Lighting A Night Sky

Monday, November 18, 2019

In an evening so dark that the clouds blocked all starlight, my sudden whim turned into an interesting idea.

After releasing the horses from their stalls for the evening, and before heading up to the house, I turned off the barn lights and switched on my headlamp. Always interested in the sky, I glanced upwards. My light illuminated the nearby junipers that until that moment to the naked eye had been dark shadows. My sudden light revealed them clearly and in detail against the night sky–an invisible pallet.

Uncertain about my perceptions, I turned to another direction and again looked upward, shining my light on different trees. Against that night sky all the trees appeared equally clear and almost dreamlike.

This seemed a discovery worth pursuing. At the time, I hadn’t enough time to play more with my headlight and the night sky. If tonight turns out to be dark and cloudless, I’ll again experiment hoping to learn more about the interesting effects of a bright light on nearly invisible subjects.

These serendipitous photos are encouraging me forward. After capturing the complexity of those trees in intricate detail, I keep thinking that illuminating other objects during dark evenings should reveal equally well or better.

On first glimpsing these tree photos my impulse was to gather a few watercolors and try to recreate a version of the images on a different pallet. On second thought, it’s best that one doesn’t try to get ahead of oneself. My next order of business will be going outside in darkness and experimenting more.

Dear Friends: Stepping outside our routine circles encourages learning and joy. Diana