My entire night of shooting the Milky Way in Joshua Tree got wrecked by a single car's headlights

I was out near the Jumbo Rocks area last fall, finally getting a clear, moonless sky. I had my tracker set up, camera dialed in, and was 45 minutes into a 10-minute exposure for the galactic core. Just as the shot was about to finish, a car came bouncing down the dirt road from the campground, its high beams cutting right through the scene. The whole frame was flooded with orange light. I was so mad I almost packed up right then. Instead, I waited an hour for the sky to get dark again, moved my setup behind a bigger rock to block the road, and started over. The final shot was okay, but you can still see a faint glow on the horizon from that one idiot. Anyone else have a perfect shot ruined by unexpected light pollution?

3 comments

3 Comments

noahhall2mo ago

Honestly, it's just part of shooting in a public park. @the_alex has the right idea with the foam board, but sometimes you just gotta roll with the light leaks and call it atmosphere.

the_alex2mo ago

I keep a black foam core board in my trunk just for blocking headlights from dirt roads.

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miles_perez8d ago

Double down on the foam board idea. Make a whole shield rig. Get some light stands and clamp a big sheet of black coroplast to it. Set it up between you and any car traffic direction. I've done this in Death Valley near the tourist pullouts. Works surprisingly well. Saved me from a minivan that decided to park with its lights pointing right at my foreground rocks.

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