November 28, 2019
After my last trip to Joshua Tree, I vowed that I wouldn't be back this year. It's a long drive and while the foreground elements are compelling, the sky can be a problem, especially for star trails due to aircraft flight paths into Los Angeles(most of the flights from the East Coast fly thought the southern view of the sky and planes flying from Las Vegas fly thought the northern sky). So I looked to more local venues that might have some nice foreground elements. So I ventured out to a place where I first went "On the Road" to shoot the Milky Way with less than satisfying results. Back in 2016, there was much that I didn't understand about photographing the Milky Way, like you had to wait until it got really dark(about a hour or so after the sun set), not having the moon in the sky...things like that. So I decided to return to Leo Carrillio State Park on a night with a new moon to shoot the Milky Way. Leo Carrillio has really nice foreground elements so why haven't I shot there for the past 3 years? There are parking restrictions on PCH after 10pm, it's a short hike from my car to where I'd shoot and I like to be able to see my car when I'm shooting late a night and it's about 5 miles closer to the lights of Los Angeles and in the Spring the Milky Way is more to the east/southeast. That said, for the late Summer Milky Way, it's really a nice location and I'll shoot there more next season
These pictures are from 3 trips to the coast, the first is the aforementioned trip from 3 years ago, the second is the return to Leo Carrillio and then to Twin Bush and we close out with a return to Twin Bush the following day. This trip provided an additional reward in that I met some other photographers and we actually ended up in each other's shots after we met.
I've been asked in the comments if I sell prints of my photos, I do have an online store I sell prints(I've been told they make excellent Christmas gifts). All of the photos that I've posted on "On The Road", with the exception of model photos(I don't have model releases) and photos I didn't take(the ones the kid took in New Zealand*), are available on my online store(in fact the pictures are posted there when I submit my posts here). I also have a Patreon where you can follow my work.
Online store: https://www.BillinGlendaleCA.com (clicking on my nym in comments will also take you there).
Patreon: https://www.Patreon.com/BillinGlendaleCA
*She's actually given me permission to sell these, but I've kind of felt that the stuff I sell should be my work exclusively.
Read MoreThese pictures are from 3 trips to the coast, the first is the aforementioned trip from 3 years ago, the second is the return to Leo Carrillio and then to Twin Bush and we close out with a return to Twin Bush the following day. This trip provided an additional reward in that I met some other photographers and we actually ended up in each other's shots after we met.
I've been asked in the comments if I sell prints of my photos, I do have an online store I sell prints(I've been told they make excellent Christmas gifts). All of the photos that I've posted on "On The Road", with the exception of model photos(I don't have model releases) and photos I didn't take(the ones the kid took in New Zealand*), are available on my online store(in fact the pictures are posted there when I submit my posts here). I also have a Patreon where you can follow my work.
Online store: https://www.BillinGlendaleCA.com (clicking on my nym in comments will also take you there).
Patreon: https://www.Patreon.com/BillinGlendaleCA
*She's actually given me permission to sell these, but I've kind of felt that the stuff I sell should be my work exclusively.
Milky Way and Jupiter reflected in the Pacific Ocean.
This was the shot I wanted to shoot this year, yet it was a bit of an accident. It was late in the Milky Way season and that evening. I noticed that the wind had died down a bit and Jupiter was getting reflected in the ocean. I was shooting a star trail with my other camera and decided to just try an see what turned out. I shot 40 15 second exposures, 11 were not usable due to reflections from cars on PCH(and one guy who turned his car around), but I had enough shots to get both the setting Milky Way and Jupiter reflected in the waters of the Pacific.
