Photographing Dark Skies

On the newest episode of Nature in Focus: Photographing Dark Skies, Ian Shive uses photography to share the importance, and beauty, of dark skies.

He teams up with the International Dark-Sky Association to learn more about International Dark Sky Week and how to prevent light pollution.

April 25, 2022

By: Ian Shive

Show: Nature in Focus

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Photo By: Ian Shive

Photo By: Thane Fernandes

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Arizona. A 75 minute time lapse of a giant saguaro and the northern sky. This image was put together using a technique known as image stacking. The greatest challenge with this image was keeping planes out of the shots!

One of the first images I ever made that inspired me to think more about how to incorporate the night sky into my images. Conceptually my goal was to show the height of a giant sequoia tree, and by adding a tree with enough open sky around it, I felt I was able to convey the idea of the giant tree "reaching" up to the stars.

Star trails over Lake McDonald in mid winter in Glacier National Park, Montana.

Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands National Park, California. Even with some passing clouds, a man standing with a headlamp along the Cavern Point Trail becomes mesmerizing when stars become part of the composition.

A friend with a headlamp admires the night sky near Checkerboard Mesa in Zion National Park, Utah. The Milky Way is visible above the rock formation.

While photographing comet neowise, I faced the opposite direction on a moonless night to photograph the Milky Way Galaxy in all its glory. With higher ISO options on cameras, capturing the night sky has never been easier...provided you are in a place that is a "dark sky" location.

A celestial visitor photographed on a moonless night, Comet Neowise is a magical sight.

To better understand the benefits of a dark sky, we traveled three hours north of Los Angeles - basically the middle of nowhere - with the hope of finding a very dark sky. As the sun finally set, some stars appear.

Even far from the city, the lights of Los Angeles and other communities create light pollution, preventing the sky from being completely dark. Dark skies are important for wildlife, historic and present day indigienous cultures, and of course, for protecting nature in its most pure form.

Ruskin Hartley, Executive Director of the International Dark-Sky Association holds two lightbulbs. Lights with a more blue color temperature, like the light in the foreground of the image, are more detrimental to the preservation of the night sky. Warmer colors, like a firelight, help preserve the night sky as their light isn't as impactful on light pollution.

Portrait of Ruskin Hartley, Executive Director of the International Dark-Sky Association.

Doing my part to help dark skies, I changed the light blubs on my house to a warmer color. Next step is to change the light fixtures so the light isn't spread so widely, but is shaded and pointing downward.