“everything in the universe has a rhythm, everything dances. ”
― maya angelou
i'm not a scientist. i'm not even that smart. but i believe there is something much larger at work in our universe. i can only speak for yours truly, but there is too much "just right" in our universe, in our corner of the galaxy, for it all to be random.
an interesting discovery is that stars seem to have a rhythm. they pulsate in a manner that is not random. it has been said that it's as if the stars are making music. while our eyes cannot perceive it, they put on a show for us all the time. the closest i come to visualizing stars with rhythm is on a cold, clear night when the stars seem to twinkle with sheer abandonment. such a night experience puts a sense of joy in my heart. the world may be rife with problems but, for a time, it's all set aside for the pure enjoyment of watching a celestial show.
this particular night, i decided i wanted to try capturing star trails. i had done it once before about four years ago but for a much shorter duration. this night was a culmination of about one and a half hours of making thirty second exposures. ideally, i should have continued making those thirty second exposures for much longer, hours longer. this results in more smooth and uninterrupted star trails. however, the gradual appearance of the full moon above the horizon lit up the dark sky. the stars, once blazingly bright, were being eclipsed by the bright moon. considering it was my first time layering all the images as well as blending in one foreground light-painted image, i'm pretty happy with the outcome.
as i was triggering the shutter button every 30 seconds (note to self: learn how to use the camera's intervalometer), i sat in my lawn chair. i was the sole human amongst the vast audience of trees, rocks, vegetation and creatures great and small. i slouched down in my chair to better direct my gaze up at the sky. while some of the stars were content to just shine their glory, other stars seemed to be in a contest for best "twinkler". i imagined heavenly hosts on the sidelines oohing and ahhing, much like an audience at a talent show down on this terrestrial planet called earth. once in a while, one of the stars would show off and shoot across the sky. i'm sure that elicited more oohs and ahhs from the celestial grandstand. and beneath it all, i considered myself lucky to have a prime seat for this spectacular show while enjoying the comforts of a "fire"!
i hope you enjoyed this first blog of 2022! i'm excited to share more through the year as it progresses. this year i'm aiming for one blog every one to two weeks. if you have any comments or questions regarding the blog, the image or anything that might have come to mind in reading the blog, you can put your comments in the comments section below. i love to receive comments and respond to them all!
this image is available on my website store. to make it easy, i've included the link right here to take you straight to that image as a greeting card or as a metal print.
thanks again for reading and for all your support! i'm looking forward to see what 2022 brings with images and blogging! i hope you will continue to follow my adventures and i'll see you next time with more "images from a quiet world"!