Lone Tree at Night

@jyokota and I had the opportunity to spend a few hours around midnight in the Atacama Desert, photographing the Milky Way (see her shot at http://365project.org/jyokota/365/2014-12-17 along with the story of how we found a guide). On our way, we saw this tree that our group had stopped briefly to photograph earlier in the day and our guide stopped for us to do some night shots and practice light painting. I used my cell phone flashlight to highlight the tree. It was quite an amazing evening to see the Milky Way so clearly and the way it ended at the horizon with the Southern Cross visible. The splash of light you see is San Pedro -- the main town for jumping off to trips into the surrounding mountains (like the Tatio Geysers I posted earlier but occurred after this shot - http://365project.org/taffy/365/2014-12-18 taken the next day.

[Taffy]

@jyokota What a fun night!!

[Sam]

Gorgeous!

[Junko Y]

It's so amazing that you were able to capture this image because I hadn't imagined what you could do with a cell phone to make the tree visible. The colors produced in the sky by the San Pedro lights makes it more lively than just the black when you put your back to San Pedro. FAV, of course!!!

[Danny G.]

Remarkable work! FAV

[Nancy]

Fav!

[Newbank Lass]

Sounds and looks amazing.

[Kathleen Hinkaty]

Wonderful! fav

[KWind]

Wow... So pretty!

[Pam Knowler]

Wow how wonderful to be able to see the sky like this. Our sky is so light polluted we only see a few stars - this is breathtaking!!

[iCamera]

Incredible use of light painting. I really appreciate the balance

[☠northy]

this is glorious!

[8yearson]

How incredible an opportunity, fabulous capture of light!

[Jocasta]

Oh my goodness me - completely stunning and completely FAV.

[Joyce]

Brilliant capture

[gloria jones]

Fabulous, fav

[Mike Gifford]

Love these shots, Fav!

[Kerri]

Beautiful

[Richard Hickey]

Stunning picture. Congratulations on making the Trending Page.

[Tracie Broadhead]

great work

[Skip Tribby - ​🖖]

Beautifull done Taffy!

[Hope D Jennings]

magical,stunning and surreal! fav

[Elizabeth]

Spectacular shot of the Milky Way! It must have been awe-inspiring in person! Clever to light it with your cell phone! Fav!

[Molly]

Fantastic to see this fabulous natural phenomenon. Would never thought of using my phone like that. Fav.

[Elisabeth Sæter]

Wonderful shot.

[Leon Buijs]

Fabulous shot, love all those stars, good work on illuminating the tree

[Graeme Stevens]

Superb shot

[Nicole]

wow what an impressive shot Taffy!

[Lee]

Wonderful, a very inventive way of illuminating the tree.

[Richard Sayer]

Spectacular result - photographic opportunities like this will hopefully help you to forget the troubles of the past few weeks.

[sally agnew]

Beautiful celestial shot,I love the glow on the horizon. We have no light pollution, it is a simple pleasure to gaze to the heavens at night :)

[Babs]

Fabulous shot, love the light painting too of the tree. David was outside last night taking astronomical photos as it was so clear here.

[Jan Rose]

Lovely capture.

[Tony]

Beautiful night capture.

[Judith Johnson]

Wonderful to see this amazing sky!

[Bob Zwolinsky]

:-)

[Kathie]

Great shot. I had no idea the cell flashlight would throw light that far. For me that makes the shot. Fav

[Paul H]

great shot

[Ann H. LeFevre]

I'll never forget the first time I saw the Milky Way- it was breath-taking! Great shot!

[Margo]

Gorgeous starry night shot

[Rosie Kerr]

So great... who knew the cell phone could light up the tree from that distance? It worked out very well. The night sky is amazing... You have captured it beautifully. Such a great trip. :)

[Laur]

You swept me away to a magical, beautiful world.

[Darlene]

Wow, this is such an amazing shot. I will have to remember the trick with my cell phone. I love the sky and all the detail you captured along with this amazing looking tree. FAV

[Joan Robillard]

Oh, what man has wrought that we have lost this beautiful sight because we have to light up everything.

[virtualbrownie]

Another fantastic shot

[Al Bailey]

Stunning shot and a fav :D

[Irene]

Stunning picture

[Nancy]

Wow what an amazing opportunity. Such a great shot of everything beyond our little world.

[Leslie]

Loving your vacation shots .... amazing just amazing

[Marnie]

I'm (almost) lost for words Taffy. This is an extraordinary shot in just about every way I can think of. How in the heck did you get your cell phone to throw that much light? Memo to self: check it out after dark. Your capture of the night sky is very impressive, it's not an easy subject. Definite fav.

[Rachel]

Look at all those stars. How incredible, and have to fav it! What an experience you are having.

[Alice Burghart]

fav

[Khawbecker]

Beautiful! Fav.

[Steve Angell]

Great shot!!!!!

[Simply Amanda]

So incredible, Taffy! Big fav@

[Osia Strasner]

Another FAV from me on this amazing shot of a spectacular night shot!!

[Taffy]

@gazbadger I should have tagged you earlier! This is what I did using your directions when we were in Chile's Atacama Desert.

[GazBadger]

@taffy Fantastic shot... super sharp and the colours in the stars are spot on... you totally nailed it! =) Fav... so pleased that I was able to help.... this really is beautiful.