CANADA 50°52’09.8”N 115°39’02.9”W
JENNY WONG
“The true dark sky littered with stars is luxury. Like a bag of dimonds spilt on black canvas”
as the night lures us into the dream realm and most consciously sign off from reality, magic enters our world. There are stories ready to be discovered that are hidden in the shadows of the night, laced with magic auras of the scarcest light that emerge from the night sky. As photographers we chase light, often it isn’t the abundance of high noon light that create the images we seek so most of us chase the rare few minutes of the magic glow close to sunrise or sunset. Truly the scarcest light is that of twinkling stars and northern lights. Astrophotography exposes what the mind dreams of in reality, and often of a scene we can never truly capture with our own eyes – they are the scenes of a waking dream. Behind every astro-image is often a great story. The glowing eyes of an unknown animal looking back at you; every crack, gurgle, or shriek seems to make your imagination run wild. The senses that have become inoculated against the harsh light conditions during the day, awaken at night; the slightest change in our surroundings make the hairs on our arms stand up. In a human comfortable world, the night makes us feel vulnerable again to our environment. But perhaps the most surreal experience is feeling the vastness of the universe. Our human footprint, hidden in the shadows, the bustle and noise of life fall asleep – I often think, perhaps this is how the world should really feel like. Spook stories aside, astrophotography can create an adventure out of the mundane. We are not well adapted to the night, everything from simply walking an easy trail can be challenging. Temperatures drop, and some dedicated dark sky connoisseurs will tell you that it is the coldest nights that are the best. So cold – the clouds can’t form, so cold – the air is crisp without humidity. The light is so scarce, even the quality of air is an obstruction to the light. At the mountain summits in the Rockies, on a multi-day camping trip at the end of a balmy summer and the beginning of fall, I packed a light parka to endure the night, knowing full well I would need to literally wait for the stars to align.
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MOTHER VOLUME ONE
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