Ryan10
Founding Member
So...Here are the processed images that I think I'll finish with. I wanted to shoot both Ryan Ranch ruins and the Wall Street Mill ruins, but i didn't shoot either. 
My plan was to get to the park at 4ish and immediately grab a camping spot to setup a tent. I planned on then going to the Wall Street ruins to shoot all evening night. All three camping spots were full, I got frustrated and realized I had to start looking for sunset compositions. The initial plan fell apart, and so I kind of got stuck shooting near Hidden Valley without being able to spend some time walking around looking for compositions.
After sunset, I drove to the Wall Street Mill ruins trailhead. The parking lot was empty. The hike to the mill is ~1/4 mile, but started second guessing the idea of having to haul my gear, (stands, low level lights, tripod, iOptron, etc..) and fear of leaving something on accident that I might need. So, I scrapped that plan.
At ~7:30PM, I decided to make the 30 minute drive from the Wall Street Mill parking lot to the Cholla Cactus garden. I really wanted to shoot some classic Joshua Tree rock formations, but the light pollution in the north end of the park where all the boulders and rocks are at is really bad late in the season due to the core lining up closer to west than south. The north side of the park is much closer, "as the crow flys", to the Palm Desert area than the location where the Cholla Garden is at, so you get a lot of the light pollution.
I really got an opportunity to get comfortable with my iOptron. The light pollution is not as heavy in the southern end of the park, but still prominent. I'm looking forward to using the iOptron more next season in some darker skies.
I wrapped up the night at midnight, and drove the 2 hours home, so I also missed out on the sunrise pics.
My plan was to get to the park at 4ish and immediately grab a camping spot to setup a tent. I planned on then going to the Wall Street ruins to shoot all evening night. All three camping spots were full, I got frustrated and realized I had to start looking for sunset compositions. The initial plan fell apart, and so I kind of got stuck shooting near Hidden Valley without being able to spend some time walking around looking for compositions.
After sunset, I drove to the Wall Street Mill ruins trailhead. The parking lot was empty. The hike to the mill is ~1/4 mile, but started second guessing the idea of having to haul my gear, (stands, low level lights, tripod, iOptron, etc..) and fear of leaving something on accident that I might need. So, I scrapped that plan.
At ~7:30PM, I decided to make the 30 minute drive from the Wall Street Mill parking lot to the Cholla Cactus garden. I really wanted to shoot some classic Joshua Tree rock formations, but the light pollution in the north end of the park where all the boulders and rocks are at is really bad late in the season due to the core lining up closer to west than south. The north side of the park is much closer, "as the crow flys", to the Palm Desert area than the location where the Cholla Garden is at, so you get a lot of the light pollution.
I really got an opportunity to get comfortable with my iOptron. The light pollution is not as heavy in the southern end of the park, but still prominent. I'm looking forward to using the iOptron more next season in some darker skies.
I wrapped up the night at midnight, and drove the 2 hours home, so I also missed out on the sunrise pics.
