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  4. SAIPAN

NOVEMBER 29,2010: BANZAI NIGHT

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Because of all the clouds which had moved in, I gave up on star trail photos and turned my attention to the surf and cliffs. I had the timer set for 20 minutes, but it started raining at about 18, so I called it a night, packed up the gear, and headed home to catch some sleep before sunrise.
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Because of all the clouds which had moved in, I gave up on star trail photos and turned my attention to the surf and cliffs. I had the timer set for 20 minutes, but it started raining at about 18, so I called it a night, packed up the gear, and headed home to catch some sleep before sunrise.

  • I have wanted to get this shot for quite some time. Unfortunately, this monument is at a location frequented by many tour groups and locals. I have tried to get the shot in the late evening, but people drive by until at least midnight, and each time car headlights impinge on this, it totally ruins the exposure. This time, I went up to Banzai at about 3:00 AM, knowing that there would be a quarter moon fairly high in the eastern sky and hoping that no one else would be idiot enough to come up there at that time in the morning. When I set up, cloud cover was maybe about 10% of the sky. During this 20-minute exposure cloud cover increased to probably at least 70%. The lighting from the moon was a little more intense than what I think would be ideal. That and the increasing cloud cover diminished the quality of the results slightly, I think. However, it does give me a starting photo which I hope I can improve upon soon. I positioned myself such that the North Star was directly on the other side of the globe, to create this circular effect.
  • Actually, I took this one prior to the last one (Keeping in mind that we are facing due north, you can verify this by comparing the moon lighting angle on the globe). Quickly after set-up I took a 10-minute exposure, primarily to see that everything was set up OK. Because I had to reduce aperture opening to get the shot you just saw, more stars actually show up -- and with more color -- in this photo. Of course, the star trails are shorter because of the shorter exposure time. However, I'm not sure but what I may like this one better. What do you think?
  • Because of all the clouds which had moved in, I gave up on star trail photos and turned my attention to the surf and cliffs. I had the timer set for 20 minutes, but it started raining at about 18, so I called it a night, packed up the gear, and headed home to catch some sleep before sunrise.

  • Pam

    on December 5, 2010

    Breathtaking.....

  • t

    on November 30, 2010

    /....mystical...

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