I Came to Petrified Forest (Petrified Forest National Park)

            I Came to Petrified Forest National Park to See the Trees,
Fallen from a time many millions of years ago
But the first thing I saw was above in the night skies
So dark and overflowing with an unimagined number of stars
The Milky Way filled the night almost from west to east
Moments like that can give thought to so much more
The wonders of life and the need to share with others.

Another work of short poetry or prose to complement the image captured one evening while standing at the north main entrance gate to Petrified Forest National Park. The view is looking to the southwest just above the interstate highway that passes through the national park. Metering the image was a matter of opening up the aperture on this Nikkor 20mm lens as wide as I could and finding the right ISO that I could bring in enough light while avoiding any ISO noise. I kept the shutter speed open only long enough to work with the other setups and minimize any star trails. 

As for focusing the image, I tried a number of techniques, including using nearby car lights as well as LiveView and zooming into a star to focus. I could then keep that focus and move the camera with the RSS L-bracket and tripod to where I wanted it to capture this portion of a spiral arm of the Milky Way. This night, the images I captured were all landscape orientation; the next night I would use a portrait orientation.

The night skies at this main entrance to Petrified Forest National Park were some of the darkest skies I've seen in a long time! The spiral arms of the Milky Way I was viewing went all the way from the western horizon, across most of the sky to almost to eastern horizon. Amazing!
   

Taken in: United States / Arizona / Adamana (show map)

Taken on: October 13, 2020

Tags:

Arizona Petrified Forest National Park and Sedona

Asterism

Band of Light

Day 1

DxO PhotoLab 4 Edited

Free Verse Poetry

Galactic Plane

Great Rift

Hazy Band of White Light

Interstellar Dust

Landscape

Local Arm

Local Spur

Looking SW

Milky Way

Nature

Night Sky

Nighttime Photography

Nikon D850

Orion Arm

Orion Bridge

Orion Spur

Orion–Cygnus Arm

Outside

Petrified Forest National Park

Poems Used

Poetry and Prose

Starry Night

Starry Skies

Stars

ViewNXi Edited

Viveza 2 Edited

via lactea

Arizona

United States « less

Sets appears in: • Free Verse Poetry • Petrified Forest National Park more » • Arizona • Arizona Petrified Forest Sedona • Portfolio • 365 • Nature & Landscapes « less

Groups appears in: • Beautiful Light • U.S. National Parks more » • U.S. National Parks and Places • Arizona Discovery • The American Southwest • GeoTagging Flickr • Lonely Planet • Project 365 • We travel the World • Your Visions • Wonderful World! • Geo-Tagging the Planet one Photo at a Time • Nikon D800-D850 and Nikon Z7-Z9 Users Group • GEOPARKS & GEOTOURISM Worldwide • flickr (unofficial) • Un-enhanced American West • Travelling Vicariously • World Photographers' Photos WPP • BAT'S LAIR ( P 1 X A 3 ) SWEEPER IN OPERATION • Milky-Way • illumination focus • My time behind the lens No 30/60 limits • TOURISM magazine • Photography with a Story • Everything & Everyone • America's Parks Fav+ • Star Trails & Milky Way • Today's Flickr • World's Pictures • Nightscapes by Bangloreans • Art of Exploration • Colorado - Arizona - Utah Landscapes • DxO PhotoLab • Geolocations - Geotagged photographs • A NATIONAL PARK • DSLR Autofocus Level 1 • Nikon America (USA) • DxO PhotoLab 5 • ALL AMERICAS • D850 Club • DxO Photo Lab « less

Camera: Nikon D850, f/1.8, 20 sec, 20mm, ISO 1600 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon D850
Lens:	20.0 mm f/1.8
Aperture:	f/1.8
Exposure Time:	20
Focal Length:	20mm
ISO:	1600
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	No Flash
Exposure Program:	Manual
Exposure Mode:	Manual
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Scene Capture Type:	Landscape
Gain Control:	Low gain up
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	DxO Viveza 2 5.0.3.78
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