photo.

That night, I slept very little. But I didn’t care because I went to the tent feeling happy, thinking about how lucky I was to be there, thousands of kilometers from home, enjoying the surroundings, the silence, the clear sky, and my passion for photography.