Starscapes – Dan Bourque Photography

Galleries Archive by category "Starscapes"

Stars Over Monuments

Stars leave their multi-colored trails over a moonlit Monument Valley in Arizona.

Details: iconic Monument Valley in Arizona is stunning, and star trails are cool, so when you can combine them in one image it’s a real treat! This is the result of more than three hours of total exposure time to capture the movement of the earth against the stars, and a full moon lit up the valley beautifully. The light on the horizon is the approaching dawn.

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Lights Over the Lake

The Milky Way stands nearly vertical above Lake Isabel in southern Colorado as lights along the shore illuminate stands of aspen trees.

Details: sometimes a shot turns out very different than you had hoped but ends up being even better than you’d pictured it. In this case, I trekked to the shores of Lake Isabel in the Wet Mountains of Colorado to catch a brilliant sky and hopefully a brilliant reflection in the lake’s waters. Unfortunately, a thunderstorm behind me brought enough wind to erase any reflections of stars, but a well-timed vehicle moving up the forest service road on the far side of the lake provided some interesting “light painting” of the aspen groves along the shores.

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Light from Beyond

The Milky Way rises brightly over the rocky banks of the South Fork of the Rio Grande in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado.

Details: the most challenging thing about photographing the Milky Way is finding skies dark enough that it shines through. The second most challenging thing is finding some interesting foreground. The third most challenging thing is getting some kind of light on the foreground so it’s not just a silhouette. All three things lined up with this shot taken near the town of South Fork, Colorado, the eastern gateway to the beautiful San Juan Mountains. I’m grateful to the Arbor House Inn B&B for hosting me and letting me shoot from their beautiful property.

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Starry Rainbow

The starry trail of the Milky Way arches across the summer sky above the mountains of central Colorado.

Details: In early summer in the northern hemisphere, the Milky Way rises in the east with its core just above the southeast horizon. Getting the entire arc of the Milky Way from horizon to horizon requires a composite of several exposures, in this case 10 individual vertical images. This spot near a creek in the Tarryall Mountains of Colorado allowed me to frame the galaxy core perfectly between two rock faces.

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Glow Above and Below

The Milky Way lights up the heavens above while a campfire lights up the forest below.

Details: this image was taken in the Tarryall Mountains of Colorado on a June evening just as the Milky Way rose above the horizon. While it looks like a forest fire in the trees, it’s really the result of a long exposure that captured the small fire’s light over 25 seconds.

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Starry Night Over the Ranch

The Milky Way shines bright in the early morning over eastern Colorado.

Details: My wife and I were privileged to stay overnight at a beautiful little horse ranch near Elbert, Colorado. I woke up an hour before dawn on a chilly April morning to capture the core of the Milky Way high in the southern sky. The glow in the background is the light of Colorado Springs in the distance.

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Stars over Salida

A trail of stars falls gently over the Rocky Mountain town of Salida in central Colorado.

Details: This image was taken on a winter night and captures about 90 minutes of total exposure time. It’s amazing how far the stars move in that amount of time (yes, I understand they’re not really moving and it’s just the earth rotating. . .). Star trails take a lot of forethought and patience, but the result can be an amazing image that only your camera can truly “see.” This is a composite of more than 150 individual images, and in addition to the movement of the stars, I also love that it captures the movement of cars along the roads and up into the mountains, including a couple heading up to the spot locals call “S Mountain” in the lower right.

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Veiled Majesty

Fleeting clouds uncover the heart of the Milky Way in the badlands of the Paint Mines in Colorado.

Details: Astrophotography is tricky because so much depends on subtleties in the conditions. On this moonlit night, the Milky Way shone bright, but it remained hidden for most of the night behind a veil of high clouds. This was one of the rare breaks this June evening, but the long exposure, bizarre rock formations and bright center of the Milky Way combine to make this an otherworldly image.

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Reflecting on the Galaxy

A brilliant Milky Way is reflected in the still waters of a high alpine lake in Colorado.

Details: It’s always fun when you get to combine two of your favorite photography themes, in this case, the Milky Way and a reflection. On this dark September night, I hiked around the waters of O’Haver Lake in the Sawatch Range of central Colorado. Lights from two campsites dot the far shore, but the Milky Way shone as bright as I’ve ever seen it. The reflection turned out to be tough to get as any light breeze would destroy it in a 30-second exposure. There weren’t any people on this side of the lake, but I can tell you the rustling noises behind me in the woods sure kept my attention! Bigfoot, is that you? . . .

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Pointing Heavenward

A lone pine tree points toward the rising Milky Way over Poncha Pass, Colorado.

Details: September is the last month of the year where you can catch the center of the Milky Way in the northern hemisphere (the center is just at the ridge line in this shot). Poncha Pass, which lies in central Colorado at the north end of the San Luis Valley, is one of the darkest places in the state, and Colorado’s clear skies make the stars even brighter. The moon hadn’t risen yet, so all that was missing was a little light on the foreground, so I used one of the very few passing cars to do a little “light painting” of the foreground during the 30-second exposure. The bright blue star just left of the Milky Way is Altair.

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Mighty Hammer

Colorado Rock formations under the brilliant Milky Way.

Details: I absolutely love taking pictures of the Milky Way on a clear night away from city lights. This image, which has been featured by National Geographic, was taken on just such a night at a place called the Paint Mines near Calhan, Colorado. In the daylight, these formations are brilliantly banded in red, yellow and white, but at night, it’s the stars that put on a show. This view of the center of the Milky Way galaxy was captured with a 20 second exposure on a summer evening in June.

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Yucca Moon

A still yucca leans toward the moon and a fast-moving night sky at Red Rock Canyon, Nevada.

Details: I love taking long-exposure shots at night, but the conditions have to be just right to get the effect you’re looking for. In this case, something rare happened–the clouds were moving at a fast clip just above, yet there was no wind to move the yucca and make it blurry. The result is a tack-sharp foreground and surreal, swirling sky. The bright dot next to the full moon is Jupiter, and the orange glow is from Las Vegas.

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The Old and the Ancient

The defiant trunk of an old tree stands tall as the clouds part to reveal the much older Milky Way on a crisp Colorado night.

Details: After enduring rain and lightning at sunset, the clouds finally parted to reveal the Milky Way and a host of stars over Grouse Mountain in Mueller State Park in the Colorado Rockies. This is one of my favorite photo spots, but this was the first time I’d been up here at night. The opportunity was well worth the hike in the dark!

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Milky Way over Death Valley

The Milky Way rises like a rocket plume over the salt flats of Death Valley National Park, California.

Details: I’m not much of an underwater photographer, but this is one of my first efforts below sea level ;-). Besides its low elevation, Death Valley is also known for its dark skies which make for excellent viewing of the Milky Way on moonless nights like this one in June–the glow on the horizon is from Las Vegas more than 90 miles away. In the foreground are the salt formations of the so-called Devils Golf Course near Badwater, the lowest point in North America. The formations are lit using a technique called “light painting” using a light source swept over the scene during the 30-second exposure. This shot was taken around 3 AM, and despite the time, it was still 99 degrees out!

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Galaxy Between Canyon Walls

The Milky Way rises like a spire into the night between the walls of Golden Canyon in Death Valley National Park, California.

Details: Death Valley is known for its dark skies, and summer is a great time to catch the brightest parts of the Milky Way. This photo was taken around 3:30 AM on a moonless June night from inside Golden Canyon near Furnace Creek. The mouth of the canyon opens to the south, so it made the perfect frame for the vertical galaxy. As you might expect, I had the park to myself at this hour–my only companions were a few bats zipping around the canyon.

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Orion and Company

The constellation Orion and its neighbors streak over winter woods.

Details: I love shooting star trails, and I particularly love this image because the constellation Orion with his belt of three stars can be clearly discerned in the upper right despite the star trails streaming from it. The bright star in the lower right is Sirius, and the brightest trail near the top-center is Jupiter. This is also my longest star trail photo to date with around 2 hours of total exposure time. Combined with a shot southward toward the equator, this equals long trails. The slightest light has turned the trees nearly white due to the long exposure.

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Here’s a link to a time-lapse video made from the photos used in this video (and yes, I had to edit out the airplane trails dot by dot)

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Stars Swirling Above the Cabin

Hundreds of streaking stars swirl around and in the large windows of Look Out Lodge.

Details: This star trail image was created from more than 100 minutes of total exposure time on the deck of Look Out Lodge on Lake Cumberland, Kentucky. The circle created by the stars indicates the camera is pointed north (northwest to be exact). What I love about this particular image is the way the stars reflected in the window arc the opposite direction creating a sense of balance in the composition.

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Star Trails over the Cabin

Stars arc over Look Out Lodge on Lake Cumberland.

Details: Star trail photos are one of my favorite things to do with a camera. It’s different from other images in that you can’t really see the lines of the trails until you process the image which requires a lot of estimation and visualization of your composition. This image, looking south over Look Out Lodge on Lake Cumberland, Kentucky, represents about 70 minutes of total exposure time. The brightest “star” in the upper right is Jupiter.

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Just for fun, here’s a time-lapse video made from the same photos that were used to create this image

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Star Flurries over Poncha

Star trails swirl above the lights of Poncha Springs, Colorado like snow flurries in the night.

Details: this image is the result of more than 75 minutes of exposure time and shows just how much the stars move in an hour. The camera is on a ridge overlooking the small (but bright) town of Poncha Springs and is pointed northwest toward the 14,000 foot Mount Antero and the continental divide on this cold and clear November night.

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Fiery Glow on the Horizon

Clouds glow fiery red behind perfectly silhouetted pine trees in Colorado.

Details: while it may look like a fire (and that’s not too uncommon in Colorado), this photo actually captures the reddish glow of Colorado Springs from Mueller State Park on an August midnight. The 30-second exposure turns a dull glow into the bright glow you see here. The ridge in the background is actually the back side of the famous “14er” Pikes Peak.

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Starry Streaks Across the Milky Way

A brilliant Milky Way illuminates strange rock formations as stars streak by.

Details: this image was created from more than 80 images to capture 40 minutes of star movement at the Paint Mines near Calhan, Colorado. Straight trails mark the line of the equator with curving trails of northern stars to the left and southern stars to the right.

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Just for fun, I also converted these images into a time-lapse video so you can watch the show. Enjoy!

Starry Streaks Across the Milky Way – Time Lapse

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Golden Circle of Stars

Stars circle like the rotor of a helicopter against a golden sky over bizarre formations.

Details: 75 images and 40 minutes of total exposure time were used to create this unique image of the Paint Mines in Calhan, Colorado. The North Star is just hidden behind the large rock to get the effect of stars circling around it. The golden sky is from the lights of Denver, about 70 miles away.

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Just for fun, I’ve created a time-lapse video so you can see the motion of the stars used to create this image. Enjoy!

Golden Circle of Stars – Time Lapse

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Still Rocks Against a Circling Sky

Twisted rock formations under a pink and purple sky of curving star trails.

Details: This star-trail photo was made from more than 70 30-second exposures over 35 minutes and features the bizarre hoodoo formations of the Paint Mines near Calhan, Colorado. And yes, I know it’s technically the rocks that are circling while the sky stands still. . .

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All images and graphics are the property of the photographer and should not be used without permission. All Images copyright Dan Bourque

Category: Starscapes

Stars Over Monuments

Lights Over the Lake

Light from Beyond

Starry Rainbow

Glow Above and Below

Starry Night Over the Ranch

Stars over Salida

Veiled Majesty

Reflecting on the Galaxy

Pointing Heavenward

Mighty Hammer

Yucca Moon

The Old and the Ancient

Milky Way over Death Valley

Galaxy Between Canyon Walls

Orion and Company

Stars Swirling Above the Cabin

Star Trails over the Cabin

Star Flurries over Poncha

Fiery Glow on the Horizon

Starry Streaks Across the Milky Way

Golden Circle of Stars

Still Rocks Against a Circling Sky

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