I have lived in the desert most of my life, and truth be told, only about an hour away from Red Rock Canyon State Park. My family had taken me there when I was young, maybe 6 or 7 years old, so my memory of it was faint at best. I knew it from photos and seeing it in Hollywood backdrops.
One afternoon my father-in-law, Ed, invited me along with him to take nighttime photos at Red Rock Canyon. I jumped at the opportunity because I had just bought a new camera and was anxious to try it out. The reviews on it had said that it took great photos, even in low light. I tried not to get my hopes up, as it was still a 'point and shoot' camera.
Ed helped me with some camera settings and I was ready to shoot. I took a deep breath and gently clicked the shutter button. I stood impatiently for the 15 seconds it took to take the photo, but when it came up on my LED display, I was elated.
Sure the image came out soft, but seeing the rich colors of the cliffs contrast the blue sky filled with twinkling stars was amazing! Mind you, when I took this photo, it was in complete darkness. I couldn't see the cliffs or the ground at all. So to see it all burst through on the camera was incredible.
I spent the rest of my time moving around to shoot from other angles and see what I could get. This shot makes me think of Mars. The shadows on the rocks are actually caused by moonlight.
Here we are able to see the desert landscape with a few mountains and hills in the distance. I've had several people say I took this at sunset, but no. The yellow light is actually light pollution from the distant town.
And what's night time photography without taking a photo of the stars?
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