Last night, December 3rd, was the New Moon. It was also a crystal clear sky…and cold! I considered several destinations for image capture and decided for the Baker Lake Road. The road heads north from the North Cascades Highway, passing from Skagit County into Whatcom, the road ends after 26 miles (21 paved, 5 gravel) at the trail head for the Baker River Trail.

Right at the end of the paved section the road crosses a large concrete bridge as it curves east. Here are superb views of Mount Baker. We stopped to admire the night sky…

The parking area was, not surprisingly, empty and we made the short stroll up to the suspension bridge crossing the river.

I started under the bridge, clambering over the gravel bars, trying a place to set up and capture the arc of the Milky Way and the bridge.

The wind was so strong at times that I needed extra weight/pressure on the tripod to ensure it did not topple.

In this image I flashed the lower side of the bridge with one swipe of my head lamp set to red.

The camera settings were f/4 (widest aperture), 10 to 13 seconds shutter speed and between 10,000 to 20,000 ISO. I was using a 24mm lens and the camera (Canon 6D) has a full sized sensor.

Of course I mounted the camera on a tripod and used a cable release. This was the extent of my photographic equipment and settings.

My last stop was atop the bridge, attempting to capture the tower silhouetted in front o the stars.

Nighttime imaging is very exciting! I hope to get out again in the next two days…