Mary J. McCoy-Dressel

I know it’s #WordlessWednesday, but if I have a story to tell about a particular image or images, you know I’ll share it. These photos look so much better in their printed form. Please forgive the phone shadows and blurriness from taking pictures of pictures.

These snapshots don’t do the images justice. I’ve cropped and resized each one numerous times, so they are what they are. Sigh. My photography teacher would be disappointed. The darker sky got washed out here in my bright room and multiple resizing. The originals are exactly as I wanted them, and probably the best night sky photos I ever took. It was around eleven-thirty p.m. by the time I took the last one.

Believe me, it was a scary night when I realized how late it had gotten. I was alone in a park and a distance from my truck. It wasn’t until another car pulled in that reminded me, that oh-oh, this was a stupid idea. I was in a dark area and unless I moved, I couldn’t be seen. After they left, I gathered my equipment and got out of there.

It took me one more time of getting caught after sundown all alone in a park. The second time, I was a distance into a wooded state park because I wanted to catch the moon coming up between the trees. Carrying all my camera gear, including a tripod, I walked-ran out as fast as I could, praying the entire time until I was safe in my truck. I don’t recommend this unless you know you can protect yourself.

A click of the shutter, a crank of the film, and you’ve caught forever a significant bit of life.

~Willis Peterson, “A Philosophy of Seeing,” Arizona Highways, May 1973, arizonahighways.com

Enjoy the rest of your week.