Vasquez Rocks State Park, California, is where "Star Trek" (TOS) was filmed, where Captain Kirk battled the Gorn in "Arena". My friend Larry and I went there to take some night sky photos.

Along the way, I found an iPhone, dropped mysteriously on the trail. Someone had lost it.

Or had they?

Was it actually a homing beacon for a mysterious robot race with technology far beyond our own who live far beyond our solar system? For not long after we found the iPhone, a strange mechanical being appeared before us.

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10 second exposure, ISO 400, f/4.5

Larry and I could not tell if the mysterious robot from outer space was friend or foe. Armed only with cameras, we hid, managing to capture this eerie extraterrestrial visitation.

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10 second exposure, ISO 400, f/4.5

Vasquez Rocks, where Captain Kirk rolled papier mache boulders down a hill on the Gorn.

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10 second exposure, ISO 400, f/4.5

Another look at our strange robot visitor from another planet as it surveys the land.

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10 second exposure, ISO 400, f/4.5

Strange visitors from another planet notwithstanding, it was a fun evening, full of light painting, Sri Lankan food, mysterious iPhone beacons, and visits with the sheriff. Remember, when you are photographing Vasquez Rocks late at night, you are also walking the Pacific Crest Trail.

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15 second exposure, ISO 400, f/4

Ken's photos of Nobel Peace Prize Winner Aung San Suu Kyi, as well as photos of Peru, Burma, India, Morocco, China, Thailand, Ghana, Ecuador, and elsewhere, have appeared in many books, magazines, websites, and galleries.  Visit the Ken Lee Photography Website. Some of Ken's select photos may be purchased through his Imagekind Store.

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