Last weekend I attended a men's retreat at the St. Francis Retreat Center, located in the foothills south of San Juan Bautista.
I've been making pilgrimages to this serene locale since 1992, but this is the first time I've had the luxury of a tripod with me. During this visit the temperatures were unusually warm, making for splendid evening chats and star gazing.
This submission is the best of several attempts to capture some star trails. I took this quite late in the wee hours of Sunday morning, about 2.30 a.m., just after the last of my peers turned in, leaving me the grounds to myself.
Before tripping the shutter I turned down the dimmer switches for the interior lights to their lowest possible setting -- they emitted a barely perceptible glow to the naked eye -- my goal was to avoid a completely overwhelmed, over-exposed room due to my planned 10-to-15 minute exposure. The splotchy pattern on the face of the building is due to some recently added exterior accent lights, which were scattered amidst some foliage and trees behind me and cast interesting patterns through branches and leaves.
I've been making pilgrimages to this serene locale since 1992, but this is the first time I've had the luxury of a tripod with me. During this visit the temperatures were unusually warm, making for splendid evening chats and star gazing.
This submission is the best of several attempts to capture some star trails. I took this quite late in the wee hours of Sunday morning, about 2.30 a.m., just after the last of my peers turned in, leaving me the grounds to myself.
Before tripping the shutter I turned down the dimmer switches for the interior lights to their lowest possible setting -- they emitted a barely perceptible glow to the naked eye -- my goal was to avoid a completely overwhelmed, over-exposed room due to my planned 10-to-15 minute exposure. The splotchy pattern on the face of the building is due to some recently added exterior accent lights, which were scattered amidst some foliage and trees behind me and cast interesting patterns through branches and leaves.
St. Francis Retreat Center, Fireside Room Porch
(c)2009 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.
(click image for larger version)
Details: May 17, 2009; Canon 20D; f/9 @ 799 secs; ISO 400; 17mm.
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