April 2025 (One Month - One Picture)

Explore Landscapes #86

The 'best' way to celebrate International Dark Sky week was to spend two nights out in Joshua Tree photographing the Milky Way and Star Trails.

Star Trails at Quail Springs, JTNP | © 2025 Jon Norris

April 2025 | Hamburg (Germany) | Chesterfield (UK) | Joshua Tree (CA)

April was a really busy month. I spent 10 days in Hamburg on a work trip setting up and putting on a major exhibition for my day job, then 5 days in the UK visiting my Dad. Once I got back to California I fell sick (caused by the exhausting business trip, and then taking ‘my foot off the gas’) and it took me a couple of weeks to shake it off.

Towards the end of the month, I spent a fabulous weekend in Joshua Tree teaching dark sky workshops, which was made all the better as they coincided with the end of International Dark Sky week.

Joshua Tree National Park is a Dark Sky Park, and is certified as such by the IDA (International Dark-Sky Association). The park’s elevation and dry desert air, along with the relatively stable atmosphere in southern California, often make for excellent astronomical observing conditions.

Joshua Tree's sky darkness ranges from 4.5 to 2 rating on the Bortle Dark Sky Scale depending on where you are in the park. Most light pollution comes from the southwestern boundary of the park where wilderness meets the urban development of the Coachella Valley.

Thanks to Doug and Tom for coming along on the workshops and for being such willing participants.

If you’d like to learn how to shoot star trails and the Milky Way in Joshua Tree National Park, please consider signing up for one of my workshops.