Lake Selmac was sheer lucky happenstance as I wandered around in the dark. With a few too many lights around the lake and having fruitlessly walked the dam in the dark, I drove over to a darker section of the area still hoping to find a doable shot of the Milky Way. I stumbled down towards the water past some picnic tables and found this lovely view around Midnight. Interestingly enough, Lake Selmac became a Fire Camp HQ the very next day and there is no way I could have taken these shots. It is a double vertical row of star shots stitched together. Nikon D750 and Nikkor 24mm f1.8 lens at f/2.2, ISO 3200, 13 secs, 4 dupes of each shot (=24shots), stacked in Sequator to remove noise, basic adjustments in LR and then a lot more work in PS.
Lake Lemolo Black Stars Nomeca Hartwell
Lemolo Lake, taken mid-June, was a beautiful, serene , reflective starscape a few miles away from Diamond lake. My travel partner, Don T., spent all night photographing and videoing the scene and saw wonderous sights. I went to my tent after Midnight and had a chilly rest ( talk about suffering for the cause of art). Nikon D750, ISO 3200, 12 sec., 24mm 1.8 lens at f/2.0… 16 shots, stacked into 4 working shots in Sequator to remove noise, adjustments in LR and further work in PS.