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"Lake McDonald Lodge." Stars slide across the night sky above Glacier National Park, while park visitors are snug in their beds at Lake McDonald Lodge (left) and in Apgar (right). Behind the lens. Lake McDonald Lodge is a busy place in the daytime. Lots of people, cars, boats, and all of the sounds associated with these things. But at night, all of that activity goes away. After dark, the buildings around the lodge become peaceful points of light and color in a much broader pallet. The quieter, natural sounds return to the lake while the stars ease across the sky. Even the waves calm down. At night, Lake McDonald is a peaceful place once more.
"Stars & Stones." It all happened one night at Lake McDonald. Star trails sweep across the sky. A crescent moon is reflected on the water. The golden glow of pre-dawn, and the faint glow of Lake McDonald Lodge. Underwater stones along the shore complete the image. The night was photographed exactly as it happened, and it was captured in a way that we can never see in real time. Behind the lens. This one image is a combination of three different photography techniques, all performed without moving the camera. Startrails are captured with a time exposure, underwater rocks are highlighted via light painting, and the crescent moon and reflection is your normal press-the-shutter-once image. This lake and mountain scene has been photographed millions of times by pretty much every visitor and every professional photographer that has landed on the shores of Lake McDonald. That is, millions of times in the daylight. All of the colors and textures that I have captured here were created on a totally dark and mostly moonless night in Glacier National Park. Inside the box is boring -- photography is much more interesting outside the box.
"Stars on the Water." Star trails are reflected on the surface of Lake McDonald, in Glacier National Park, Montana. Lake McDonald Lodge glows warmly along the distant shore. Behind the lens. I can't begin to tell you how hard it is to create an image like this. Photographing dim stars is one thing, but trying to record the much dimmer reflections of stars on the surface of a lake is even more challenging. Just to make it more fun, there's also a small creek entering the lake off-camera to the left. So even though it's windless, there are small, one-half inch compression waves on the lake surface. These small waves act to spread out each stars' pinpoint reflection into a constantly wiggling line. Persistence and patience usually pay off, eventually. So after only two or three attempts, I finally caught the stars on the water.
"Bowman Lake Blues." Star trails over Bowman Lake disappear into the hazy smoke from summertime forest fires, in Glacier National Park, Montana. Behind the lens. While Tracy and I were driving up the North Fork to create this photograph, there was a forest fire burning about 50 miles to the west that filled the park with smoke. From the foot of Bowman Lake, we couldn't even see the other end of the lake, much less the mountains beyond. The lake surface calmed down nicely after midnight, and the stars began emerging from the blue smoke. Somehow through the long exposure, details emerged in the photograph that we couldn't see when we were there. Eternal processes -- fire, smoke, star trails -- come together to create a scene of summertime tranquility.
"Stars on the Water." Star trails are reflected on the surface of Lake McDonald, in Glacier National Park, Montana. Lake McDonald Lodge glows warmly along the distant shore. Behind the lens. I can't begin to tell you how hard it is to create an image like this. Photographing dim stars is one thing, but trying to record the much dimmer reflections of stars on the surface of a lake is even more challenging. Just to make it more fun, there's also a small creek entering the lake off-camera to the left. So even though it's windless, there are small, one-half inch compression waves on the lake surface. These small waves act to spread out each stars' pinpoint reflection into a constantly wiggling line. Persistence and patience usually pay off, eventually. So after only two or three attempts, I finally caught the stars on the water.
"Stars & Stones." It all happened one night at Lake McDonald. Star trails sweep across the sky. A crescent moon is reflected on the water. The golden glow of pre-dawn, and the faint glow of Lake McDonald Lodge. Underwater stones along the shore complete the image. The night was photographed exactly as it happened, and it was captured in a way that we can never see in real time. Behind the lens. This one image is a combination of three different photography techniques, all performed without moving the camera. Startrails are captured with a time exposure, underwater rocks are highlighted via light painting, and the crescent moon and reflection is your normal press-the-shutter-once image. This lake and mountain scene has been photographed millions of times by pretty much every visitor and every professional photographer that has landed on the shores of Lake McDonald. That is, millions of times in the daylight. All of the colors and textures that I have captured here were created on a totally dark and mostly moonless night in Glacier National Park. Inside the box is boring -- photography is much more interesting outside the box.
"Lake McDonald Lodge." Stars slide across the night sky above Glacier National Park, while park visitors are snug in their beds at Lake McDonald Lodge (left) and in Apgar (right). Behind the lens. Lake McDonald Lodge is a busy place in the daytime. Lots of people, cars, boats, and all of the sounds associated with these things. But at night, all of that activity goes away. After dark, the buildings around the lodge become peaceful points of light and color in a much broader pallet. The quieter, natural sounds return to the lake while the stars ease across the sky. Even the waves calm down. At night, Lake McDonald is a peaceful place once more.
"Bowman Lake Blues." Star trails over Bowman Lake disappear into the hazy smoke from summertime forest fires, in Glacier National Park, Montana. Behind the lens. While Tracy and I were driving up the North Fork to create this photograph, there was a forest fire burning about 50 miles to the west that filled the park with smoke. From the foot of Bowman Lake, we couldn't even see the other end of the lake, much less the mountains beyond. The lake surface calmed down nicely after midnight, and the stars began emerging from the blue smoke. Somehow through the long exposure, details emerged in the photograph that we couldn't see when we were there. Eternal processes -- fire, smoke, star trails -- come together to create a scene of summertime tranquility.
"Lake McDonald Lodge."

Stars slide across the night sky above Glacier National Park, while park visitors are snug in their beds at Lake McDonald Lodge (left) and in Apgar (right).

Behind the lens.

Lake McDonald Lodge is a busy place in the daytime. Lots of people, cars, boats, and all of the sounds associated with these things. But at night, all of that activity goes away.

After dark, the buildings around the lodge become peaceful points of light and color in a much broader pallet. The quieter, natural sounds return to the lake while the stars ease across the sky. Even the waves calm down. At night, Lake McDonald is a peaceful place once more.
Stars slide across the night sky above Glacier National Park, while park visitors are snug in their beds at Lake McDonald Lodge (left) and in Apgar (right). Behind the lens. Lake McDonald Lodge is a busy place in the daytime. Lots of people, cars, boats, and all of the sounds associated with these things. But at night, all of that activity goes away. After dark, the buildings around the lodge become peaceful points of light and color in a much broader pallet. The quieter, natural sounds return to the lake while the stars ease across the sky. Even the waves calm down. At night, Lake McDonald is a peaceful place once more." href="javascript:openLB(1636078888,'',XLarge,'',512,768);">"Lake McDonald Lodge." Stars slide across the night sky above Glacier National Park, while park visitors are snug in their beds at Lake McDonald Lodge (left) and in Apgar (right). Behind the lens. Lake McDonald Lodge is a busy place in the daytime. Lots of people, cars, boats, and all of the sounds associated with these things. But at night, all of that activity goes away. After dark, the buildings around the lodge become peaceful points of light and color in a much broader pallet. The quieter, natural sounds return to the lake while the stars ease across the sky. Even the waves calm down. At night, Lake McDonald is a peaceful place once more.
"Lake McDonald Lodge."

Stars slide across the night sky above Glacier National Park, while park visitors are snug in their beds at Lake McDonald Lodge (left) and in Apgar (right).

Behind the lens.

Lake McDonald Lodge is a busy place in the daytime. Lots of people, cars, boats, and all of the sounds associated with these things. But at night, all of that activity goes away.

After dark, the buildings around the lodge become peaceful points of light and color in a much broader pallet. The quieter, natural sounds return to the lake while the stars ease across the sky. Even the waves calm down. At night, Lake McDonald is a peaceful place once more.
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