Counting Stars

Ever since I saw shots like these, I've been dying to try photographing the stars myself. Digital photography has changed the name of the game somewhat, essentially making night sky photography possible for regular guys like me. As a result, the practice has exploded and the world is filled with people who will gladly show you how it's done.

So my friend Jason Peterson, himself a budding semi-pro photographer, and I picked a warm night with a new moon and tried it. We left the house at 2:30 in the morning with Nick's camera, my new tripod, all of Jason's gear, and some snacks- headed for the harbor.

Everything about the weather was perfect. The sky was clear, the air was so comfortable, and the beach sand made a soft bed to lie on while the exposures took. So we started snapping, experimenting, and marveling at a God who could make all this. We set cameras to take emposures for 10 minutes so we could layer the shots on top of each other and made star trails. We photographed each other photographing things. We stood in front of the cameras with our phones lit to see how they would light us up. We painted the beach with a flashlight. It was great fun.

Here's a little of what we got: