Today’s post features the magnificent nighttime skies that are prevalent over the Badlands of South Dakota. Immediately after the sun began setting, I moved to another location and captured the transitioning skies:
Sunset begins, over the Badlands:
As the sun sets, the clouds above took on the hues of the sunset:
A short time later, the northern sky began to twinkle above me:
When it became a bit darker, I captured a series of 5-minute exposures and combined them together to get this star trails image, with Polaris (the North Star) in the center of the trails:
Looking to the south, a glimpse of the fading Milky Way stretched out over the southern skies:
Night photography has become one of my passions over the past couple of years and I enjoy not only the peacefulness of the heavens above, but the beauty of our universe. Coming up … a few more Badlands images.
Photographic Equipment Used:
- Canon 5D Mark 3 body
- Canon 28-135mm IS lens, with IS “Off” (top photos) and Rokinon 14mm, f/2.8 manual lens (night skies)
- Bogen 3221 tripod
- ISO variable, ISO 200 to ISO 800
- Aperture f/16 (top photos) and f/2.8 (night skies)
- Shutter variable