Arches National Park, Utah: Night Sky, Milky Way, Lighted Painted and Day Photos, 22-29 June 2014
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These photos are out of order, and since I'm finally getting around to writing about a June trip in late November, that's probably just as well. We'll start with probably my favorite photo from the trip. ~~~~~ Gazing up at Delicate Arch feels like peering into the infinite beyond, the magnificent arch acting as a portal for the center of our galaxy and beyond. For this photo, I waited a bit for the Milky Way to drift farther south, then lined it up underneath the arch for this image. I light painted the arch with a small Streamlight LED flashlight to keep the arch from going to silhouette. The Milky Way is easy to see on a moonless night such as this one. |
Waking up after yesterday's 12 hour road odyssey, I drove into Arches National Park. Park Avenue was my first stop. I thought, "This is already mind-blowing. This is going to be a great trip!" |
I continued along. I felt like I would stop every two minutes to take another photo or simply look. Beautiful. And I hadn't even seen an arch yet. |
But the remarkable thing is that new arches and amazing balancing rocks are being created all the time. Some collapse, while others are revealed. |
 This is Double Arch, where the first part of "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" was filmed. |
 Underneath Double Arch, looking out at the surreal landscape by Windows. When I visited here during the day, this view gave me the idea to try and do a "selfie" in which it looked like I was an explorer in a brave new world, peering out at an unknown new landscape, which is how I felt. I would include the Milky Way, since I was facing south. Yes, this is what I would do.... |
 I'm not sure what this is, but I do know that I like it. Aren't you glad I write useful captions like this? |
 I returned to Double Arch at night to take some photos. This was taken on 23 June 2014 at 10:49 pm, and is a star trails photo of 36 minutes total. I stacked 12 individual photos of 3 minutes f/2.8 ISO 400 each in Photoshop CS4, and light painted the interior of the arch with a Dorcy LED flashlight. I took this star trails photo mostly because I had a Star Trails and Light Painting Workshop coming soon, and I wanted to have an example of how star trails look when facing south. The "clouds" that you see in the sky are the Milky Way, blurred over the course of a 36 minute photo. |
Feeling like an explorer on a new world in Arches National Park, Utah, watching the Milky Way drift toward the south as night progresses. The odd rocky formations in the distance are the rocks near the Windows Arches and Turret Arch. You can see the headlight trail of a car leaving this area. As you can see, the archway is enormous, extending up approximately 104 feet (31 m), with a span of 148 feet (45 m). |
~~ Título: Double Arch Above (2173) |
 The enormous - and rather unusual - Double Arch made a brief appearance in an Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade movie. The larger opening has a span of 148 feet (45 m) and a height of 104 feet (32 m). This is a wide angle view looking over and through the larger of the two spans toward the Milky Way to the south. You can see the headlight trail of a car leaving the nearby Windows Arch area. I light painted the giant Double Arch with a Dorcy LED flashlight.Title: Night Road to Double Arch Photo: Ken Lee Photography Info: Nikon D610, AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED lens at 14mm, 20 seconds, f/2.8, ISO 4000, 2014-06-25 11:26 pm. Light painted with Dorcy LED flashlight. Location: Arches National Park, Utah, USA Título: Night Road to Double Arch (Camino de la noche a Double Arch) Foto: Ken Lee Photography Info: Nikon D610, AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED en 14 mm, de 20 segundos, f/2.8, ISO 4000, 25/06/2014 23:26. Pintura de luz con Dorcy linterna LED. Lugar: Arches National Park, Utah, EE.UU. #archesnationalpark #milkyway #stars #night #nature #astrophotography #arches #nikon #d610 #lightpainting #14-24mm #longexposure #kenlee #nationalgeographic #smithsonian #doublearch |
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 As you walk around Balanced Rock, the shape changes. I like that. This one looks like some sort of strange Incan doll. Or a Pancake Head. Or something else. The imagination reels. It's one of the more remarkable of nature's balancing acts, with the 3500 ton, 55 foot tall sandstone boulder teetering atop a stone pedestal. How long it will last is anybody's guess. A minute, an hour, a year, a century or more? But us night sky photographers will risk life and limb to bring you the greatest shots that Mother Earth has to offer. The camera is facing more or less south on a moonless night, allowing the Milky Way to shine in all its heavenly glory.Title: Pancake Head Milky Way Photo: Ken Lee Photography Info: Nikon D610, AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED lens at 14mm, 20 seconds, f/2.8, ISO 4000, 2014-06-24 1:33 am. Light painted with Dorcy LED flashlight. Location: Arches National Park, Utah, USA Título: Pancake Head Milky Way (Cabeza de Panqueque Vía Láctea) Foto: Ken Lee Photography Info: Nikon D610, AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED en 14 mm, de 20 segundos, f/2.8, ISO 4000, 24.06.2014 1:33 am. Luz pintada con Dorcy linterna LED. Lugar: Arches National Park, Utah, EE.UU. #archesnationalpark #milkyway #stars #night #nature #astrophotography #arches #nikon #d610 #lightpainting #14-24mm #longexposure #kenlee #nationalgeographic #smithsonian #balancedrock |
The Milky Way arcing over one of nature's most amazing balancing acts.This is the glorious Milky Way arcing over Balanced Rock in Arches National Park, Utah, facing more or less south. Because we're facing south in the Northern Hemisphere during the summer, we can see the denser part of the Milky Way, with the stars dense enough to appear as clouds. As for Balanced Rock, it's one of the more remarkable of nature's balancing acts, with the 3500 ton, 55 foot tall sandstone boulder teetering atop a stone pedestal. How long it will last is anybody's guess. A minute, an hour, a year, a century or more? But us night sky photographers will risk life and limb to bring you the greatest shots that Mother Earth has to offer, yes we will. Title: Balanced Rock Milky Way (2220) Photo: Ken Lee Photography Info: Nikon D610, AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED lens at 14mm, 20 seconds, f/2.8, ISO 4000, 2014-06-24 01:47 am. Light painted with Dorcy LED flashlight. Foto: Ken Lee Photography Info: Nikon D610, AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED en 14 mm, 20 segundos, f/2.8, ISO 4000, 2014-06-24 01:47 am. Luz pintada con Dorcy linterna LED. Lugar: Arches National Park, Utah, EE.UU. #archesnationalpark #milkyway #stars #night #nature #astrophotography #arches #nikon #d610 #lightpainting #14-24mm #longexposure #kenlee #nationalgeographic #smithsonian #balancedrock |
This is a 32 and a half minute long exposure photo showing the celestial movements of the night sky. We are looking at the south part of the sky, and the lighter area is where the Milky Way is seen. The clouds near the bottom part of the photo are red, a result of light pollution from the town of Moab.Title: Balanced Rock Star Trails (2223) Photo: Ken Lee Photography Info: Nikon D610, AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED lens at 14mm. The total exposure was 32 and a half minutes. Each photo was f/2.8, ISO 1600, 2014-06-24 01:51. Light painted with Dorcy LED flashlight. Location: Arches National Park, Utah, USA ~~~ Un 32 y una larga exposición de fotografías de medio minuto que muestra los movimientos celestes del cielo nocturno. Este es el parte sur del cielo, y el área más clara es donde se ve la Vía Láctea. Las nubes cerca de la parte inferior de la foto son de color rojo, a consecuencia de la contaminación lumínica del pueblo de Moab. Titulo: Balanced Rock Star Trails (2223) Foto: Ken Lee Photography Info: Nikon D610, AF-S Nikkor 14-24 mm f / 2,8 G ED lente a 14 mm. La exposición total fue de 32 minutos y medio. Cada foto fue f/2.8, ISO 1600, 2014-06-24 01:51. Pintura de luz con Dorcy linterna LED. Lugar: Arches National Park, Utah, EE.UU. #archesnationalpark #milkyway #stars #night #nature #astrophotography #arches #nikon #d610 #lightpainting #14-24mm #longexposure #kenlee #nationalgeographic #smithsonian #balancedrock |
A man from the Gujurat region of India by way of the Bay Area contemplates Delicate Arch underneath the amazing Milky Way, rising from the southeast and drifting right toward the south. If you stay still enough, I swear you can actually perceive the stars drifting, a special stillness that we don't often have opportunity to experience. The glow beneath the arch is a light dome, but from where, I'm not certain, but I believe the camera is facing more or less southeast.Title: Stargate to Gujurat Photo: Ken Lee Photography Info: Nikon D610, AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED lens at 14mm, 20 seconds, f/2.8, ISO 4000, 2014-06-24 11:26 pm. Light painted with Streamlight LED flashlight. Location: Arches National Park, Utah, USA Título: Stargate a Gujurat Foto: Ken Lee Photography Info: Nikon D610, AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED en 14 mm, de 20 segundos, f/2.8, ISO 4000, 24/06/2014 23:26. Luz pintada con Streamlight linterna LED. Lugar: Arches National Park, Utah, EE.UU. #archesnationalpark #milkyway #stars #night #nature #astrophotography #arches #nikon #d610 #lightpainting #1424mm #longexposure #kenlee #nationalgeographic #smithsonian #delicatearch #utah |
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Arches National Park, Utah, June 2014
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Eleven Shadows Travel Page
Contact photographer/musician Ken Lee
I've always wanted to go to Arches National Park. Since I was a kid, I thought it looked fantastic in photos. Twelve hours of driving and I was there. I timed this so there would be no moon, the Milky Way lighting up the night skies, arching across the sky in all its glory.
Balancing Rock. Some estimate that the 55-foot top is about 3500 tons. Someone standing next to me said, "This is really special to see this. If I have children, I don't know if they'll ever see this. This could collapse by tomorrow. I don't think this will be up in five years."
This is the photo that I was planning on doing when I visited Double Arch earlier in the day.
Title: Double Arch Above (2173)
Depending on what angle, Balanced Rock may appear as a ball on an bottle or the open lid of a garbage can, opening underneath the Milky Way as we are facing more or less south on a moonless night. What we'll all agree upon is that it is amazing, as some estimate that the 55 foot tall sandstone boulder topping the stone pedestal weighs about 3500 tons...meaning you don't want to stand under it during a stiff wind.
