Questions And Answers
Questions and Answers
How to book lodging if you are chasing clear skies
Question: I just assumed it was kinda off season early June but I get the impression now that it actually gets quieter in July and August due to the heat. I'm reluctant to book in advance ... I need to follow the clear skies. Have you had any serious issues finding accommodations at last minute in say early June?
Answer: In June it can be a problem at the last minute. The answer is somewhat round-about. I think June is the worst month overall to get lodging, with May next worse. July and August are a little better. I'll tell you what I do, but please keep in mind that I stay in cheap motels. I am not there much at night, and only come back around 5 to 7 a.m, sleep till maybe 1 p.m, and then go out to scout new location, or drive to new places, them try to be at the spot around sunset. Anyway, I do not spend much time in the motel, so I just get the cheapest one that has OK reviews (hopefully no bed bugs!!!).
So.... I usually get on a booking website. I usually use Orbitz, just out of habit. I book a motel where I think I want to be. Sometimes you have to pay up front, sometimes you don't. They have cancellation clauses usually. Occasionally they have a "no cancellation", or "no refund" policy", and I do not book them. Read the fine print while booking. They typically have a policy that you can cancel by 4 pm, the day before or 48 hrs before. I keep an eye on the weather, and if the outlook is cloudy, I will try to book in a clearer locale if possible, and then cancel to one i made in the cloudy place. Orbitz has been good about refunding money into my account as long as you follow the motel rules. This way I am not left out of a place to sleep. I usually do not cancel until I have an alternative. So far, so good.
So far I have had no problems with this method. Moab could be a problem in the high season. Still, there are usually some cancellations, and if you call around enough you can find a room. There may be less choice at the last minute. The smallest towns like Escalante, or maybe Kanab, can be the biggest problems because there are just not many motel rooms to start with, so there is less opportunity. Here is the worst scenario, one that I have seen: When it is actually raining, campers flood into town looking for a room, especially families with young kids. I suspect sitting in a tent all day with very young kids is not easy! Anyway, if it's raining rooms disappear fast. It does not rain much, but I have found that when there is continuous rain all day, then the whole region was clouded over, and there is nowhere to go, and I just sit it out.
I have never had a problem in Northern New Mexico, around Farmington and the NM Badlands. There seem to be plenty of rooms there. Just be careful of the very small towns. Hope this helps! One more point, if you are going to cancel, don't forget to cancel in time to get your refund. I learned this the hard way. Anyway, this can give you flexibility to move around if necessary.
Good luck, Wayne 2016
More Posts from Wayne-pinkston and Others
Wandering in the Badlands by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: This is a panorama of one of the flatter areas in the Bisti Badlands in NW New Mexico. A few photos back I downloaded a view of a small wash or ravine surrounded by steep stony hills or ridges. www.flickr.com/photos/pinks2000/22455038082/in/dateposted... This badlands are a mixture of both broad flat areas (with many moderate to small hoodoos), mixed with long areas of water cut ravines and ridges. Both have their own unique beauty. It's certainly easier to walk around in the flat areas, and the flatter areas have most of the named hoodoos, but to get to these areas you usually have to negotiate the hills and ravines. It's a fun but lonely and desolate place at night. The first night I went there a German couple was trailer camping in the parking area and I parked near them. I was going out a little before sunset, and he said, "You're going out there? Now?" The chances that you will be alone out there at night are just about 100%. After all, who is crazy enough to go out there at night? This is a series of single vertical exposures combined in Lightroom. BTW, this was taken on May 18, not April. Thanks for taking the time to look. Hope you enjoy! Big thanks to the wonderful Flickr family out there. Please join me at: Website Facebook Instagram Blog
Canyon Country by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Canyon Country. This is the view from Muley Point atop Cedar Mesa in southern Utan. It is near the top of the Moki (Mokey) Dungway, a spectacular dirt road that drops 1,200 feet or 400 meters from the top of Cedar Mesa down into the valley below. The views are spectacular, looking from southern Utah all the way to Arizona and Monument Valley. This is canyon country, atop the vast Colorado Plateau, occupying parts of Utah,Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. The plateau is around 5,000 - 6,000 feet or 2,000 meters high, with innumerable deep canyons and gulches. You mostly travel on top of the plateau or mesas, and descend into the canyons. It is like an endless wonderland to explore. I love the night photos taken on mountain tops, but this is a bit different. You are atop the mesas looking down, but you are looking down into deep dark canyons. There is not much light down there!!! Hopefully I have captured some of the beauty. This is a composite image consisting of a 15 sec., ISO 6400 image for the sky, and a 5 minute ISO 1600 images of the foreground, taken back to back. Both taken at 24 mm, f/2.0 with a Rokinon 24 mm f/1.4 lens. Thanks for taking the time to look. Hope you enjoy! Big thanks to the wonderful Flickr family for all the support and encouragement! Cheers, Wayne Please join me at: Website Facebook Instagram Blog
Ancient Bristlecone Pines on Flickr.
Ancient Bristlecone Pines in Bryce Canyon National Park, with the Milky Way above.
The Alien Throne with Comet 252P/Linear by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: No Aliens, just the Alien Throne. The unique Hoodoo is in the New Mexico Badlands, north of Chaco Canyon. I have been fascinated by the appearance since I first saw it's photo, and finally got to photograph it at night. The atmosphere is surreal. I love the melted wax appearance of the rocks in the region. 14-24 mm lens at 24 mm, 20 sec., f/2.8, ISO 6400. The small blue-green fuzzy object just above the right side of the large hoodoo is the comet 252P/LINEAR. Thanks for taking the time to look. Hope you enjoy! Big thanks to the wonderful Flickr family out there. Please join me at: Website Facebook Instagram Blog
Whispers of Long Ago: (at Utah) https://www.instagram.com/p/CJt3EORByeH/?igshid=1tsw9rot4penq
Peek-A-Boo by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website, Instagram, Facebook This is a panorama of several photos taken with a 12 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens. I’ve included 2 photos. The first photo is the image after the distortion was corrected in Photoshop. The second image is before the correction. Note the angled horizon in the second image. The camera and lens were pretty severely angled to get the entire opening in the image. There is Low Level Lighting (LLL) with 2 Goal Zero Micro Lanterns. One is behind me to my left and one is down the ravine to get some light on the more distant walls. Both are turned to low and are covered with a handkerchief to further diffuse and lower the light. The Goal Zero Mini has a very nice neutral to slightly warm light colour temperature. 12 mm, f/2.8, 25 sec., ISO 8000. I actually like the one with the crooked horizon a little better, but someone will complain, lol. This recess is somewhat like a cave or alcove and somewhat like a small canyon, not sure what to call it. Maybe a cave-yon? 😂 The Milky Way lines up beautifully at certain times of the year making this a great spot. This is in the Navajo Nation and you need a Navajo guide to go there.
Questions and Answers
Processing Airglow
People have asked me a number of questions about equipment, issues, and technique in Nightscape or Landscape Astrophotography. Since many of these questions are recurring, I am going to post the questions and answers here. I’ll answer your questions to the best of my ability!
Q: Very nice panoramic in a wonderful place. One question Wayne, always in your picture I'm looking the airglow, Are you lucking or a special technique? ;-), thanks, Regards.
A: Thanks for looking Gabriel. The answer is both, sometimes lucky, and sometimes processing technique. There is frequently some degree of airglow present, but not always. If the airglow is present then the processing workflow I use does enhance it along with the light pollution. Lots of people try to get rid of the airglow and make the skies more uniform in color to meet their own and others expectations about the night sky. There are actions and workflows to get rid of these colors. Instead I go the opposite direction and enhance them to some degree if they are present. I start in Lightroom and then export to Photoshop. If you make the sky blue from the outset in Lightroom, it covers up most of the airglow and decreases light pollution to some degree. It can also make the airglow and light pollution a less pleasing color. If you initially make the darkest part of the sky a neutral "greyish" in Lightroom it will bring out more colors in the sky near the horizon later in processing. The subtle colors are less suppressed, and when you make the darkest sky more neutral it actually makes the colors of light pollution and airglow a more pleasing color and less of a "ugly" color. I export to photoshop and increase contrast in the sky in curves, and later make the sky bluer at the end. I describe the process here:
http://lightcrafter.smugmug.com/About-Nightscapes
Madagascar Cathedral by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website, Instagram, Facebook Panorama 12 frames, 14 mm, f/2.8, 15 sec., ISO 12,800 This is the shell of an abandoned Cathedral in Madagascar. I've added a crop from the center section. The red on the horizon is from fires. The local people burn the field and multiple fires could be seen at any one time. The glow from the fires could be seen from long distances at night. A big thank you to @worldpixorg and @ryanplakonouris for arranging this trip. @worldpixorg is a charity organization using photography to raise money for charitable causes. Hope you enjoy, Wayne Pinkston
In Memoriam by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website Instagram Facebook IN MEMORIAM:, THE SENTINEL: The Sentinel in Bryce Canyon National Park fell on Nov. 25. It is seen here as the lighted spire just to the right of center. This was taken several years ago in an effort to accentuate the Sentinel. The spire was along the Navajo Trail which can be seen in the lower center of the image. The Sentinel was one of the named landmarks in the park. Farewell!
Ancestral Puebloan (also known as the Anasazi or Cliffdwellers) Ruins in the Four Corners region of the SW USA. This a part of a pueblo, occupied in the 1200's, located in the Canyon of the Ancients. Cheers, Wayne Www.waynepinkstonphoto.com (at Canyon of the Ancients)
