Crater Lake Under the Stars

Screenshot of the Star Trail home page

Ben Canales describes himself as “...an East Coaster, transplanted to the gorgeous Pacific Northwest,” where has taken to shooting stars with a passion, as can be seen in the time-lapse video below shot at Crater Lake National Park.

Ben writes: “This was certainly a demanding trip in all aspects: before/during/after, financially, and relationships. But, damn, the results are one of my favorite so far from the years I've been shooting stars.”

“My photography is about wonder. As adults we’ve lost the child-like wonder our world was beaming with when we were younger. I believe it is still there to be seen one just needs to work a bit harder to find it. My images are purposed to show the wonder of the sky as if you were standing under it yourself looking up.”

The time-lapse motion in the video is made possible by using the Dynamic Perception Stage Zero dolly system.

Ben maintains his own Star Trail website from where you can view and purchase a range of great images and see more videos. Music used in the video is by Joshua Radin.

At a length just 90 seconds, the video gives no idea of the real hours that must have gone into capturing the images, but the film gives city dwellers are real taste of exactly what it is they are missing out past the city lights.

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Crater Lake Under the Star -Reprocessed from Ben Canales on Vimeo.

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My Bucket List

More than once on this blog I have mentioned the concept of the bucket list – that list of must see places you want to visit before you depart this world for the next. So today, I thought I’d share my bucket list with you. My list includes places I’ve already visited (marked with a strike through line).

Canada (need I say more?)

America

• New York City
• Grand Canyon
• Yosemite National Park
• Yellowstone National Park
• Niagara Falls
• Far too much to list individually

Asia

• Vietnam
• Hong Kong
• Japan (Tokyo)
• China (Great Wall, Forbidden City, etc)
• Cambodia

South America

• Peru (Machu Picchu)
• Brazil (Rio)

Europe

·    Italy (Venice, Rome, etc)

• England (London)
• Ireland (Dublin)
• Spain (Barcelona)
• France (Paris,)
• Czech Republic (Prague)
• Germany (-)
• Netherlands (Amsterdam)
• Switzerland (-)

North Africa

• Morocco
• Tunisia

Not Only – But Also

• Egypt (Pyramids of Giza)
• India (Taj Mahal)
• Jordan (Petra)
• Galapagos Islands
• Easter Island
• Cuba

Places I’d like to return to:

• New York City
• Grand Canyon
• Paris, France
• Athens, Greece
• Prague, Czech Republic
• Venice, Italy

Scraping The Bottom of The Bucket

Most of Africa
Russia (although Moscow might be interesting)

Phew! That’s some list. At 62, I guess I’m being optimistic, but what the heck. The only thing I’m really lacking is money. My enthusiasm and desire is there – even if the years may not be, but I still think I can knock quite a few of those countries and locations off my list.

Besides, while I was travelling in Cambodia during February, I met people in their late 70s and early 80s who were still happily travelling the world – so why not me? Why not indeed.

What’s on your  bucket list?

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Here are a few books on America's National Parks that may be of interest. All are available via Amazon.Com.