A NIGHT TO REMEMBER

While hiking over a Fourth of July Weekend along the lower flanks of Mount Adams, we camped at a small body of water known as Lookingglass Lake. The night was clear, so after dark I set up my camera in order to photograph the star trails over the mountain. This involved an exposure of about six hours using a film camera, with the camera sitting on a tripod with the shutter open all night.

I got up at about 4:00 a.m. to retrieve the camera, and discovered that a full moon was illuminating the mountain. This made all the difference in the resultant photograph, because it made the glaciers and rocks and snow fields show up vividly against the sky.

To me, it is a wonderful illustration of the clockwork of the heavens, with the star trails providing proof of the earth’s rotation.

LIMITED EDITION: This photographic print is part of a limited edition produced by photographer Lee Rentz. The edition consists of 250 prints, which includes all sizes and methods of printing.