The Cosmos and The Canyon

The Art of Parallel Realities and Astrophotography

Several years ago, I was in the mountains at night with a group of friends.  We were talking and looking at the stars.  I was asked about astrophotography and responded by saying I wasn’t interested, etc.  The next day I kept thinking about the question.  Why wasn’t I exploring this?  The more I looked into it, the more I wanted to get involved! 

There are a lot of things that need to be planned for and other variables that are in nature's hands which can make astrophotography difficult. Due to light pollution, it is impossible to get quality images of the night sky in populated areas.  As a result, I had to travel to the Northeastern corner of California on a moonless night, in the middle of summer, before smoke from wildfires reduced the visibility.  I spent 2 nights getting all the images I could.  It took me several years for my schedule to line up with all of these other variables.  It made those evenings very special!

 Once I had my sky, it was time to merge it with the image of the canyon I had been sitting on for years.  Were you to be standing in this spot at 3am mid-summer, you would see the outer edge of our galaxy.  I took the liberty of putting the center of our galaxy there instead.  Back in 2019 when I was asked about astrophotography, this is the vision I had the next morning.  The desire to create this image drove me to master this skill and seamlessly add it into other systems I have developed.

 For my second astrophotography image, it is fitting that it can get you twice. There is dynamic beauty and a bit of shock value when you first see it.  Once you’ve enjoyed it for a while the second wave starts to kick in.  A point on Earth with our galaxy in the distance begs you to explore deeper thoughts.  This is a print that can stimulate over and over again!