Want to feed that fire and learn how to capture the night sky?

Well, we want to hear from YOU!

To help us plan a more comprehensive itinerary for our astrophotography workshops next year, please take the time to complete a short survey and let us know your thoughts. One lucky survey participant will be entered into a drawing to win a limited edition, signed and numbered, 11″ x 17″ print of your choice from Goldpaint Photography! Just complete the survey below, or click HERE, to sign up for our newsletter and who knows, we may be offering a workshop at your favorite place.

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International Dark Sky Week April 5-11, 2013

Celebrate the stars! Created in 2003 by high-school student Jennifer Barlow, IDSW has grown to become a worldwide event and a key component of Global Astronomy Month. The goals of IDSW are to appreciate the beauty of the night sky and to raise awareness of how poor-quality lighting creates light pollution.

Light pollution is a growing problem. Not only does it have detrimental effects on our views of the night sky, but it also disrupts the natural environment, wastes energy, and has the potential to cause health problems.

Here are some ways that you can spread the word about IDSW during April 5-11 — and all year long:

Join us Online! Post about dark skies awareness on Facebook, Twitter, and any other social media you like. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, G+, and/or Pinterest. Find out more about our participating partners. And if you would like to become a partner email ida@darksky.org to learn out how you can too!

Check around your home. Make sure your outdoor-lighting fixtures are well shielded — or at least angled down — to minimize “light trespass” beyond your property. Do you have security lights that stay on all night? Consider adding a motion-detector, which can pay for itself in energy savings in just a few months. You’ll find lots of great suggestions in “Good Neighbor Outdoor Lighting” and you can perform your own outdoor lighting audit.

Talk to your neighbors. Explain that bright, glaring lights are actually counterproductive to good nighttime vision. Glare diminishes your ability to see well at night, because the pupils of your eyes constrict in response to the glare — even though everything else around you is dark. Show them this handout.

Ask your local library if you can put up an IDA poster showing good and bad lights. Include a photo of the Earth at night, and take some pictures around town that show examples of good and bad lighting.

Become a Citizen Scientist with GLOBE at Night and similar programs, observe light pollution wherever you are and contribute to reports coming in from across the globe about light pollution. Or join GLOBE at Night’s Adopt-A-Street program and ‘map’ light pollution in your community.

Become a Dark Sky Ranger. Teachers and families can do these activities that include an outdoor lighting audit, a game, and hands-on crafts to help visualize the night sky better. In English. In Portuguese.

Attend or throw a star party! International Dark Sky Week is a great opportunity to dust off the old telescope in your attic and use it share in the wonder of the universe with your family, friends, and neighbors. Visit the Night Sky Network to find a calendar of star parties or to find an astronomy club in your area. Click HERE to find out what’s up in the sky. This activity book is full of great activities for budding stargazers of all ages!

Photograph the sky and enter it in the 2013 International Earth and Sky Photo Contest, run by The World at Night, or photograph some constellations and submit the pictures to the Dark Skies Photo Project to measure light pollution.

Download, Watch, and Share “Losing the Dark,” IDA’s public service announcement.

To learn more, visit darksky.org/resources/109-international-dark-sky-week

Here are my 10 favorite images from 2012. Hope you enjoy!

‘Within Two Worlds’ was released in September of 2012 and has already surpassed over a million views worldwide. It was featured on NBC News, Wired, Huffington Post, and more. It took 3 years to complete and I’m already looking forward to my next short film.

I want to thank my family, friends, and fans around the world. Without your encouragement, I wouldn’t have made it this far. This body of work is because of your support and I am truly grateful.

The trail is calling,

Brad

‘Beyond the Rim’ featuring the Milky Way and a lone, Lyrid meteor over Crater Lake National Park, was selected as the cover for Cascade A&E’s January 2013 issue. This publication includes an interview for the featured article written by Sci-Fi Channel’s Jeff Spry. To see the entire article, click HERE.

Read the rest of the article HERE.

Special thanks to the staff at Cascade A&E and Jeff Spry!

Scenes taken from my latest time-lapse video, “Within Two Worlds.”

The sun unleashed a huge flare on July 12, 2012, the second major solar storm to erupt from our star in less than a week. The solar flare peaked at 12:52 p.m. EDT (1652 GMT) as an X-class sun storm, the most powerful type of flare the sun can have. “It erupted from Active Region 1520, which rotated into view on July 6,” NASA officials said in an alert. Active Region 1520, or AR1520, is a giant sunspot currently facing Earth. According to NASA and the Space Weather Prediction Center (SPWC), today’s sun storm registered as an X1.4-class solar flare. It is more powerful than the X1.1 flare that erupted on July 6 from another giant sunspot known as AR1515, making this latest tempest the strongest solar storm of the summer so far.

X-class!!! After reading reports from various news stations on July 12th, I knew there was going to be a strong chance of capturing the aurora over Central Oregon. Almost a month prior I had captured the aurora over Crater Lake (see HERE) by pure coincidence while teaching a workshop. This time I planned to be out in the high country to ensure I was in the right place, at the right time. No one can accurately predict where auroras are going to be visible from Earth, but what I can do is look at reports from sites like spaceweather.com & softservenews.com, make sure I’m in an area with very little light pollution, a clear view of the night sky facing north, and cross my fingers. If you look at the diagram above, you’ll notice there are different levels of aurora activity covering different locations in the US & Canada. This diagram tells us if KP levels are at level 3, aurora activity can most likely be seen in Canada and Alaska, but probably not below the blue line. If the levels are at KP 7 for example, then there’s a strong chance certain areas in Central Oregon may see some northern lights. I looked at the reports coming from Spaceweather and Softservenews, and KP levels were showing as high as 8 throughout the day. I felt there was going to be a strong chance for spotting an aurora and all I needed was a good location to plant myself for the night. I had spent time at Sparks Lake in Central Oregon a few times teaching workshops, and remembered it had a great orientation facing directly north. Sparks Lake sits in the middle of the Cascades and has an incredible view of the South Sister and Broken Top Mountain. I had just finished my latest time-lapse video, ‘Within Two Worlds’ and chose to setup and take photos all night just in case the sky exploded.

I arrived at Sparks around 8pm on July 14, 2012, just as the sun was setting. I kept a constant eye on the KP levels which were still looking promising, around KP 6-6.5. Once the skies got dark, my camera started picking up a faint, pink glow near the horizon. The clouds started creeping in, (see the time-lapse video above), and I started getting very excited. When I’m out shooting all night, I have a lot of time to think. If I’m out there and things (weather, clouds, lighting, clarity of the night sky, etc.) are not going my way, I begin to doubt the location and/or composition. Doubtful thoughts start racing inside my head, “Should I move? Maybe go somewhere else? I wonder what it’s like 50 miles north from here?” With time-lapse photography, I can’t just pick up and move. I am committed to staying put and if my camera moves, the sequence is finished and I have to start all over. At 12:45am on July 15th, KP levels shot up to 7.2, clouds started to thin, and the sky suddenly exploded directly behind Broken Top. This first burst of light lasted a mere 20 minutes-but it wasn’t the last.

After the first beams of light started to vanish, I quickly changed lenses and the composition, in hopes of getting a closer view of the mountain peaks of South Sister and Broken Top. Already satisfied and in complete disbelief of what I just witnessed, I changed the batteries, set up my camera for the next sequence, and relaxed with a big smile on my face. Later, I recall receiving a lot of questions as to how bright the auroras were. The questions are actually fairly easy to answer. I’ve created a comparison as to what I saw versus what the camera captured. It seems like two different worlds doesn’t it? This is due to the long exposure that my camera was taking. As I said before, our eyes cannot see what the camera can. The camera is taking in data anywhere from 10-30 seconds of exposure and placing all that information into one frame. Our eyes do not have the capabilities to do so. However, the beams were so bright, I could see the streaks of light shoot up from the horizon towards the heavens just like I’ve illustrated on the right side of the image above. The magnitude of colors and lights were like I’ve never seen before.

By 2:30am, my efforts and dedication began paying off. The sky exploded!!! A large, thick band of light burst out of nowhere just behind South Sister and slowly drifted all the way to Broken Top and beyond. Immediately after words, the entire sky filled with thin bands of light. I could barely make them out with my own eyes, but my camera picked them up perfectly. The majority of light bands lasted until 3:30am, just as the sun began to rise.

This was by far one of the most unforgettable experiences I’ve ever witnessed and feel this is why I’m so drawn to photography. However, for me, it’s not just about getting the shot, although it was a plus, it’s about escaping my comfort zone and challenging myself to experience something entirely new. I often hear about people who are scared of the dark and would never think about doing what I do. Would you believe me if I said I was afraid of the dark too? Every time I’m out there I get a good scare from a sound I don’t recognize. I believe it’s about conquering one’s fears and allowing your eyes to become your guide.

To clear skies and sleepless nights,

Brad

Don’t forget, limited edition, fine-art prints are available and can now be ordered through the online store! Visit goldpaintphotography.com/purchase for more info.

Music composed by Serge Essiambre entitled, ‘Healing Waters’. – sergeessiambre.com.

Within Two Worlds from Goldpaint Photography.

“Within Two Worlds depicts an alternate perspective by giving us the illusion of times movement, signifying a beginning and end within a world of constant contradiction. It appears you are traveling in the midst of a dream, half-sleeping, half-waking, and touching the arch connecting heaven and earth.”

I discovered my passion for photography shortly after my mother’s passing while hiking the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) 3 years ago. This time-lapse video is my visual representation of how the night sky and landscapes co-exist within a world of contradictions. I hope this connection between heaven and earth inspires you to discover and create your own opportunities, to reach your rightful place within two worlds.

Please feel free to share! #withintwoworlds

Music composed by Serge Essiambre entitled, ‘Believe in Yourself’. – sergeessiambre.com.

Special thanks to all for your continued support and encouragement.

Locations include:
Tumalo Falls, Three Sisters Wilderness, Mount Shasta, Big Bend National Park, Mono Lake, Aurora Borealis over Crater Lake National Park, Texas, Painted Hills, the High Sierra, and the Aurora Borealis over Sparks Lake.

All footage was captured using Nikon equipment.

To purchase limited edition prints, visit goldpaintphotography.com/purchase

Copyright © 2012 Goldpaint Photography, All Rights Reserved. For consideration only, no reproduction or commercial use without prior authorization in writing.

 
During the early morning of June 17, 2012, by pure coincidence, I had an amazing opportunity to witness and photograph the Aurora Borealis over Crater Lake. Capturing this famous light show has been a dream of mine for several years, but I could not have imagined the lights showing up in my own backyard! Soon after shooting the rising Milky Way towards the southeast, I climbed in my car and drove through the mosquito infested darkness, towards the other side of Crater Lake. I was making an attempt to capture Polaris above Wizard Island jetting up from the crater. After setting up near the Rim Village Visitor Center lookout area, I began to notice a faint band of moving light slowly making its way from behind the Watchman Tower, around 1:30am. My camera began picking up bright pink bursts of light towards the north, with what also looked like unfamiliar vertical bands of light stretching upwards from the horizon. I quickly changed my camera’s white balance to confirm I was not picking up some random light pollution, or hallucinating in my drowsy state. Following additional exposures, I came up with the same amazing results. Fortunately, my phone had just enough cell service, enabling me to quickly check Twitter for real time information from @Aurora_Alerts . The alert stated, “In 47 minutes the Aurora Borealis should be at ‘STORM’ LEVEL! It’s On!! 6.33 Kp.” I couldn’t believe it. I had confirmation the Aurora Borealis was making her grand appearance on my side of the globe! The magical shifting scene continued until sunrise, and like most days in the wilderness, I was awed and humbled by true nature personified.

From my latest time-lapse video, “Within Two Worlds”. Click HERE to see it.

To purchase fine-art, limited edition prints, please visit http://www.goldpaintphotography.com/purchase/

‘Nighted Vail’ is the Grand Prize Winner of Outdoor Photographer Magazine’s 3rd Annual Great Outdoors Photography Contest and will be published in the July 2012 issue. Click HERE to see the article.
 
“Congratulations to Grand Prize winner Brad Goldpaint. This photograph is much more than just a night scene with the Milky Way. Goldpaint took advantage of digital photography to capture a unique place and moment in time. He describes the shot, “As an avid landscape astrophotographer, I wanted to find a perfect location for the annual Orionids meteor shower, peaking on October 21, 2011. I remembered a place called Middle Falls, located just outside the city of McCloud near my home in Mount Shasta, CA. This location had an open view just above the falls and faced directly east where the majority of the meteors would be coming from. Nighted Vail is a composite consisting of every meteor captured during the night and includes the Milky Way crashing into the illuminated falls.”
 
To purchase limited edition, fine-art prints, please visit goldpaintphotography.com/purchase.

Beyond the Rim

Crater Lake National Park, located high within the Cascade Mountains, provides visitors with knowledge and beauty the way her volcanic eruption produced lava 7700 years ago—steadily flowing with periodic bursts of insight and wonder. Her indigenous allure aroused deeper exploration, so I detoured off the grid and slowly trudged into the forested abyss. Just beyond the icy caldera rim, America’s deepest lake mirrored the prodigy of the night and created a liquid snapshot of man versus nature.

My latest image, “Beyond the Rim” was chosen as NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) and is displayed today, April 25, 2012 on its website http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120425.html. Each day an image or photograph relating to our universe is chosen by Astronomer and Astrophysicist Robert J. Nemiroff Ph.D., and Astrophysicist and Staff Scientist Jerry Bonnell, is made available to a huge fan base worldwide, and used as a tool for educational discussion and academic debate. I consider this opportunity a great honor because the APOD archive contains the largest collection of annotated astronomical images on the internet and is a highly respected resource for those in the field.

To purchase prints, visit http://www.goldpaintphotography.com/purchase/.

Zodiacal light is a faint, roughly triangular, diffuse white glow seen in the night sky that appears to extend up from the vicinity of the Sun along the ecliptic or zodiac. It is best seen just after sunset and before sunrise in spring and autumn when the zodiac is at a steep angle to the horizon. Caused by sunlight scattered by space dust in the zodiacal cloud, it is so faint that either moonlight or light pollution renders it invisible. The zodiacal light decreases in intensity with distance from the Sun, but on very dark nights it has been observed in a band completely around the ecliptic. In fact, the zodiacal light covers the entire sky, being responsible for major parts of the total skylight on a moonless night. The dust forms a thick pancake-shaped cloud in the Solar System, collectively known as the zodiacal cloud, which occupies the same plane as the ecliptic.

I’ve outlined a closeup image of the zodiacal light in the image below so you can see what I’m referring to. It is faint, but definitely obvious. All in all, I experienced an incredible night of shooting and feel very fortunate to have had a break in the weather, just long enough to enjoy the galactic show.