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On the evening we arrived in Stanley, Idaho for for the Great American Solar Eclipse, we visited the Redfish Lake which we were informed was going to be closed for public during the eclipse and accessible only by the campers. My friends and I wanted to take advantage of the access when we had it, to shoot the Milky Way shortly after sunset. After I shot a couple of compositions we were packing up when my friend Christopher Jackson showed us this composition he had found with the Milky Way nicely framed by evergreen trees. I shamelessly shot the same compostition and Chris was game enough to even light paint the trees for us.
There are only a handful of places on Earth like Hot Creek's active geologic setting in California, which makes it a nice addition to your next adventure when you visit Yosemite. Within the shallow gorge, groundwater heated by subsurface bodies of molten rock (magma) reaches the surface and mixes with the cool waters of Hot Creek, creating a picturesque environment with otherworldly features. Below the hot springs, healthy populations of fish thrive off the abundant nutrition generated by the consistently warm waters of the creek. Delicate rock formations created by the precipitation of minerals rim the hot spring pools. Like most geothermal springs, the area is constantly changing and evolving. Once-active geysers and springs are now dormant or extinct, and new springs appear annually. Earthquakes can cause sudden geyser eruptions and overnight appearances of new hot springs at Hot Creek. If you are thinking of a nice Finnish sauna, swimming is illegal at this location due to the rapid fluctuation of water temperatures, as changes of 200 degrees F ( i.e., 93 Celsius so it will boil your eggs!) over mere seconds have been recorded within the stream. Again like most places I have been fortunate enough to visit, I was unaware of this place and the potential for astrophotography. Thanks to my friend Wisanu, I was able to not just visit it but also spend time taking in the grandeur of all that has been created. The only negative about this place was that bright light in front of the mountains on the left. That is from a local airport. Not a deal breaker but would have been nice to not have that element of artificial light. The rest of the ground is lit by pure unadulterated star light. Now the jargon: Sony a7RII Zeiss Batis 25mm/f2 22 shots went into this 3 frame vertical panorama. Top third of the image: ISO 10000, 25mm, 10s at f/2.5 10 exposures Median Stacked Middle third of the image: ISO 10000, 25mm, 10s at f/2.5 10 exposures Median Stacked Ground: Single long exposure ISO 800, 25mm, 125s at f/2.0 I left the Long Exposure Noise Reduction on in the camera for this shot since it was the last shot of the very long night. Processed in Capture One Pro and Photoshop
