Badlands Nation Park, and why I'll probably never be an astrophotographer

in ,

We visited the Badlands National Park recently.  The entire purpose was to try my hand at astrophotography. It was a bit windy the night we went out, but I was still able to capture a few shots. None of them are worth showing the public though; they all turned out a wee bit blurry because I used way too long of a shutter speed. At least I know what I did wrong. 

Badlands Selfie | Lisa Kerner | Simply Living Photography

Besides the shutter speed, I learned a few things about astrophotography...

  • It is way harder than it looks
  • With my camera I need to be in place, and focused in, before the sun goes down
  • I am a great big chicken when I am standing out in the middle of no where, in the pitch black. 
Badlands by Day | Lisa Kerner | Simply Living Photography

I seriously would have had a Blair Witch Project experience if my family had not been out in the pitch-black-you-can't-see-beyond-a-foot-in-the-darkness-of-night with me.  I can totally relate to those poor kids...

Joshua Leonard:
I heard two noises coming from two separate areas of space over there. One of them could have been a deer, but the other one sounded like a cackling.

Heather Donahue:
No way!

Joshua Leonard:
Yeah, it was like a serious cackling.

~Blair Witch Project

Badlands by Dusk | Lisa Kerner | Simply Living Photography

I think I will stick to the daylight for now, and something I happen to enjoy, panoramas. 

Things you will need for beginning astrophotography....

  • A tripod
  • A remote trigger.... I have an app that will do this for me, or you can use your timer. Which is what I ended up doing because I forgot about my handy app. 
  • I used a wide-angle lens, because I was wanting a landscape shot.
  • An editing program, because no matter how great of a shot you make, astrophotography almost always needs a boost from editing. 

This is a great site if you want to explore astrophotography further.

You can see more of our visit to Badlands Nation Park at my new Instagram gallery called @wanderingroad

We haven’t had much snow this year, so I’m itching for warmer spring weather. The good thing is, “No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn.” ~Hal Borland #macrophotography
“A large drop of sun lingered on the horizon and then dripped over and was gone, and the sky was brilliant over the spot where it had gone, and a torn cloud, like a bloody rag, hung over the spot of its going. And dusk crept over the sky from the eastern horizon, and darkness crept over the land from the east.” ~John Steinbeck . . . I love to read, but over the last couple of years I haven’t focused on it like I used to. I decided that should change this year. . . . Usually, I do not reread books either. There are so many books I want to read and so little time, that I’d rather read something new than something I’ve already read. . . . But, there are books that I L💓VE and consider my favorites. So, this year I’ve decided to reread 12 of my favorite books. The Grapes of Wrath is one of them. . . . 1. The Grapes of Wrath 2. Let’s Take the Long Way Home 3. Jane Erye 4. Dear Bob and Sue 5. All the Light We Cannot See 6. 11/22/63 7. Station Eleven 8. Alice in Wonderland 9. The Help 10. Unbroken 11. The Book Thief 12. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn #readinggoals2019 #readingchallenge
“Why does watching a dog be a dog fill one with happiness?” ~Jonathan Safran Foer #firsthike #goldendoodle #lovemygolden #puppylove
Our bio reads... Kelvin’s wild adventures with two wandering souls, and a camera. Meet Kelvin!! He’s almost a 12 week old, 30 pound teddy bear who absolutely loves the snow. We took a risk and brought him home sight unseen but it was the best gamble ever. He’s a mommas boy who is also going to be my new photography assistant. Right now we are working on posing and staying still for the shot. Next it’s going to be, “get me my 50mm.” 😂#goldendoodle #worththerisk
Yep... pretty much sums it up.... “New roads; new ruts.” - Gilbert K. Chesterton
“Color is descriptive. Black and white is interpretive.” – Eliott Erwitt
“Instinctively, she lifted her camera and minimized her view of the world. It was how she managed her memories, how she processed the world. In pictures. With a camera, she could crop and re frame her life.” ~Kristin Hannah
I found this guy hanging out by the road, enjoying the sunset a few weeks ago. I didn’t have my telephoto on me, so I tried my luck at slowly pulling up to him. As you can tell he didn’t care one bit that I was there. #sunset_love #enjoyingtheview
November 1st hit and all the sudden I’m ready for snow. I’d actually take a blizzard. One that traps me in the house for several days. This introvert needs a mental break, and a few weeks of speaking to no one. Ahhhhh, sweet bliss. 🤐😶🤗 #bringonwinter
“I will admit you are the finest if not the loveliest rose in the garden. But you see, my dear, I was looking for a sunflower.” ~Richelle E. Goodrich

I join the following link up parties each week, when I actually blog: LINK-UP  COMMUNITY