Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Stellar Night Workshop!

A brilliant Milky Way, billions of stars, hundreds of streaking meteors, and northern lights — an utterly amazing celestial show in the dark skies over the central Adirondacks during my annual night photography workshop.  We all went away awestruck.  I'm still counting the meteors captured in my images!

Milky Way standing on end.  ©Mark Bowie 2015.

This is an in-depth and comprehensive workshop.  During indoor instructional sessions I covered the latest techniques for shooting the night sky in relation to the landscape, with recommendations for shooting the moon, stars, planets, meteors and other celestial objects.  I discussed shooting both wild landscapes as well as artificially lit scenes.  Many thanks to the enthusiastic group of shooters who joined me.  Their commeraderie and creativity were infectious.  And the night shooting was a blast!  We had clear skies on the first night, cloudy conditions on the second and third.  The forecast called for persistent clouds until around midnight on our final night, with clearing afterwards.  We were determined to stay up late, and we were rewarded.  Around 11:30pm the clouds drifted away to unveil the Milky Way shining brightly.  Over the next two hours, we counted about a hundred Perseid meteors streaming out of the northeast and along the axis of the galaxy.  It was a spectacular natural fireworks display!

A Perseid meteor over Fourth Lake.  ©Mark Bowie 2015.


Light trails & lit trees, Inlet.  ©Mark Bowie 2015.

This event sold out quickly, with a lengthy waiting list.  I'm honored by the support.  If you're interested in joining me for next summer's Adirondack night workshop, once the schedule is announced later this year, consider registering as soon as possible.  With enough interest, we'll look at adding a second night workshop.  And I'll continue to share the unbounded beauty, awe and wonder of photographing the Adirondacks by the Light of Midnight!

Mark Bowie

Milky Way & Perseid meteor.   ©Mark Bowie 2015.