Anatomy of a Composition - quiet water nights

When the spring night dreams come true, moments like this are absolutely breathless, and the quiet night bursts to life under the sea of stars. This night started out with the challenge of clouds moving in over what had been planned as a time lapse and panorama with one of the most picturesque barns in the Yampa Valley, turned into the stars revealing themselves with the recently loosened Elk River.

I had intended to shoot this spot in the early morning light has I have many times in the past seven years. The shape and depth of the ice is always changing here, and more and less light reflects from the water depending on speed of the water and the mixture of light and clouds. Some mornings have been still and somber while others chaotic as if in the midst of a winter tempest. The clouds were initially low and seemed to have no real motion. Different exposures up to 30 seconds long showed just a dense shroud behind the trees, not allowing any starlight in. The closure to dawn it got though, the thinner the clouds began to reveal the star Vega as a bright, central object in the sky.

Slowly and surely Vega became more and more consistently visible and with it the stars of the galactic core started to glow and define themselves. Soon enough the arch was wholly visible, balancing itself over the towering pines as the river slipped silently below. It’d envisioned a shot like this a number of years ago, but was never able to trust myself or the setting itself no matter how much planning or preparation. This was more serendipitous - it all appeared as it needed to, exactly when it needed ot.

Hopefully this is just the beginning of a series of adventures in 2024, with many, many nights out under the stars.

As always, thank you the support and for following along on the journey! Look to the YouTube channel soon for the latest time lapse!

quiet water nights - Sony a7iv & FE 14 GM - ISO 6400 | F/1.8 | 10 sec ~ 14mm - 15 images stacked