"Saguaro Spiral." This saguaro cactus lives in the desert just west of Tucson, AZ. This image is a combination of camera techniques, including interval phtography, time-lapse and light-painting. Behind the lens. Nothing makes for a good challenge better than combining several techniques into one image. You can read about the creation of this image here.

Anyone can take pictures during daylight. But making creative images after dark is one of my favorite challenges! Light painting, time-lapse, interval, sun/moon/stars/milky way - I love it all.

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"Moonlight Flight."

After sunset, the moon watches while a flock of Sandhill Cranes fly towards their evening roost.

Behind the lens.

I visualized this image for several years before getting a chance to capture it. When we finally arrived on location, it still took me three evenings to to get the moon, clouds and cranes to cooperate.

"Phoenix."

A winter flock of Sandhill Cranes heads out just after sunrise to feed in the agricultural fields of southern Arizona.

Phoenix is the mythical bird of rebirth and renewal from ancient Egyptian, Greek, Roman and Chinese cultures. It is a stork-like bird with glorious feathers of gold and red. According to Greek legend, the Greek sun-god Helios stops his chariot (the sun) at dawn to listen to its beautiful song. Once every 500 years, the Phoenix builds a nest of twigs which it then sets afire. Bird and nest burn furiously and, from their ashes, a new Phoenix arises to live for another 500 years. The capital of Arizona was so named because it was built on the ruins of an extensive Hohokam civilization that had flourished in that location centuries earlier.

Behind the lens.

How did I photograph the sun with a 500mm lens without frying my retina? Inquisitive minds can find out here.

"Saguaro Spiral."

This saguaro cactus lives in the desert just west of Tucson, AZ. This image is a combination of camera techniques, including interval phtography, time-lapse and light-painting.

Behind the lens.

Nothing makes for a good challenge better than combining several techniques into one image. You can read about the creation of this image here.

"Desert Arch Moonbow (horizontal)."

A waxing moon rises just before sunset, drifting past a natural, double arch in the wilds of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, in southern Arizona.

Behind the lens.

This is a horizontal cropping of an interval photograph showing the moonrise at 2.5 minute intervals. You can read about the creation of this image here.

"Tumacacori Luminarias"

A procession of souls floats past the Tumacacori Mission on Christmas Eve, when the southern Arizona mission is lit by a thousand or more luminarias.

Behind the lens.

On Christmas Eve, the park service and volunteers line luminarias around and on top of this historic mission. Each luminaria is a small tea candle resting in sand inside a brown paper sack. You can read about the creation of this image here.

"Signal Hill."

Roughly 1,000 years ago, an unknown Hohokam Indian artist pecked this 18" wide spiral into a boulder. This site near Tucson preserves dozens of petroglyphs, giving it the modern name, "Signal Hill."

"Desert Arch Moonbow (square)."

A waxing moon rises just before sunset, drifting past a natural, double arch in the wilds of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, in southern Arizona.

Behind the lens.

This is a square cropping of an interval photograph showing the moonrise at 2.5 minute intervals. You can read about the creation of this image here.

"Blackbird Moon."

A flock of Red-winged Blackbirds flies past the rising moon while on their way to an evening roost site in the cattails.

Behind the lens.

While camping in Arizona one winter, we noticed the blackbirds flocking in each night. Right after sunset, groups numbering in the dozens would flock in together. Flying at full speed, they'd dive into the cattails at the head of our small lake and roost there for the night.

So the next evening, we kayaked out and parked in front of the cattails, and waited. The sun set, the full moon rose, and the blackbirds started arriving.

I kept my camera pointed at the moon, and I pressed the shutter every time a flock flew across my view. Out of 20-30 frames, this was the only image I got that had a bird in front of the moon.

A little observation, a little planning -- and a little luck.

"Ponderosa Moonset."

The crescent moon sets behind an ancient ponderosa pine tree. How many moons has this tree witnessed?

Behind the lens.

There are worse ways to spend one's nights than watching the moonset over "Lost Trail National Wildlife Refuge." The refuge is a peaceful valley in northwestern Montana, about 40 miles west of Kalispell, not too far from where Tracy and I live. Creating this photograph meant spending two nights sitting out in the grassy hillside above Dahl Lake. On the first night, the moon failed to cooperate and set in the wrong location, just missing the tree. So I returned the next night, learning from my mistakes and adjusting my camera location accordingly. Low clouds moving in and out meant changing my aperature settings every couple of minutes, until the sky finally cleared around 2 AM. Then I could sit back and enjoy the deer feeding below me, the bats feeding above, and the occassional odd duck quack. Not a bad way to spend a midsummer's night...

"Saguaro Spiral."

This saguaro cactus lives in the desert just west of Tucson, AZ. This image is a combination of camera techniques, including interval phtography, time-lapse and light-painting.

Behind the lens.

Nothing makes for a good challenge better than combining several techniques into one image. You can read about the creation of this image here.

This saguaro cactus lives in the desert just west of Tucson, AZ. This image is a combination of camera techniques, including interval phtography, time-lapse and light-painting. Behind the lens. Nothing makes for a good challenge better than combining several techniques into one image. You can read about the creation of this image here." href="javascript:openLB(1636073152,'',XLarge,'',512,768);">

"Saguaro Spiral."

This saguaro cactus lives in the desert just west of Tucson, AZ. This image is a combination of camera techniques, including interval phtography, time-lapse and light-painting.

Behind the lens.

Nothing makes for a good challenge better than combining several techniques into one image. You can read about the creation of this image here.

Keywords: tucson arizona saguaro time lapse light painting interval photography john ashley

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