Stars over Canary Springs, Yellowstone National Park

I enjoy opportunities for night photography, even in the dead of winter. Actually, especially in the dead of winter—the cold temperatures prevent the build-up of long exposure digital noise that results from the camera sensor heating up. When it is -15°F, the sensor stays nice and cool!

"Twilight" - Yellowstone National Park

I made two attempts at this image of star trails over dead trees at Canary Springs, part of the Mammoth Hot Springs complex in Yellowstone. The first night—when it was merely -8°F, practically balmy for Yellowstone in winter—I tried a 45-minute exposure, which I cut a few minutes short because dawn twilight came a little bit earlier than I expected. Although I was happy with the results, I wanted to see what the shot would look like with longer star trails, so I returned a few evenings later when I had clear skies again.

This time, I tried a two hour exposure, spending my time pacing back and forth in an effort to stay warm in the -15°F night air. I was largely successful, although I had stepped through some river ice during the day, getting my left boot wet, so my big toe ended up getting a little bit of frost nip (it was bruised and sore for several days). Such are the perils of nature photography, but the potential hazards all seem rather trivial when an image comes together. Except, of course, when it doesn’t—I decided I didn’t like the two hour exposure as much as the first one.

Oh well, I guess I risked frostbite for nothing.

P.S. For those of you who have never photographed star trails before, the trails result from the Earth spinning on its axis during the long exposure. The stars themselves aren’t moving in the sky—well, actually they are moving at a ridiculously fast pace, just like everything else in our expanding Universe—but their apparent motion to us is the result of the spinning of the Earth. Science is way super cool.

Technical details: Canon 5D Mark II camera, 14-24mm lens (@18mm), ISO 200, f/5.6, 45 minutes.

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About Ian Plant (275 Posts)

Ian Plant's photographs and instructional articles have appeared in a number of books, calendars, and magazines, including Outdoor Photographer and Popular Photography. Ian writes a regular blog column for Outdoor Photographer online, and he is the author of numerous instructional eBooks and digital processing tutorials. Ian leads several photo tours each year.

Tags: canary springs, mammoth hot springs, stars, winter, wyoming, yellowstone

9 Comments

Isaac Green February 28, 2011 at 9:16 am

How is the best way to focus when it is night for sharp foreground?
- Ian February 28, 2011 at 9:27 am
  
  For this shot, the foreground trees were about 20-30 feet away, so since I was using a wide-angle lens, setting the focus on infinity was sufficient to render everything in sharp focus. For scenes where the foreground is closer, I will often use a flashlight to focus on my foreground elements.
Brett Nickeson February 28, 2011 at 10:03 am

If science is way super cool, then night photography is super awesome cool.

I like the tracks leading into the image, nice touch. Seems like a Dreamscape candidate to me!
Sara February 28, 2011 at 10:35 am

I love star trail photos and this is great! There’s so much to look at (I especially like the tracks leading into the trees). You never disappoint!
Jollence February 28, 2011 at 10:36 am

I never experience shooting or even walk through to the snow so I don’t know what it’s feel the extreme cold, but I think every where is similar.. every place has it’s own hazard of being in that place. Your startrail photo are amazing having that full circle in your photo, here in Borneo we don’t get that.
Jerry Denham February 28, 2011 at 10:45 am

Ian this is an amazing shot. Love your night photography.
- Sequoia July 23, 2011 at 12:45 pm
  
  Didn’t know the forum rules allowed such birillant posts.
Rui Vieira February 28, 2011 at 12:02 pm

Fantastic shot Ian, as always
Josh Stamm March 2, 2011 at 12:27 pm

love it. i second brett’s dreamscape vote. the footprints really complete the image for me. best of 2011 so far IMO.