Double Arch Panorama by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website, Instagram, Facebook From the archives but I've never posted this here before. This is a panorama of Double Arch in Arches National Park. 12mm fisheye lens, 10 vertical images, f/2.8, 30 seconds, ISO 10,000. This is basically a panorama of the inside of a spherical object. I’ve only done this a few times as there is infrequent need for this, but it is hands down the most fun panorama for me to do. It’s a bit more technically challenging than a standard pano. A panorama was done because I could not fit the entire scene on one frame, even with a 12mm fisheye lens and climbing the back wall (exciting in the dark!). In the past I had tried to do this pano with a 15 mm fisheye lens and still didn’t get as much coverage as I desired from top to bottom, so I returned 2 years later to try it with a new 12mm fisheye. This project took several hours to get the Low Level Lighting and positioning and exposures done. Unfortunately you pretty much need the location all to yourself or you’ll drive other people crazy running in and out of the arch. Anyway, I at least learned 2 new things. First, I could get the whole scene in a 12 mm pano but there was a lot more distortion to correct with the 12 mm fisheye compared with to 15 mm fisheye. Second, the distortion really depends on where you stand and even a few feet of difference can change the whole look of the results. It’s important to get level with the second arch to minimize distortion. So... now I want to go back and try again but it’s getting harder to get this location all to yourself these days.
Park Avenue by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website, Instagram, Facebook Park Avenue, Wall to Wall: Another location I’ve been wanting to capture is “Park Ave.” in Arches National Park. I’ve wanted to see if I could make an interesting composition in this location. Park Ave. is a trail between large buttes and spires on each side. To include the Milky Way I had to get to the north end of the trail and look south. This is a panorama of approximately 240 degrees, trying to capture the towering walls on each side. I still didn’t capture the feeling of the immense walls on each side, but you can get an idea of the landscape. This is a panorama. The sky was captured at 14 mm, f/2.8, 29 sec., and ISO 4,000. The foreground was captured at 14 mm, f/2.0, 120 sec., and ISO 6400. Images combined in PS. Thanks for looking! Wayne
The Hanging Hoodoo by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website, Instagram, Facebook “The Hanging Hoodoo”. I’ve been away from Flickr for many months unfortunately. It’s been a busy summer and I have a whole season of photos to process and post, and I’m just finally getting around to it. If anyone is still actually following me, then many thanks. 🙏🙏🙏 I had the opportunity to explore an area in New Mexico that I had not been to before, an area outside of the usual photo locations, and I found this “Hanging Hoodoo”. I was immediately enamored by the photo potential. I was able to return at the next new moon and get this photo. Next year I’ll return and get the scene with the Milky Way to the left of the hoodoo, but it was too late in the year to get it this time. I could just make a composite and paste a MW to the left of the hoodoo, but I try to keep it real. It’s a lot more fun and challenging to make it work out in actuality than just adding a MW. A lot more trouble too, lol. I think this would be a major photo op for photographers if anyone knew about it. I was lucky to find it. There is a 20 image stack for the sky and a 5 minute exposure for the foreground, blended in PS, all taken from the same position, back to back. Thought for the day... “The night is a tunnel, a hole into tomorrow..." ... Frank Herbert Thanks for looking! Wayne Pinkston
Horseshoe Bend of the Little Colorado River by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website, Instagram, Facebook Horseshoe Bend of the Little Colorado River. There are 4-5 horseshoe bends in the Little Colorado River within the Grand Canyon, and this is one of them. Different bends line up with the Milky Way at different times. This is in the Navajo Nation so you need a permit to go there. The Grand Canyon is not as deep here as it is more west, but is still really impressive, and the river views are excellent. That is the real color of the water. I have not changed it at all, only mildly increased contrast. The sky is a stack processed in Starry Landscape Stacker. This is one frame at 14 mm. Foreground was a long exposure of 5 min, f/2.0, ISO 1600. Sky was a stack of 20 images at f/2.0, 20 sec, ISO 6400. Images blended in PS. There was a LOT of airglow which I find appealing. Cheers, Wayne
Mono Lake by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website, Instagram, Facebook Blend Sky: 16 images, 20 sec, f/2.8, ISO 6400, 14 mm Foreground: 5 minutes, f/2.8, ISO 1600, 14 mm Mono Lake, California. These are tufas arising out of Mono Lake. They are formed from mineral deposits from springs beneath the lake bed over centuries and are exposed when the water level falls. The water level varies greatly. The paths I recorded 2 years ago during the drought are mostly underwater now. The largest concentration of tufas is along the south shore. When including the Milky Way you are usually facing south, so this makes it more difficult to photograph the tufas, lake, and MW at the same time. There are a few small “peninsulas” that stick out into the lake making it possible (but tricky) to shoot across the water facing S and include both tufas and the MW. There is a stack for the sky and a long exposure for the foreground (5minutes), blended in PS. Cheers, Wayne Pinkston
Totem Pole Panorama by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website, Instagram, Facebook Panorama of the Totem Pole in Monument Valley, Utah. 11 images, 24 mm vertically, f 2.8, 15 sec., ISO 12,800. Thanks for all the kind support over the last year, it is much appreciated! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family!
Starstruck by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website, Instagram, Facebook This is taken in Arches National Park in the Arch called "North Window", with 2 friends from Moab. I had been wanting to shoot some photos of people silhouetted within the arch for a while, but did not get the opportunity until Sept. Thanks Dustin and Kelsey! This is a blend of 2 photos, one for the sky and one for the people, taken at the same focal length and f stop but different focus and shutter speed. Low Level Lighting used, with 2 small Goal Zero lantern within the arch and a Ceneroid Light Panel outside the arch on the right. Thanks for all the kind support over the last year, it is much appreciated! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family!
Stardust Dreams by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website, Instagram, Facebook That’s Anastasia flying in the North Window at Arches National Park. Wandering around at Delicate Arch in Arches NP I saw two people posing in front of the arch in ways that regular people just cannot do, like bending over backwards, or standing on your hands bending backwards. 😳 We eventually got to talking and I mentioned I take photos at night and they offered to participate. It turns out that they are incredible athletes specializing in Acrobatics. Check out Daniel at @acro_climber or @acro_shoots and Anastasia @baikalstorm on Instagram. These amazing acrobats posed that night in North Window in a number of poses that would be difficult in the daytime, but even harder at night. They were posing on the edge of a rock face, on hard uneven ground, in the dark, and holding each other up. Remember, the photo is lightened, it is nearly completely dark out there! So a big thank you to Daniel and Anastasia! In this photo Danial is holding Anastasia up in the air with his feet. The person on top is called the “flier”, so I erased Daniel and moved her up a bit to make her really “fly”. Sorry Daniel! There is one photo for the sky, and then another photo of the acrobats taken at the same focal length and ISO, but with a flash on the acrobats. The 2 photos were combined. Sigma 14-24 mm lens, 24 mm, f 2.8, 20 sec. (sky), 2 sec. (people), ISO 12,800. Hope you enjoy! Wayne Thanks for all the kind support over the last year, it is much appreciated! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family!
A Whale of a View by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website, Instagram, Facebook This is an arch called “Eye of the Whale” in Arches National Park. It is one of the more obscure and less visited arches. You have to take a dirt road for a couple of miles, or several kms, to get to the arch. The road alternates with rocky areas and deep sand, so a high clearance 4WD vehicle is required. It’s a fun spot off the beaten path. This is a panorama of 6 vertical images taken with a Sigma 14 mm f/1.8 lens at f 2.8, 30 sec, and ISO 12,800, with a Nikon 850 camera. The Arch is deeper than most, almost like a short tunnel. My first thought when hearing the name was “why would someone name an arch that”? Anyway, when you approach the arch from the path it really doses look like a giant eye, and even photos from inside the arch look like you are viewing from inside a giant eye. Hope you enjoy! Thanks for all the kind support over the last year, it is much appreciated! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family!
Hoodoos and Bones by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website, Instagram, Facebook Oh, if the land could only speak, what a tale it could tell... For tours to this area contact Kialo Winters at Navajo Tours USA. Thanks for all the kind support over the last year, it is much appreciated! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family!
To Walk a Pale Land by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website, Instagram, Facebook To Walk A Pale Land. Part of a series from the New Mexico Badlands. This is a panorama of 9 vertical shots taken at 14 mm with a 14-24 mm lens, f/2.8, ISO 12,800. I was about 6-8 feet from the larger hoodoos on the sides, very close. There was considerable distortion in the individual photos from being so close, but the combined photos in the panorama eliminated the distortion remarkably well. People frequently ask me about nodal rails and parallax. The current versions of Lightroom and Photoshop do remarkably well at eliminating parallax error in the photos. I do have a nodal rail and take as many panoramas as I can manage, but I do not bother with the nodal rail. I do not use it, and have never had an issue with parallax preventing stitching or distorting the image. In this image I was trying it o catch the rising MW between the hoodoos. Taken in May 2018. There are no paths in the New Mexico Badlands, and multiple places you can visit. If you want guidance consider contacting Kialo Winters @chacorunner, at Navajo Tours USA, highly recommend! Thanks for all the kind support over the last year, it is much appreciated! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family!
Hoodoo Hill by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website, Instagram, Facebook Hoodoo Hill, New Mexico Badlands. Single exposure with Low Level Lighting. Thanks for all the kind support over the last year, it is much appreciated! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family!
Whispers of the Past by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website, Instagram, Facebook An old house in New Mexico. Lighting with Low Level Lighting with a Gaol Zero Micro Lantern. There are 2 exposures for focus stacking, one for the foreground and one for the sky, both at 14 mm. Sky shot at 15 sec., f 4.5, 15 sec., and ISO 10,000, foreground shot at 25 sec., f 4.5, and ISO 10,000. I shot the foreground at f 4.5 to get more depth of field and forgot to change it for the sky. Oops... Thanks for all the kind support over the last year, it is much appreciated! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family!
Heart Arch by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website, Instagram, Facebook Stacked Image Foreground 9 images 17 mm, 30 sec., f 4.0, ISO 12,800 Sky 9 images 17 mm, 15 sec., ISO 12,800 Heart Arch or Window. Once upon a time on a small Mesa far, far away. 😊 I do not know if there is a real name for this small arch (I suspect not), but I’m going to call it Heart Arch. I saw a photo of this small arch on the internet which led me to see out the location, and fortunately I found it on my second day of searching. The Arch is located on the very edge of a cliff with a drop off of an estimated 100-150 feet, 30-50 m. Fortunately it could be lined up with the MW from the safe side of the arch, but unfortunately there was a lot of light pollution in this direction from a city about 100 miles, 160 km away. Still worked out ok though. There is focus stacking with a 9 image stack for the sky and an 9 image stack for the foreground, processed in Starry Landscape Stacker. Low Level Lighting done with a single Goal Zero Micro Lantern. Thanks for all the kind support over the last year, it is much appreciated! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family!
The Wizard of Bisti by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website, Instagram, Facebook Part of a fantasy Series. New Mexico Badlands. Panorama, 11 images, 24 mm, f 2.0, 15 sec., ISO 8000. Low Level Lighting used. There is a light behind the hoodoos (not doing much, lol), and an LED light panel on a tripod behind me and to the left. For more images like this please take a look at Wayne Pinkston Photography . Thanks for all the kind support over the last year, it is much appreciated! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family!
Recapture Pocket Panorama by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website, Instagram, Facebook Recapture Pocket is an area on hoodoos near Bluff, Utah. There are 2 fields of hoodoos here. I call this Hoodoo Arch because it is an arch that is mostly just 2 connected hoodoos. There is Low Level Lighting (LLL) with a Gaol Zero Micro Lantern behind the arch and an LED Light Panel on a tripod about 50 meters behind me and to the right. Panorama: 11 images, 20 mm, f 2.0, 20 sec., ISO 6400, Nikon 810A Hope you enjoy! For more images like this please take a look at Wayne Pinkston Photography . Thanks for all the kind support over the last year, it is much appreciated! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family!
To Walk a Pale Land, Part 3 by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website, Instagram, Facebook Part 3 of a series, "To Walk a Pale Land". New Mexico Badlands. Single Exposure. Low Level Lighting (LLL) with one small Goal Zero Micro Lantern turned down low and about 40 meters away to the left. For more images like this please take a look at Wayne Pinkston Photography . Thanks for all the kind support over the last year, it is much appreciated! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family!
Arches Within Arches by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website, Instagram, Facebook Arch in Northern New Mexico For more images like this please take a look at Wayne Pinkston Photography . Thanks for all the kind support over the last year, it is much appreciated! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family!
White Mesa Arch by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website, Instagram, Facebook White Mesa Arch in Arizona. This is in the Navajo Nation and you should have a local guide to go there. This spot was completely off my radar until it was introduced to me by Quanah Parker who is with Majestic Monument Valley Tours. This trip caused me some embarrassment, lol. You have to climb a sandy hill to get to the arch. We parked down below, and I grabbed my gear and tripod and headed up. I set up the lights (Low Level Lighting) and tripod and reached for the camera, which wasn't there, sigh. It was still in the backseat of the car. You would think that you could at least remember the camera on a photo trip, sigh again... Anyway it was down the hill and back up the hill. The night was a success anyway. The arch is huge, and the view through the arch is wonderful. There is some light pollution form homesteads in the area. Many thanks to the model, Jacinda Wileto! For more images like this please take a look at Wayne Pinkston Photography . Thanks for all the kind support over the last year, it is much appreciated! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family!
Sunset Arch, Escalante by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website, Instagram, Facebook Sunset Arch, Escalante. Low Level Lighting, LLL, used under the Arch, and dim LLL used on the outside of the arch. The Escalante Grand Staircase National Monument is a terrific dark sky location, recently drastically reduced in size by the government. This was taken while assisting during a workshop by Royce Bair, a terrific teacher. Check out his ebook! For more images like this please take a look at Wayne Pinkston Photography . Thanks for all the kind support over the last year, it is much appreciated! I would have never believed that my photos could ever receive 22 million views. A big thank you for making this possible!
The Light of a Thousand Suns by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: I was honored to be on the Podcast "F-Stop Collaborate and Listen" with host Matt Payne. He interviews Landscape and Nightscape Photographers about a variety of topics. His relaxed style makes the podcasts enjoyable and interesting. He helps you see the people behind the photos. You can listen to my interview here: fstopandlisten.podbean.com This photo: "The Light of a Thousand Suns". This was a bit of a surprise. This is an Overlook of the Little Colorado River in the Grand Canyon before it joins the Colorado River. I had a good night shooting other sites along the Colorado River, and timed the Milky Way to be over this part of the canyon in the early a.m. When I got there the clouds had rolled in and I was about to pack it in for the night, but decided to give it a try anyway. I was surprised. The clouds were uniformly thin, thin enough for the light of the Milky Way to shine through and illuminate the clouds. The effect turned out to be pleasing, at least to me. This is a blend of a foreground image and a sky image. Foreground is a stack of 10 images taken at 14 mm, f 2.0, 30 sec., and ISO 3200. Sky image is from same spot at 14 mm, f 2.0, 20 sec., and ISO 12,800. For more images like this please take a look at Wayne Pinkston Photography . Thanks for all the kind support! Hope you enjoy! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family. It's a pleasure to post here. Website Instagram Facebook
Tower of Silence by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website Instagram Facebook Tower of Silence - Beautiful white hoodoo in southern Utah I was honored to be on the Podcast "F-Stop Collaborate and Listen" with host @mattpaynephoto. He interviews Landscape and Nightscape Photographers about a variety of topics. His relaxed style makes the podcasts enjoyable and interesting. He helps you see the people behind the photos. You can listen to my interview here: fstopandlisten.podbean.com/ Teaching point: There are now LED light panels with adjustable color temperatures. The standard Light Panels with warming filters (which make the color temp around 2700K) are wonderful for warm structures like the red rock throughout much of Utah and northern Arizona, but are not realistic for structures like these white Hoodoos. With adjustable color temperatures you can adjust the light to the foreground structures. Regular LED lights are too blue to be realistic, and can have a color temperatures up to 6500K. For this scene I wanted a more neutral color temperature that would show the white color of the hoodoos accurately and used a color temperature of 4000K to 4200K for these photos, which worked well.
White Pocket Panorama by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website, Instagram, Facebook Panorama at White Pocket, Arizona. 10 images, 14 mm, f 2.0, 25 sec., ISO 12,800. I think this might be my first pano of the MW Arch in August. Typically I find the MW is too high to get onto a single row Pano by that time of year. Somehow I was able to fit the whole sweep of the MW onto a vertical 14 mm Pano. You can tell it is getting late in the MW season because the core has set relatively quickly during the night. There is still plenty on MW to see though! Note the Andromada Galaxy near the top of the frame, above the Milky Way, to the right. For more images like this please take a look at Wayne Pinkston Photography . Thanks for all the kind support! Hope you enjoy! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family. It's a pleasure to post here.
Monument Valley Panorama by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Panorama of The Mittens in Monument Valley at night. 12 images, 24 mm, f 1.6, 13 seconds, ISO 10,000. Monument Valley Landscape Astrophotography Workshop! There are 3 remaining spots open in the workshop I will be leading in MV June 6 to 9, 2018. Details can be found here: waynepinkstonphoto.com/Workshops If you are interested please contact me here or through my website, waynepinkstonphoto.com This is a 4 day workshop with an extra "optional" 5th day on June 10 if anyone wants to stick around and shoot nightcapes with me in the area. This day can also be used as a make-up day if needed. Three days will be scheduled shooting in Monument Valley and one day outside of Monument Valley. That day will be used to practice and learn Low Level Lighting while shooting hoodoos in the area. Landscape Astrophotography will be the focus of the workshop. There will be lectures on 3 days, and a group dinner on one day. I have also been asked frequently about guiding and workshops in the New Mexico Badlands. So here is a general question - Is anyone out there interested in attending a Landscape Astrophotography Workshop in the New Mexico Badlands May 14 - 17, 2018? There is no obligation, I'm just trying to judge interest. For more images like this please take a look at Wayne Pinkston Photography . Thanks for all the kind support! Hope you enjoy! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family. It's a pleasure to post here.
The Elephant Walks at Night by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Thank You Flickr!!! This is my photo from earlier this year that was included in the recently announced Top 25 Photos on Flickr Award for the year 2017. blog.flickr.net/en/2017/12/07/top-25-photos-on-flickr-in-... So what does this mean? I do not delude myself into thinking that this is one of the best 25 photos on Flickr, It is not. I see many photos that I consider much better than my own. I am humbled by many of the high quality photos I see on Flickr, and those are what drive me to try and improve. This award, to the best of my knowledge, is based on how many views, likes, and comments a photo receives. What this award means is that many, many people on Flickr have been very, very kind to me, This is award is a reflection of the wonderful Flickr Community. It means that many of you have taken the time to look at my photos and comment and maybe "like" them. This award is simply a reflection of how kind people have been to me, much more than anything I have done myself. So I get it that you all have made this possible. So this is my sincere THANK YOU to all the wonderful Flickr people that made this happen. This is your award, much more than mine. Cheers, and Happy Shooting to all in 2018! Wayne Pinkston
Teardrop Arch, Monument Valley by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website Instagram Faceb ook Teardrop Arch in Monument Valley. Funny story showing how blind I can be. My guide in Monument Valley was Quanah Parker, and he suggested going to Teardrop Arch. I had 'never' seen or heard of it, but his suggestions were always good, so I agreed, and we had a fabulous night shooting this Arch, and some adjacent sites. I got back to the motel in the early morning, and there was a 36 inch, 1 meter photo of this same arch over the bed. I had been looking at it the better part of a week and had no clue what I was looking at. Wonder what I'm missing out in the open, lol. Shot at 14 mm, f 2.8, 25 sec., ISO 8000. Lighting with Low Level Lighting, www.lowlevellighting.org You need a local guide to take might tours in MV. If you want an excellent guide for night photography in Monument Valley, google Majestic Monument Valley Tours, contact them, and schedule a night tour with Quanah Parker. For more images like this please take a look at Wayne Pinkston Photography . Thanks for all the kind support! Hope you enjoy! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family. It's a pleasure to post here.
Just a Big Rock that Ought to Fall Over by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website Instagram Faceb ook Just a really big rock that should probably fall over, . It looks so asymmetric that it is hard to imagine that it can remain this way. I came upon this 'balanced rock' on a scouting trip looking for good spots to shoot the Colorado River in Canyonlands National Park. It lies just out of the park near Moab, and the light is from an small utility building about 400 m away that is part of the Potash Plant in the area. This rock looks so precarious that it was a little creepy getting down under it to shoot upwards. Single exposure, 14 mm, f2.8, 15 sec., ISO 8000. For more images like this please take a look at Wayne Pinkston Photography . Thanks for all the kind support! Hope you enjoy! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family. It's a pleasure to post here.
Nankoweap Overlook, East Rim of the Grand Canyon by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website Instagram Faceb ook Nankoweap Overlook on the East Rim of the Grand Canyon. This is an remote undeveloped area along the western margin of the Navajo Nation and along the East Rim of the Grand Canyon. There are many miles/km of dirt roads and tracks to reach this site, but most of them are flat and in good condition. In 3 days of scouting and 3 nights of shooting I encountered 0 people. You do need a Navajo permit to travel in this area. This is a blend of 2 images taken back to back from the same spot, a 240 sec. image of the foreground at 14 mm, f 2.0, and ISO 2500 with long exposure noise reduction (LENR), and a sky image taken at 20 sec., 14mm, f 2.0, and ISO 12,800 and blended in PS. In my opinion the river views along this part of the canyon are much better than on the South or North Rims. The light pollution is from the South Rim and tourist area many miles away. One perplexing note - the area is on the edge of the Navajo Nation which uses Daylight Savings Time, and Arizona which does not use DST. If you are using your smartphone for planning Milky Way shots (example TPE, Photopillls, PlanIt) and you leave your phone on "Auto Time Zone", strange things will happen. You can walk 10 ft., 3 m, and your time zone will change, and sometimes the time and time zone will change back in forth standing in one place. You start wondering "what time is it really?", and "just what time zone did I plan for?". I marked times to be in certain spots and then had no idea what time it really was, lol. Advice: pick a time zone and take your phone off auto before you ever get there! Cheers, Wayne For more images like this please take a look at Wayne Pinkston Photography . Thanks for all the kind support! Hope you enjoy! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family. It's a pleasure to post here.
Canyon de Chelly Panorama by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website Instagram Faceb ook Panorama of Canyon de Chelly in Chinle, Arizona, taken from one of the viewpoints on the Southern Rim. I had never seen a night photo from the rim of the canyon so I wanted to give it a try. There was so much light pollution that I did not expect this to be successful, and left disappointed after trying panoramas from several viewpoints. When I processed it, the image was more successful than expected, and the light pollution actually adds more color to the photo. For more images like this please take a look at Wayne Pinkston Photography . Thanks for all the kind support! Hope you enjoy! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family. It's a pleasure to post here.
Spiderweb Arch, Hunts Mesa by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website Instagram Facebook This is Spiderweb Arch on Hunt's Mesa, Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, Utah and Arizona. this is a relatively little know arch to the general public. predominantly because it is so hard to get to. The drive to Hunt's Mesa is an adventure in itself, with deep sand and rocky poorly defined tracks. In many areas the term "roads" would be an exaggeration. You also need a local guide. This double arch is huge. It makes Double Arch in Arches National Park look modest in comparison. For scale please look at the small bright light in the right lower area of the photo. You might need to enlarge the photo, but there is a photographer there, Eric Gail, sitting by his tripod on a small ledge taking photos. He is virtually lost within the enormity of the cavernous space. There is some distortion from trying to capture the inside of a sphere onto a rectangular photo. The two opening at the top are overhead. The roof opening on the right is considerably larger than the one on the left, but I am closer to the one on the left making it look as large. I had to move far left in the arch to include the Milky Way. Iy took longer than expected to figure out just how to include the whole arch within a photo. It would not fit on a 14 mm panorama vertically or horizontally. I finally captured it as a horizontal 12 mm fisheye panorama. Many thanks to our guide Quanah Parker from Majestic Monument Valley Tours. He is a night photographer himself, and I probably would not have been able to climb the steep 45 degree walls without his help. When we arrived in the dark, it was like "you want me to do what?, lol. He got me up into the arch however, and then it was just a matter of trying to prevent your camera, tripod, and camera bag from sliding down the slope. If you want to see places like this at night, Google " Majestic Monument Valley Tours, and ask for Quanah Parker. For more images like this please take a look at Wayne Pinkston Photography . Thanks for all the kind support! Hope you enjoy! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family. It's a pleasure to post here. Cheers, Wayne