Today, I sit just at the edge of The Zion National Park entrance on a BLM managed piece of property. This has been my “home” for the past 10 days and will remain such for 4 more days (the legal limit to parking on BLM property in one spot).

After this, It’s likely I will head to Oklahoma to purchase a slightly used Bigfoot Travel Trailer, then to Tennessee to unhook the Winnebago Micro Minnie putting it up for sale.

Today I wanted to share with you a few thoughts I had related to photographing the Milky Way and why it’s so special to me.

The Bible says in Psalm 8, verses 3 through 9, the following; (this is from the New Living Translation)

“When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—
    the moon and the stars you set in place—
 what are mere mortals that you should think about them,
    human beings that you should care for them?
 Yet you made them only a little lower than God
    and crowned them with glory and honor.
 You gave them charge of everything you made,
    putting all things under their authority—
 the flocks and the herds
    and all the wild animals,
 the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea,
    and everything that swims the ocean currents.

 O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!”

In a recent photo session, I found myself at the Harmony Borax Works historical monument in the Death Valley National Park. This is a classic and iconic location to spend time shooting the Milky Way.

The train itself makes for a great subject that can be enhanced by including the Milky Way in the shot.

Given the time of year, this was going to mean the Milky Way would, when the galactic center would be primed for shooting, be standing directly over the train headed west.

While out there, I realized that if I shot a number of vertically oriented shots, I likely would be able to, later, stitch them together in Lightroom for a cool panorama. Happily, this little experiment worked giving me an arch through which the train would appear to be moving.

Whenever I am out in the desert, or any wilderness dark enough to photograph the Milky Way it’s inevitably very quiet. If there is no wind, and there is almost always none, the silence can be very deafening.

Once my eyes adjust from driving with the headlights on, the skies become so beautiful. Words can’t describe it.

I believe there are only a few locations in the United States that are dark enough to mimic the skies to which David would refer in Psalm 8.

The skies he saw in his life were most certainly the darkest of dark.

The few locations I believe such a darkness can be found are in the southern skies of the Mojave National Preserve, even more so Death Valley National Park.

Some other notable locations to find such dark skies would be Big Bend National Park, The Grand Canyon North Rim, Canyonlands National Park, particularly on it’s western rim, Great Basin National park and areas of Glacier National Park.

The further one drives, say, into North Dakota, near the Theodore Roosevelt National Park North Unit, he will find equally dark skies.

Should one wish to find a closeness to the Lord, in my view, there is not a better way to do so than to spend time in the darkest skies one can find, if not photographing the Milky Way, simply sitting or laying back and staring up as it circles the earth, creating an amazing arch all across the sky.

It’s here I am simply left with the same words David penned in Psalm 8.

“Oh Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth”.

Each of the shots you see here are special to me and but for the Train images, bring back fond memories of time alone in the dark with me, my thoughts, and the Lord.

Joelle assisted me with the shots of the train by holding the light. Beyond that, in general, the shots I do are significant times of being alone with the Lord in the early morning hours of the day or the late evening hours. Of course, the times are dependent on the season in which the shot is taken.

In any event, I am happy to be back in a position to be shooting the Milky Way once again. It’s fun, spiritually refreshing, and rewarding. It takes some degree of skill and know how to grab the shots you see and this helps me to keep my mind sharp and my spirit closer to God Almighty.

All of which, I’d imagine, are good for a man.

I look forward to sharing more with you in the coming days.

rob out

#deathvalley #deathvalleynationalpark #milkywayphotography #nps