Shine on…Star Trails at Rocky Mountain National Park

Yeah, we all shine on, like the moon, and the stars and the sun. ~John Lennon

Rocky Mountain National Park is one of my favorite locations to photograph. Everything changes dramatically with the seasons, and at night, it’s absolutely beautiful! This was taken a few days ago on a very clear and cold night at an overlook I like to shoot from. There were countless stars in the night sky, and I saw a few shooting stars as well. Lenticular clouds filled the sky earlier in the day that were amazing, including this one last cloud that stayed for hours. 
This image is the result of about 45 exposures  using Interval Timer Shooting with the Nikon D3 and Nikon 14-24mm lens. The images were stacked in Photoshop CS5 Extended using Image Statistics. One of my longtime favorite filters, Nik Color Efex Pro Glamour Glow added subtle softness and saturation to the image. 
Interested in night photography? Please join me in St. Augustine, Florida this April at Florida’s Birding & Photo Fest. I’ll be leading a couple of fun workshops on nighttime photography, and don’t miss my presentations on HDR, Creative Photography, and Infrared Photography too! Hope to see you there!  ~Deb

4 Comments

  1. Ray on February 1, 2011 at 5:12 pm

    Fantastic shot Deb, love this

  2. Deborah Sandidge on February 1, 2011 at 5:26 pm

    Hi Ray, thank you – Colorado is just gorgeous…

  3. Wes Harkins on February 3, 2011 at 3:36 pm

    Incredible image, Deb. The tree & clouds are perfect. I’m looking forward to some dark nights soon and camping under the stars.

  4. Deborah Sandidge on February 3, 2011 at 4:39 pm

    Thank you Wes, I appreciate your comments! I hope you get some great shots, camping shots under the stars would be wonderful!

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