One of the true gems of southern Utah, Valley of the Gods lies within President Obama’s Bears Ears National Monument, though now lies outside of Trump’s redressed Bears Ears National Monument, cropped for partisanship. It is an exceptional place, worthy of protection.
Although I could have spent several nights here, I had a plan, and I was able to get one of the two dispersed campsites I’d previously scoped out on GoogleEarth. As I was to find out the hard way, the ‘other’ campsite was taken by another night photographer, one who ended up waltzing right into my time-lapse and proceeding to shoot in my foreground. This gentleman was using a very bright red light to illuminate his tripod setup, and occasionally turned on a bright white LED light to look for stuff in his bag. Due to my using such low-lumen lighting for shooting, he likely did not even know I was there, so I don’t fault him for initially setting up in my picture. However, once I advised him that he’d walked right into my time-lapse (of the Milky Way and Jupiter rising above Castle Rock), he seemed unconcerned and continued to shoot, not even offering to move. After he introduced his bright white LED into my picture several times, I finally had to suggest that he move 20 meters to the left, behind the roadcut, so that it did not continue to impact my timelapse. Although he ended up doing so after a few minutes of discussion, he seemed annoyed by me and I ended up abandoning the time-lapse anyway (as it was already beyond saving), and I moved on to capturing panoramas.
I wonder if this guy even knows how much he blows out his night vision every time he turns on either of the two relatively bright lights he was using? I personally enjoy seeing all that the galaxy has to offer, and I’ve modified my lights to use only a few lumens while shooting (you cannot buy a low-lumen headlamp anymore, they are all designed to be torches). Very low-lumen light works well once you are dark-adapted, and the color of the light actually becomes less of an issue, though don’t get me started on the ‘red light’ myth (for a general discussion, see this, for the technical version, too this). I can assure you after flying air medical helicopters at night for many years, red is not the color of choice (NVGs or not) for retaining one’s night vision, and especially for being able to discern colors in low light. I’m sure it’s an easy Google Search away for those of you night photographers still using red lights, but the primary issue is how bright any color of light is that you are using. But even so, don’t use red. And, more importantly…
Dim it down, people! (this includes your camera’s LCD screen)
