Saguaro Moonset - Saguaro National Park, Tucson, Arizona
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Nikon D5, 14-24mm f/2.8, f/2.8, 30sec, ISO5000
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After spending a week in Southern New Mexico for work, I decided to stop in Tucson on the way back to California for a couple of days. I planned to shoot the Milky Way. I think I described before how difficult it is to plan any Milky Way shooting session. The moon is a big consideration. The orientation of the Galactic Center is another. Turned out, this time of the year is a pretty good choice for Tuscon night shooting because the Galactic Center is to the Southwest not long after the moon set. That’s good because it’s away from the Tucson lights.
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Tucson is an interesting night sky city because it promotes street lights that don’t indiscriminately shine light into the sky. Still, it’s a big city and even with initiatives like that, the skies aren’t perfectly dark. Saguaro National Park is neat because the western unit is no the opposite side of a small mountain range from the center of Tucson, making night photography possible. In fact, I probably saw at least three other photographers—including a group with a model wearing a white dress out there doing night photography.
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This image is a multi-image composite of about 20 captures. A series of captures were made for the sky. Another set for the foreground using techniques to control the noise from shooting long exposure.
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