Explore Landscapes #44

June was a great month for many reasons: family, friends, hiking, and dark sky photography. Five years ago was pretty good too - visited three continents in one month!

June 2024 | Joshua Tree National Park (3 trips)

June was a great month for many reasons: family, friends, hiking, dark sky photography workshops, and no visit to the ER!

After nine months of empty-nesting, both daughters are home for a few months, which is wonderful. It’s so good to have them both at home again.

This month also marks 10 years since we left Hamburg and moved to Southern California. I posted a visual diary to mark that anniversary.

I spent a fun weekend in Joshua Tree with friends to celebrate a birthday on the summer solstice. Feels a bit early in the year to say that the days are starting to draw in again, but that’s a fact. I rounded that weekend out by hiking up Inspiration Peak. My fourth Mojave Desert Peak climbed in 2024, but two behind schedule, so I have a lot of catching up to do when the days start to cool down in September.

This past month, I conducted several dark sky photography workshops in Joshua Tree, a few private and one on behalf of the JTNPA Desert Institute.

This month’s image is a star trail timelapse captured near Cap Rock in Joshua Tree. While I do enjoy shooting the Milky Way, there’s something special (in my opinion) about creating a star trail image. This is a stack of 162 images taken over an hour, one image every 20 seconds.

Last month, I published two posts about editing Milky Way images: Milky Way Editing Workflow and Reducing Noise in Milky Way Images.

June 2019 | Big Bear, CA | Istanbul | Bangkok | Bhutan

I first traveled to Bhutan about 20 years ago on a work trip, and although I spent a few days in the country, I had no time to explore; I pretty much just saw the airport, hotel, and the aircraft I was inspecting. Ever since I’ve wanted to go back.

Last year I turned 50 and, as a present to myself, arranged to return to Bhutan, this time as part of a guided tour. I spent an amazing week exploring Paro, Thimphu, Punakha, and the Phobjikha Valley. The tour was organized by Bhutan Lilly Travels, whom I can’t recommend highly enough.

The trip's highlight was the last day’s hike up to Paro Taktsang, the Tiger’s Nest Monastery. The hike takes about 5 hours (out and back) and climbs over 1,700 feet to reach the monastery at 10,232 feet. It’s a steep climb, but the views are worth every step.