Jul 2024 (One Month - One Picture)
Explore Landscapes #52
July was a great month for dark sky photography and I had a super-productive visit to Joshua Tree National Park despite the temperature peaking at 124° F.
Arch Rock and Milky Way, Joshua Tree National Park | © 2024 Jon Norris
July 2024 | Joshua Tree National Park
New moon weekend in July is a wonderful time to shoot the Milky Way in Joshua Tree National Park. That is, if you stay out of the sun after 9 am, stick to the shade or preferably find somewhere with air-conditioning until the temperature drops below 90° F (about 9 pm-ish).
I shot Arch Rock on Independence Day (July 4th in the US), hoping there would be fewer visitors so I could take my time with my composition and panorama. For the most part, this worked well, and I got the shots I wanted fairly quickly so I could get out of the way and let others enjoy this amazing scene.
I set up my camera and tripod before sunset to get the position I needed to shoot a panorama with the Milky Way following the contour of the arch.
Setting up early also meant that I could shoot some blue-hour foreground images and then blend them in with the Milky Way images to add some foreground detail.
This is a tricky location as there’s light pollution from Coachella Valley to the South, but fortunately, it was a clear night, so it was possible to minimize the light on the horizon in post-processing. I also used a Nisi Natural Night Filter to reduce the impact of light pollution in my image.
Sag Harbor Main Beach Sunset | © 2019 Jon Norris
July 2019 | Bangkok | Temecula | Sag Harbor
For those of you who read June’s (One Month - One Picture), you’ll know that in 2019 I was celebrating my 50th birthday (a year late) and had been in Bhutan.
On my way back to the US, I stopped briefly in Bangkok for two nights to break up the trip and also because Bangkok is such a wonderful city to visit.
Once I was back home on the West Coast, we had friends over from the UK to visit, and then, towards the end of the month, my wife and I flew to the East Coast to stay with her cousin in Sag Harbor (NY).
We had vacationed in Sag Harbor with our girls for the past 8 years or so and loved it there. Before COVID struck, this was our last trip to Sag Harbor, and my wife’s cousin decided to move to the West Coast to be nearer to us.
This image was taken while walking along main beach and enjoying this beautiful sunset.
