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“Midnight Drive”

Location:
Rowena Crest Viewpoint, Mosier, Oregon
45°40'56.3"N 121°17'57.5"W
https://goo.gl/maps/AZouapfhWDeGERMBA

Time: 21:26 PDT (44 minutes after sunset) – 23:01 PDT
Date: July 25th, 2022

Camera & Settings:
Nikon D810, NIKKOR 14-24 mm f/2.8G, Tripod
Foreground:
ISO 400, 14 mm, f/11, 13 sec
(+19 Exposures for Light Trails)
Sky:
(7 Exposures)
ISO 1600, 14 mm, f/2.8, 13 sec
57 Dark Frames

Summary:
”Perfect,” I thought. The new moon was approaching, and the skies would be free of clouds. But the approaching heat wave would complicate things. Changing wind patterns carrying scorching temps would eventually bring smoke from burning wildfires in central California. The timing had to be just right.

So, on a Monday evening after checking, and rechecking the latest weather update, I made the two-plus hour drive to the Rowena Crest Viewpoint. I had pre-visualized everything beforehand. I knew where I needed to set up my camera and what photographs to include in the edited final image. I was ready.

The foreground would be a blend of several images. I needed to shoot the landscape during twilight before it got too dark, but I also needed there to be light trails from passing cars. Being as hot as it was and a Monday, despite being a tourist destination, there was only one car at the viewpoint. Would they be my only hope for light trails?

Turns out they weren’t. Instead of visitors lighting the scene, it was locals living in nearby Mosier that painted the road in photons as the commuted back and forth from home. There weren’t a lot of cars, but enough to stitch together. (All total, 19 photographs were combined to create the light trails snaking through the landscape.)

After photographing the car lights, I waited nearly 90 minutes for the Milky Way to appear where I needed it to be above the landscape.

As I waited, I sat on the railing overlooking the road and took in my surroundings. The air was incredibly warm despite being dark. I was wearing pants, like I normally do, to protect my legs from brushing up against anything, but I was almost sweating in my thin cotton t-shirt. It must have been at least 85 degrees outside.

I witnessed the changing of the sky from deep blue to inky black as the sound of speeding cars, 250 feet below on Interstate 84 zipped by. I saw the landscape illuminate under the glow of a passing train along the interstate whose head light blazed brightly like a miniature sun. And I saw how a handful of stars during twilight burst into a sky full of celestial words as the Milky Way filled up the night.

-Brendan

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