Starry Night by Bodhi Smith

Oct 23, 2020

"starry night" a brand new impression and blog from me...

"i know of a place, that is the place for me. out in the wilderness under the beautiful canopy of the milky way stretching across the entire sky. its silence speaks to me, telling me with all certainty this is my place where i need to be, my favorite place, when the darkness is so dark, that the stars light up everything dark inside me and out, illuminating everything all around with their collective energies, painting a starry night into my soul" ― bodhinku, starry night

"we all travel the milky way together, trees and men" ― john muir, the mountains of california

“i don't know much of anything with certainty, but seeing the stars makes me dream” ― vincent van gogh

"one of the most beautiful things to do is to paint darkness, paint the void which nevertheless has light in it, just like the starry night" ― vincent van gogh, dear theo

"at present, i absolutely want to paint a starry sky. it often seems to me that night is still more richly colored than the day; having hues of the most intense violets, blues and greens. if only you pay attention to it you will see that certain stars are lemon-yellow, others pink or a green, blue and forget-me-not brilliance. and without my expatiating on this theme, it's obvious that putting little white dots on the blue-black is not enough to paint a starry sky" ― vincent van gogh, dear theo

"sigh...throughout my life, the one thing most inspiring is a starry night. i have always looked up there for inspiration, and i have never been let down...witnessing celestial bodies glowing in silent beauty as they dance with the zodiac all night long, filling those dark voids inside me with radiant rapture wrapped in a sigh" ― bodhinku, a starry night

"the starlight, i will be chasing a starlight until the end of my life...hold you in my arms, i just wanted to hold you in my arms...my life, you electrify my life. let's conspire to ignite all the souls that would die just to feel alive. now i'll never let you go, if you promised not to fade away, never fade away..." ― matthew bellamy (muse lead singer-songwriter), starlight

"the night is starry and the stars are blue and shiver in the distance. the night wind revolves in the sky and sings..." ― pablo neruda

"the starry sky is the truest friend in life...when you first become acquainted, it is ever there. it gives ever peace, ever reminds you that your restlessness, your doubt, your pains are passing trivialities. the universe is, and will remain unshaken" ― fridtjof nansen

"on a starry night like this,
i want to be trapped inside your bliss.
lay your sweet lips on mine,
as our bodies entangled and freeze in time" ― shane morgan, the right song

"a day without sunshine is like, you know, night" ― steve martin, a comic's life

"he was there alone with himself, collected, tranquil, adoring, comparing the serenity of his heart with the serenity of the skies, moved in the darkness by the visible splendors of the constellations, opening his soul to the thoughts which fall from the unknown...lighted like a lamp in the center of the starry night, he felt something depart from him, and something descend upon him, mysterious interchanges of the depths of his soul with the depths of the universe" ― victor hugo, les miserables

"the stars are forth, the moon above the tops
of the snow-shining mountains—beautiful!
i linger yet with nature, for the night
hath been to me a more familiar face
than that of woman; and in her starry shade
of dim and solitary loveliness,
i learn'd the language of another world" ― lord george gordon byron, manfred

"i really need to be illuminated daily by the starry night that so inspires me, helping me glow from my deepest depths...illuminating my inner shadows, those hidden dark parts of me, personal secrets that make me who i am, even if i am not proud of them" ― bodhinku, illuminated

"illusions may fade, but the sublime remains" ― vincent van gogh

this song is a sentimental favorite of mine, a classic folk tune by don maclean (who was best know for his famous tune "american pie") from the mid 1970's...the song is about van gogh and how his paintings moved don, touching him deeply to his soul (enough so to write a song about vincent!)...all these emotions making don feel the travesty that people just never understood vincent in his lifetime or even now...there could not be a better or more perfect song to accompany this blog and help you to connect music with the deeper meaning of my impression today: "vincent (starry, starry night)" by don maclean ... (just click on any of the words in the blue links to listen to the musical selection)....

"starry, starry night, paint your palette blue and grey. look out on a summer's day with eyes that know the darkness in my soul. shadows on the hills sketch the trees and the daffodils, catch the breeze and the winter chills in colors on the snowy linen land...now i understand what you tried to say to me. and how you suffered for your sanity, and how you tried to set them free. they would not listen, they did not know how, perhaps they'll listen now...starry, starry night, flaming flowers that brightly blaze. swirling clouds in violet haze reflect in vincent's eyes of china blue. colors changing hue, morning fields of amber grain, weathered faces lined in pain are soothed beneath the artist's loving hand...now i understand what you tried to say to me. and how you suffered for your sanity, and how you tried to set them free. they would not listen, they did not know how, perhaps they'll listen now...for they could not love you, but still your love was true. and when no hope was left in sight on that starry, starry night, you took your life, as lovers often do. but i could have told you, vincent, this world was never meant for one as beautiful as you...starry, starry night, portraits hung in empty halls. frameless heads on nameless walls with eyes that watch the world and can't forget, like the strangers that you've met. the ragged men in the ragged clothes, the silver thorn, a bloody rose lie crushed and broken on the virgin snow...now i think i know what you tried to say to me. and how you suffered for your sanity, and how you tried to set them free. they would not listen, they're not listening still, perhaps they never will" ― don maclean, vincent (starry, starry night)

"in the case of my song 'vincent', i thought of van gogh's picture 'starry night.' it was a beautiful road-map for a song. i used a lot of imagery from that painting" ― don maclean, vincent (starry, starry night)

"be clearly aware of the stars and infinity on high. then life seems almost enchanted after all" ― vincent van gogh

“when i have a terrible need of shall i say the word, religion, then i go out and paint the stars" ― vincent van gogh

"you can feel the stars and the infinity of the sky...since life, in spite of everything, is like a fairytale" ― vincent van gogh

"i must continue to follow the path i take now. if i do nothing, if i study nothing, if i cease searching, then, woe is me, i am lost. that is how i look at it...keep going, follow the stars, keep going, come what may, keep going" ― vincent van gogh

“exaggerate the essential, leave the obvious vague" ― vincent van gogh

"realistically, i'm an endlessly flawed person...i'm the stubborn creek with many rocks that doesn't flow easily, a clear blue sky filled chatty blackbirds. i have way too many shortcomings to count. i'm the rainbow that’s not long enough, a starry night cluttered with clouds, a sunrise in the dense fog...but alas, i'm grateful for the lady in my life who accepts me just this way. and i can only deeply appreciate all the people in my life who look past my stubborn rocks, love the blue sky with too many chatty blackbirds, remain patient with a rainbow that isn’t long enough, know with certainty the stars will come out from behind the clouds, and believe the dense fog will eventually burn off...and because of this, i am taught love. because of this, i love my lady, my family, my friends. i love these people with all my heart" ― bodhinku, a starry night with clouds

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MEANING
"no single other artist has had a deeper, more profound affect on my photography than vincent van gogh...not only his paintings, but also vincent the human being, a loving yet troubled and misunderstood man, lost in a tragic world he was trying to express in his artwork..." ― bodhinku, vincent

vincent van gogh is easily the one artist with the greatest influence on me and my artistic expressions. the impact of his artwork can be clearly seen and discovered within all my photo impressions...this image of mine, “starry night” is named after vincent’s most famous painting (of the same name) and is created in a way that reflects those profound influences he has on my style of photography

and, what you see here is another one of my dreams, a magical realism from the depths of my mind that is heavily inspired by the idea of what i think maybe vincent van gogh dreamed about at night: the stars...so this is my third humble attempt to do just that, put together a composition representing both his dreams and mine, and a scene that would be difficult at best to see in “real life“…

"i don't know much of anything with certainty, but seeing the stars makes me dream" ― vincent van gogh

"i experience a period of frightening clarity in those moments when nature is so beautiful. i am no longer sure of myself, and the paintings appear as in a dream" ― vincent van gogh, vincent's letters

many times, people ask that silly question "if you could meet one person in the world and have a conversation with them, who would you chose?" i truly wish that i could have met vincent in person, and talked all night with him about life, art, nature, the stars, and sunflowers...

this impression of mine is totally inspired by vincent, not just his paintings of stars, but also the artist behind the work as well, his story, so inspiring even though it is both joyful and sad at times, i can relate to his thoughts, writings, his expressions in his paintings, and how he felt and lived...i can relate to all of it and truly know how he felt, i can empathize as there are so many similarities to my life and his...i have always felt such a deep empathy for vincent...i am very much able to relate to everything i have come to understand about him, and his work will always be a huge influence on my photography...

"i often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day" ― vincent van gogh, dear theo

"be clearly aware of the stars and infinity on high. then life seems almost enchanted after all" ― vincent van gogh

"when i have a terrible need of - shall i say the word - religion, then i go out and paint the stars" ― vincent van gogh

"you can feel the stars and the infinity of the sky...since life, in spite of everything, is like a fairytale.” ― vincent van gogh

"oh, how the earth from afar, shines like a star" ― vincent van gogh

van gogh was far from being viewed as normal, he walked his own path of eccentricity. vincent was often lost, lonely, and up and down with his emotions and moods. often questioning his artworks and his meaning in the art world, as well as in the world of life (similar to myself)...a person could look into his powder blue eyes and never fully understand what exactly was going on behind those blue eyes (just like me)...but always he had his love of nature around him & his desire to paint that beauty as he saw it with those blue eyes. his passion for his artwork was there for him to turn to, to give him meaning, purpose, and raise his spirits (like me too)...

"normality is a paved road: it’s comfortable to walk, but no flowers grow on it " ― vincent van gogh, vincent's letters

"i thought i would be understood without words" ― vincent van gogh, dear theo

he had no children (like me), he was seen as a loner (like me as well)...usually misunderstood, and all too often off the beaten path doing his own thing (very much like me as well), regardless of what anyone else said, but he did care about what others thought of him, even though he often wrote that he didn’t (same as me). he was a deeply sensitive being, and so often got his hopes up, only to have them dashed, and he then turned to drinking absinthe all too often in excess to help him cope with his doubts and worries (just like i did for many years with beer). he seemed tormented all too often, but then extremely happy at other times...but even in his deepest melancholy states, he always held his hopes and dreams, and positivity (once again, I can relate!)

"i take great care of myself by carefully shutting myself away " ― vincent van gogh, dear theo

"it's so easy to love. the only hard thing is to be loved" ― vincent van gogh

"what am i in the eyes of most people? i'm a nonentity, an eccentric, or seen as an unpleasant person...somebody who has no position in society and will never have; in short, the lowest of the low. all right, then...even if that were absolutely true, then i should one day like to show by my work what such an eccentric, such a nobody, has in his heart. that is my ambition, based less on resentment than on love in spite of everything, based more on a feeling of serenity than on passion. though i am often in the depths of misery, there is still calmness, pure harmony and music inside me. i see paintings or drawings in the poorest cottages, in the dirtiest corners. and my mind is driven towards these things with an irresistible momentum" ― vincent van gogh, vincent's letters

"how difficult it is to be simple!" ― vincent van gogh

"i try more and more to be myself, caring relatively little whether people approve or disapprove" ― vincent van gogh, vincent's letters

"the only time i really feel alive is when i'm painting" ― vincent van gogh, dear theo

vincent van gogh was not trying to make an exact copy of reality in his paintings. he did not use his choices of colors merely to imitate nature, but to express emotion...and through his inspirational guidance, this is something that i have also always done in all of my photographic impressions…

“exaggerate the essential, leave the obvious vague" ― vincent van gogh

"what color is to a picture, enthusiasm is in life" ― vincent van gogh

"i exaggerate, i sometimes make changes to the subject, but still i don’t invent the whole of the painting; on the contrary, i find it ready-made, but to be untangled, in the real world" ― vincent van gogh

it's a shame he lived only 37yrs, just an epic tragedy...

no single other artist has had a deeper, more profound affect on my photography than vincent van gogh...not only his paintings, but also vincent the human being, a loving yet troubled and misunderstood man, lost in a tragic world he was trying to express in his artwork...

"i hope to depart in no other way than looking back with love and wistfulness and thinking, oh the paintings that i would have made..." ― vincent van gogh, dear theo

“vincent van gogh used to eat yellow paint because he thought it would get the happiness inside him. many people thought he was mad and stupid for doing so because the paint was toxic, never mind that it was obvious that eating paint couldn't possibly have any direct correlation to one's happiness, but i never saw that ... because, if you were so unhappy that even the maddest ideas could possibly work, like painting the walls of your internal organs yellow, then you are going to do it. it's really no different than falling in love or taking drugs. there is a greater risk of getting your heart broken or overdosing, but people still do it everyday because there was always that chance it could make things better. everyone has their own yellow paint" ― alexandra timmer

on a side note...almost exactly three years ago in october of 2017, dorota kobiela created a motion picture animated magically using vincent's oil paintings entitled "loving vincent"...the film took 10 years to create the director/writer's vision, and is beyond genius in my humble opinion...it's about vincent's emotions and thoughts at the end of his life, and the controversy surrounding van gogh's mysterious death...it's absolutely a resoundingly beautiful movie, if you ever get the chance to watch it, i would high recommend and encourage it...this link will take you to the movie's trailer: "loving vincent"...

...and if you like to read behind the scenes stuff from "loving vincent", especially ones related directly to works painted by vincent, this blog is nothing less than exceptional: http://lovingvincent.com/blogs,203,pl.html

"if you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere" ― vincent van gogh

"at present i absolutely want to paint a starry sky. it often seems to me that night is still more richly coloured than the day; having hues of the most intense violets, blues and greens. if only you pay attention to it, you will see that certain stars are lemon-yellow, others pink or a green, blue and forget-me-not brilliance. and without my expatiating on this theme, it is obvious that putting little white dots on the blue-black is not enough to paint a starry sky" ― vincent van gogh, dear theo

"how rich art is, if one can only remember what one has seen, one is never empty of thoughts or truly lonely, never alone" ― vincent van gogh, dear theo

and here is a cover of don maclean's beautiful song, "vincent (starry, starry night)", this was a highlighted song in the movie "loving vincent": "vincent" by ellie goulding

"starry, starry night, paint your palette blue and grey. look out on a summer's day with eyes that know the darkness in my soul. shadows on the hills sketch the trees and the daffodils, catch the breeze and the winter chills in colors on the snowy linen land...now i understand what you tried to say to me. and how you suffered for your sanity, and how you tried to set them free. they would not listen, they did not know how, perhaps they'll listen now...starry, starry night, flaming flowers that brightly blaze. swirling clouds in violet haze reflect in vincent's eyes of china blue. colors changing hue, morning fields of amber grain, weathered faces lined in pain are soothed beneath the artist's loving hand...now i understand what you tried to say to me. and how you suffered for your sanity, and how you tried to set them free. they would not listen, they did not know how, perhaps they'll listen now...for they could not love you, but still your love was true. and when no hope was left in sight on that starry, starry night, you took your life, as lovers often do. but i could have told you, vincent, this world was never meant for one as beautiful as you...starry, starry night, portraits hung in empty halls. frameless heads on nameless walls with eyes that watch the world and can't forget, like the strangers that you've met. the ragged men in the ragged clothes, the silver thorn, a bloody rose lie crushed and broken on the virgin snow...now i think i know what you tried to say to me. and how you suffered for your sanity, and how you tried to set them free. they would not listen, they're not listening still, perhaps they never will" ― ellie goulding, vincent (don maclean cover)

"art is to console those who are broken by life" ― vincent van gogh

"i have nature and art and poetry, and if that is not enough, what is enough?" ― vincent van gogh

"i want to touch people with my art. i want them to say 'he feels deeply, he feels tenderly'." ― vincent van gogh, vincent's letters

"everyone said to vincent van gogh, "you can't be a great painter, you only have one ear." and you know what he said? "i can't hear you" ― steve carell, comic

"the night cafe and the starry night still emit such pathos, density, and intensity that they send shivers down the spine. whether vincent [van gogh] thought in color or felt with his intellect, the radical color, dynamic distortion, heart, soul, and part-by-part structure in these paintings make him a bridge to a new vision and the vision itself" ― jerry saltz

"when van gogh painted the starry night as a swirling mass of cosmic energy, he may have been painting what he saw with neurotic eyes, but he was also painting what he saw with transcendent eyes. the first gave his painting mere form, the second gave it formless, universal emotion that connects directly to the viewer" ― amit goswami, quantum creativity

"when you see a paul gauguin [painting], you think: this man is living in a dream world. but when you see a vincent van gogh [painting], you think: this dream world is living in a man" ― adam gopnik

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MORE BODHIKU QUOTES

and now here are a few more quotes from bodhinku from past blogs to help add to the deeper meaning of this blog today...

"i dream my photograph, and i photograph my dream..." ― bodhinku, my dream

"there we were, her and i, lost alone in our universe of no noise, no distractions, just the focus of holding each other tight under the stars all through the night, the colors of all those heavenly bodies above faintly washing all over our skin...our hearts tingle, feeling that hungry touch and delightful warming inside and out as our eyes lock into each other, connecting, illuminating our souls with visions so obvious that enlightenment is a mere afterthought" ― bodhinku, our universe

"under the stars i have all the light i need, all night long they illuminate my world. bringing me out of my darkness. i can see all i need to see, as i embrace this fairytale in my arms all through the night. and until it ends, there is no end..." ― bodhinku, all through the night

"when i first saw

your eyes
i knew you already
from gazing upward
at all the stars

i'd been looking into
your eyes
for so long already
across the universe
my whole entire life

if stars would become
your eyes
they'd truly know already
their exact name
was always yours" ― bodhinku, eyes of the universe

"there's a secret current behind the stars that carries you to the end of you" ― bodhinku, secret of the stars

"sitting here on this night, under this glowing milky way, i feel so utterly lost in silence...and at the same time, i'm found, knowing my meaning is written somewhere into all those billions of stars above me" ― bodhinku, written somewhere

"i love the milky way...she is my beautiful temptress that visits me constantly in my visions, both awake and asleep. she is made up of the light glowing from billions of suns, shining eternally, leading me into and though the darkness, guiding my path...and my meaning is destined to be forever written in those stars of hers" ― bodhinku, written in her stars

"all through the night, out under this beautiful canopy of the milky way stretching across the entire sky. it's my favorite place to be, when the darkness is so dark, that the stars light up everything inside me and out, illuminating everything all around with their collective energies...i was in the midst of an experience with a pure spirit so truly exceptional, time disappeared... and it became obvious soon with all of the coincidences brought to my attention, that this night could not have happened by chance...for all the while as the cosmos moved across the sky, the universe was sending signs that could not be overlooked or dismissed, signs so obvious and clear...and when i laid down in bed later just before dawn, i fell asleep with a smile on my face, finally" ― bodhinku, signs from somewhere over the milky way

"in sweet silence of the star light, i see her radiance glowing bright above, i feel her angelic innocence, i play in her magical wilderness...i know my focus is always up to her" ― bodhinku, bright above

"i was walking around like a blind fool in the dark hopelessly hoping beyond hope to find one that i truly loved. however, it was i that was discovered and found by her" ― bodhinku, found

"eternally each night, she glows down freely from the heavens, but without somebody to see her, she has no meaning... his eye is what interprets her impression. his eye sees and understands her for who she is...so, his eye creates the art of her light for all to see, and captures her beauty forever...he becomes the eye of her light, he becomes her meaning...and she becomes his purpose" ― bodhinku, his eye-her light

"in trying to understand myself, and things that really make me glow with happiness, i created something special here...one fusion joined together from my psyche, dreams, visions, feelings, emotions, thoughts, and illuminations from the inner workings of my combined mind, heart, and soul" ― bodhinku, zen to me

"thoughts of you fill the starry night
feeling so sensual never felt so right
i'm crazy obsessed by your afterglow
your joy of life is all i want to know
i'm wildly addicted to your light
and so badly aroused by your sight" ― bodhinku, afterglow

"for me, zen is being in nature, surrounded by all i love...getting out of my mind, and into my own true nature instead" ― bodhinku, zen to me

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STORY BEHIND THIS IMPRESSION

"by no means do i think of myself ever as someone's sunshine... honestly, i think i can be personified as like that of a starry night...mostly darkness with some bright light shining through here and there" ― bodhinku, like a starry night

pictured here is white pocket under an october starry night...seen in the sky of this image (from left to right) along with the millions of stars are: saturn, jupiter, the milky way, a long meteor (shooting star), and mercury...all above a solitary pine tree, a dwarfed "bonsai" ponderosa pine tree on the "brain rocks" section of white pocket...

the colorful milky way core is closer to the horizon in october as it begins to disappear from sight until late february of the next calendar year...this makes for a more dramatic effect with it being closer to the tree in perspective than it would be earlier in the milky way's photographic season...

and with the milky way season winding down quickly, i used my various smart phone apps to confirm the milky way would be the right aspect and height over my desired subject (the dwarf ponderosa pine tree), and i decided to take my pup besos and visit white pocket on 10-10-2020 with a really good friend (sam) and his doggie (hugo) since the weather was also going to be very conducive for my photography--not too hot, no winds (important for my long exposures), clear skies-no clouds, and no rain in the overnight forecast--along with the cycle of the moon permitting for the early evening capture of the milky way core...

once to white pocket, the light was waning so besos and i made a direct bee-line straight for my desired subject close to sunset...then i set up for blue hour at the tree, took my foreground images, and things could not have gone more perfectly once the stars came out and lined up over top of the tree...got to experience this all with another super talented photographer who was there from wisconsin named chris as well...

my "starry night" here was the result...no crowds, so beautiful, so quiet, so peaceful, so remote, so spiritual...and a no-brainer for me as the name of this beautiful image and experience on white pocket just two weeks ago...

i have been to white pocket numerous time now, haven taken clients and friends there on many different occasions, so i guess i am pretty experienced in getting safely in and out and navigating the difficult sand roads (the last three miles)...and for his first trip there, this was to be good experience for sam to drive in deep sands with his new subaru that was equipped for extreme driving conditions...we took both our vehicles in, and he followed behind me in my jeep grand cherokee 4x4 limited x...and he did exemplary for his first time, making only one mistake, which caused us only a slight delay, and one that was easily corrected, although he never got it out of his mind later unfortunately...

when you know how to get there, know what you are doing in deep sand, and have the right vehicle, the road to white pocket is such a fun drive...it's like an amusement park ride full of adrenaline rush and excitement, always pushing the limit that you could get stuck with the wrong maneuver, speed, or turn...but then exuberated when you make it there, and then back out the next morning...

and a bonus, white pocket is currently doggie friendly, and our doggies loved it there...sam's pup hugo is only one year old, and besos is two years old, so they are always full of playful energy...seems the whole weekend they were running and playing like crazy with each other...they had an absolute blast together...

"vincent van gogh was not trying to make an exact copy of reality in his paintings. he did not use his choices of colors merely to imitate nature, but to express emotion...and through his inspirational guidance, this is something that i have also always done in all of my photographic impressions" ― bodhinku, vincent's inspiration

"the more of us that feel a starry sky, the better off we will be in this world" ― bodhinku, feel a starry sky

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MORE COOL MUSIC TO GIVE A LISTEN

here is a melodic instrumental piece to give a serious listen to...(just click on any of the words in the blue links to listen to the musical selection)... "a little rusty in space" by timothy and the apocalypse ... or you can use this "spotify" link if that works better for you to listen to this wonderful tune: spotify link to "a little rusty in space" by timothy and the apocalypse ...

i feel this amazing tune goes beautifully with my visions of the colorful and twisted landscape of white pocket along with the harmonic silence of the stars overhead, a musical tune that bridges the spaces between the celestial and the terrestrial...

"the stars will never be won by little minds; we must be big as space itself" ― timothy and the apocalypse, a little rusty in space

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HISTORY AND INFO ABOUT WHITE POCKET

"being out at white pocket on a starry night is like stepping into a fairytale under a glowing curtain of stars" ― bodhinku, starry fairytale

white pocket (arizona) is a superb photographic destination about five miles due east of south coyote buttes. white pocket is officially part of vermilion cliffs national monument, and now there are signs that have been newly erected up along parts of the route to get to white pocket that denote this fact. and once arriving there, it is a relatively small area, about 2 square miles. and as of this writing in october of 2020, no permit is needed for white pocket...

it was "discovered" by photographers only about 15 years ago around 2005. originally for years white pocket was just a second choice, fall back to plan, a place for people to go that could not get the elusive permit via a lottery to visit the over-popular "wave" formation on the northern coyote buttes (only 20 people a day are ever permitted)..however, white pocket has recently become even more popular than "the wave", and is now an extremely sought after first destination, excessively desired by photographers over the past couple years due to its high visibility on instagram by other "look-at-me" photographers and adventurers.

the name white pocket actually refers to two areas: on the topo map there is a tall monolith about 500 feet high that can be seen from miles around, this butte is known as the white pocket butte. and the second one being the area with white-gray rocks that have numerous pockets that fill with water after rainfall and have traditionally allowed for free range cattle that inhabit the area to have a water source in the hot northern arizona climate in the summers...be aware, at any time cattle could roam through white pocket...

and conversely, photographers use the term white pocket to refer to the area of white and coral colored cauliflower rock (aka brain rock) to the east of the white pocket butte. this area has many of those aforementioned water pockets, and is the area of photographic interest.

it is extremely difficult to get to the white pocket. knowledge and experience with driving in deep sand, as well as an accompanying high clearance 4x4 vehicle is needed due to that deep sand. deflate your tires to around 20psi, and re-inflate them once back out of the deep sand parts of the route. always carry a shovel, extra water, a full sized spare, and a good portable air compressor. plus i recommend due to the bad roads, after you are done shooting at white pocket, do not try to drive out in the dark ever. i emphatically recommend camping at the trailhead overnight and driving out the next morning. and remember in times of rain, the road in and out is impassable, it is impossible to get to or back out of white pocket...if it rains while you are visiting, give the road time to completely dry out, or you will be totally stuck and in worse shape than if you just would have waited out the rain.

after a rainfall there are many shallow pools in the lower area of white pocket. these can be used to frame reflections of either the white pocket butte or the swirl formations. there are deeper pockets in the upper area which yield reflections of the two trees. and remember and be aware again that after a rainfall you will absolutely not be able to access white pocket as house rock road as well as the sand track blm road to white pocket will both be impassable. after very heavy rains, you may even find quicksand on some of the roads into the white pocket too. quicksand is rarely more than knee deep but if you drive into it, you will be in a world of shit and not be able to get your vehicle out without a winch or tow...

when the potholes are full of water you may find hundred of tadpoles and tadpole shrimp in them. desert tadpoles grow into toads, not frogs. while both are amphibians, toads live on land rather than in the water. toads spend their adult lives finding shelter in vegetation, under rocks, and in abandoned burrows. after a heavy rain, male toads find a water pocket and begin croaking to attract a mate. i have heard toads croaking at the wave formation close by in mid april after a heavy rain. toad croaks are very loud and toads may croak for hours till they mate. after fertilization, eggs take a bit over ten days to hatch into tadpoles. tadpoles then spend the next 9-12 weeks transforming into toads so that they can survive on land. not many make it, often the pool dries up before the tadpole can mature.

desert shrimp have a totally different life cycle since shrimp survive only in water. after sufficient rain (seen by the shrimp eggs as sufficient water pressure) shrimp eggs, which may have been dormant for years, hatch into shrimp. the shrimp have a very short lifespan, they live, reproduce, and die over a period of just a few weeks. tadpole shrimp and tadpoles are good subjects for video, especially if you have a macro lens with you...

from the winter months through july and august, you will usually find water at white pocket. while the smaller pools will dry up within a day or two of rain, the larger ones, such as those created by rancher dams, will keep their water through the whole period. look for pools that are evenly lit. if you shoot ground level from the edge of the water the pool will look more like a lake than a pool

white pocket photographs well at both sunrise and sunset. at sunrise, the best light is blocked in some parts of white pocket by cliffs to the east, although white pocket butte lights up beautifully at sunrise throughout the year. white pocket butte is a good panoramic subject when shot from the southern side of at dawn. if you shoot from the central area at sunrise, your view of the butte will be blocked by a small hill. when water is present, shooting the butte from the pools just south of the swirl also works well. the cliffs to the east of white pocket also get very good color at sunset and are worth photographing. it is possible to climb the cliffs to the east, just head for the central area. there is no trail and there is some exposure but the climb is not difficult if you pick the right route.

white pocket has an upper and lower level. the lower level is to the west, the upper to the east. the lower level is best shot mid-late afternoon and is in shadow at sunrise and for an hour or so thereafter. the lower level includes the formation called the swirl which is probably the most popular white pocket subject. the Swirl is best shot late afternoon. near the winter solstice it is nicely lit on both the SE and SW sides, during the rest of the year only the SW side is lit at sunset...the upper level gets good light a bit after sunrise and at sunset. there are two trees on the upper level as well...

you can shoot at white pocket well into the "blue hour" since it is only a half mile back to your car from almost anyplace in the area. the blue hour happens when the sun is about 4-8 degrees below the horizon either after the sun sets or before it rises.

during the blue hour, the sky takes on a brilliant blue color and the landscape takes on a blue glow. this occurs because only the blue rays of the solar spectrum are bent by the atmosphere towards the earth, the warmer tones pass through the atmosphere into space. my best photos of white pocket have all been taken a few minutes after sunrise or before sunset, in this blue hour, or at night. during the blue hour exposure times can be long with 5-30 seconds (or much more using nd filters as i do) typical when shooting with a low iso. you'll need to use a tripod.

white pocket is an excellent location for night photography. there is little ambient light except to the east which has some glow from page, az....the s-curve with the citadel formation in the middle-ground is also good foreground for the milky way. the swirl faces south, so star trails work well here...but there are literally thousands of other un-shot locations in the area with unique rock formations, pools of water, and vegetation to use with the stars, you just need to spend the extra time searching for them and scouting them out during the harsh lighting conditions of the day (what else is there to do anyway?)

if you do shoot at night, make sure you mark the location of your vehicle with a gps...for white pocket has no trails except for the short path going in...at night everything starts to look the same in the shadows from a headlamp. it is easy to get disoriented and lose your bearings, get lost and not find your way back to the parking lot without the landscape being illuminated...remember, this is a wilderness, so be careful and plan ahead, or else you might end up spending a cold evening under the elements...

but enjoy exploring the awe-inspiring slickrock. these windswept layers of orange, yellow, and white formations were created over time by mineral deposits and shaped by the elements...

please help preserve the geologic formations so that present and future generations can enjoy them today and for years to come.

and remember, always here you are responsible for your safety. if you get lost while hiking, experience a non-life-threatening emergency, or if your vehicle becomes stuck or breaks down, it is your responsibility, not the responsibility of emergency services or blm to deal with the situation. and to compound the situation, the is no cell phone coverage anywhere close by.

the roads that access white pocket trailhead consist of deep sand and patches of sharp rock. most awd rentals will not make it in and out safely, and rental car companies as well as aaa do not cover any towing services here. four-wheel-drive high-clearance vehicles are required. but every year, many groups get stuck and stranded on the way to this trailhead as a result of attempting the drive without enough experience or use an inappropriate vehicles. this can be life threatening and cost thousands of dollars to have your vehicle extracted. if you are unsure of your vehicle’s capabilities or simply don’t want to assume the risk, i recommend hiring an authorized guide such as myself. information about other authorized guides may be found at blm visitor centers or on their website.

as i stated before, if you go out to white pocket, you should plan to car camp overnight rather than try to drive in or out in the dark. and always consider going with a guide, for this is the best option...i offer guided tours for 1-2 days stay at white pocket focusing on shooting locations in the area at both sunrise and sunset, then camping overnight...white pocket from late spring through the summer and into early fall has become extremely popular for car camping lately, so there is almost always company now there unfortunately....

the popularity of white pocket is now leading to shameful impacts in the form of exposed human waste and toilet paper, excessive campfire rings, and vegetation damage. i've even seen photographers marking spots in the slickrock by scraping and etching with stones...please do your part to keep these areas clean and natural. if you camp in the area, camp in your vehicle or use existing campsites/fire rings, and keep campsites small. to minimize impact, do not damage trees or collect firewood...

and it should be repeated and noted again: there is no cell phone service for miles surrounding white pocket. be prepared to handle emergencies on your own. only you are responsible for your own safety. and there are no toilets or potable water at white pocket...you need to bring in all of the supplies you will need: food, water, firewood, tools, equipment, emergency kits...and you will need to bury all human and doggie waste at least one (1) foot deep with a shovel, and pack out all your own garbage including food scraps, toilet paper and wet wipes...

please, please be a good steward and respect the area as the beautiful wilderness that it is, use common sense, leave it in just as good or better condition than you found it...take only pictures and leave only footprints in the sand...for we all need to do our part so, we can continue to enjoy these wild areas like white pocket in their natural beauty for years to come

"oh please just let me sit here under the stars, on the threshold of two worlds. lost in the eloquence of silence" ― jalaluddin rumi, hush don't say anything to god

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MANY MORE VINCENT VAN GOGH QUOTES

"if you don’t have a dog, at least one, there is not necessarily anything wrong with you, but there may be something wrong with your life" ― vincent van gogh, vincent's letters

"i am a traveler going somewhere and to some destination...only the somewhere and the destination do not exist" ― vincent van gogh

"the heart of man is very much like the sea. it has its storms, it has its tides. and in its depths, it has its pearls too" ― vincent van gogh, vincent's letters

"it is good to love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is well done" ― vincent van gogh

"there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people...i will not live without love" ― vincent van gogh

"i put my heart and soul into my work, and i have lost my mind in the process" ― vincent van gogh

"if you hear a voice within you say you cannot paint, then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced" ― vincent van gogh

"what would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?" ― vincent van gogh

"i am seeking, i am striving, i am in it with all my heart" ― vincent van gogh

"looking at the stars always makes me dream, as simply as i dream over the black dots representing towns and villages on a map...why, i ask myself, shouldn’t the shining dots of the sky be as accessible as the black dots on the map of france? just as we take a train to get to paris or calais, we take death to reach a star. we cannot get to a star while we are alive, any more than we can take the train when we are dead. so to me it seems possible that fevers, tuberculosis and cancer are the celestial means of locomotion. just as steamboats, buses and railways are the terrestrial means. to die quietly of old age would be to go there on foot" ― vincent van gogh, letters to theo

"i am always doing what i cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it" ― vincent van gogh

"there is peace even in the storm" ― vincent van gogh

"there may be a great fire in our soul, yet no one ever comes to warm himself at it, and the passerbys see only a wisp of smoke" ― vincent van gogh

"i can't change the fact that my paintings don't sell. but the time will come when people will recognize that they are worth more than the value of the paints used in the picture" ― vincent van gogh

"those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night" ― vincent van gogh, vincent's letters

"whoever loves much, performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is done well" ― vincent van gogh, vincent's letters

"it is a pity that, as one gradually gains experience, one loses one's youth" ― vincent van gogh

"i feel such a creative force in me:...i am longing so much to make beautiful things. but beautiful things mean painstaking work, disappointment, and perseverance" ― vincent van gogh, dear theo

"happy is he who has loved much, and although he may have wavered and doubted, he has kept that divine spark alive and returned to what was in the beginning and ever shall be...if only one keeps loving faithfully what is truly worth loving and does not squander one's love on trivial and insignificant and meaningless things then one will gradually obtain more light and grow stronger" ― vincent van gogh

"as we advance in life, it becomes more and more difficult...but in fighting the difficulties, the innermost strength of the heart is developed" ― vincent van gogh

"what is your final goal, you may ask? that goal will become clearer, will emerge slowly but surely, much as the rough draught turns into a sketch, and the sketch into a painting through the serious work done on it, through the elaboration of the original vague idea and through the consolidation of the first fleeting and passing thought" ― vincent van gogh

"in my view, i am immensely rich, not in money, but rich because i have found my metier, something i can devote myself to heart and soul and that gives inspiration and meaning to my life" ― vincent van gogh

"to do good work one must eat well, be well housed, have one's fling from time to time, smoke one's pipe, and drink one's coffee in peace" ― vincent van gogh

"to understand blue you must first understand yellow and orange" ― vincent van gogh

"it must be good to die in the knowledge that one has done some truthful work...and to know that, as a result, one will live on in the memory of at least a few and leave a good example for those who come after" ― vincent van gogh

"sometimes, dear brother, i know so well what i want. i am quite able to do without god, both in my life and in my painting, but what i cannot do without, unwell as i am, is something greater than myself, which is my life, the power to create" ― vincent van gogh, dear theo

"my great longing is to learn to make those very incorrectnesses, those deviations, remodellings, changes of reality, so that they may become, yes, untruth if you like...but more true than the literal truth" ― vincent van gogh, dear theo

"my house here is painted the yellow color of fresh butter on the outside, with glaringly green shutters; it stands in full sunlight in a square that has a green garden with plane trees, oleanders and acacias. it is completely whitewashed inside, with a floor made of red bricks. and over it there is the intensely blue sky. in this house i can love and breathe, meditate and paint" ― vincent van gogh, dear theo

"if one feels the need of something grand, something infinite, something that makes
one feel aware of god, one need not go far to find it"― vincent van gogh

"a woman does not grow old as long as she loves and is loved" ― vincent van gogh

"someday death will take us all to another star" ― vincent van gogh

"love is something eternal... the aspect may change but not the essence" ― vincent van gogh

"there is safety in the very heart of danger" ― vincent van gogh

"if only we try to live righteously, we shall fare well, even though we are bound to encounter genuine sadness and real disappointments and shall probably commit real mistakes and do things that are wrong...but it is certainly better to be ardent in spirit, eventhough one makes more mistakes, than narrow-minded and overly-cautious" ― vincent van gogh

"there is nothing more beautiful than nature early in the morning" ― vincent van gogh

"do you know what frees one from this captivity? it is every deep serious affection. being friends, being brothers, love, these open the prison by supreme power, by some magic force. where sympathy is renewed, life is restored" ― vincent van gogh, dear theo

"it's not the language of painters but the language of nature which one should listen to, for reality is more important than the feeling for pictures"― vincent van gogh, the letters of vincent

“to express the love of two lovers by the marriage of two complementary colours, their blending and their contrast, the mysterious vibrations of related tones. to express the thought of a brow by the radiance of a light tone against a dark background. to express hope by some star. someone's passion by the radiance of the setting sun. that's certainly no realistic trompe l'oeil, but something that really exists, isn't it?" ― vincent van gogh, the letters of vincent

"you may know that the peony is jeannin's, the hollyhock belongs to quost, but the sunflower is mine in a way" ― vincent van gogh, dear theo

"love is eternal. the aspect may change, but not the essence. there is the same difference in a person before and after he is in love as there is in an unlighted lamp and one that is burning. the lamp was there and was a good lamp, but now it is shedding light too, and that is its real function, its brighter value. and love makes one calmer about many things, and that way, one is more fit for one's work" ― vincent van gogh, vincent's letters

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MORE QUOTES FOR EXTRA MEANING

please give this next song a honest listen...it's easily one of my favorite love songs of all-time...with my love and obsessions for capturing the stars with my camera, and likewise with this song's reference that "i will be chasing a starlight until the end of my life", makes it a perfect song for me and my world under the starry night...i just never really knew of anyone in my life where this song could fit so wonderfully with my current feelings mixed with my passions in photography...i just never had anyone to whom i could dedicate this song in one of my blogs, a blog that also had an impression to match my emotions and love...that is until recently, and she knows who she is, and here is: "starlight" by muse ...(just click on any of words in the blue links to listen to the musical selection)...

"far away, the ship is taking me far away. far away from the memories of the people who care if i live or die. the starlight, i will be chasing a starlight until the end of my life. i don't know if it's worth it anymore...hold you in my arms, i just wanted to hold you in my arms...my life, you electrify my life. let's conspire to ignite all the souls that would die just to feel alive. now i'll never let you go, if you promised not to fade away, never fade away...our hopes and expectations, black holes and revelations. our hopes and expectations, black holes and revelations...hold you in my arms, i just wanted to hold you in my arms...far away, the ship is taking me far away. far away from the memories of the people who care if i live or die. and I'll never let you go if you promise not to fade away, never fade away...our hopes and expectations, black holes and revelations. our hopes and expectations, black holes and revelations...hold you in my arms, i just wanted to hold you in my arms, i just wanted to hold..." ― muse (matthew bellamy), starlight

"when you come upon a path that brings benefit and happiness to all, follow this course

as the moon journeys through the starry night" ― gautama siddhartha buddha, sayings of buddha

"do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate on the present moment...like the stars, come out from behind the clouds! shine" ― siddhartha gautama buddha, the dhammapada

"he who defends with love will be secure; the starry night will save him, and earth will protect him with love" ― lao tzu, tao te ching

"i don't know whether the universe, with its countless galaxies, stars and planets, has a deeper meaning or not, but at the very least, it is clear that we humans who live on this earth face the task of making a happy life for ourselves. therefore, it is important to discover daily what will bring about the greatest degree of happiness" ― dalai lama xiv, the art of happiness

"you're my star, a stargazer too, and i wish that i were heaven, with a billion eyes to look at you!" ― plato, phaedrus

"the lyrics of this love are etched upon the walls of this beating heart the melody echoing within me during waking hours and dream filled sleep. i must have written them in the stars many lifetimes ago with these unsteady hands filled with longing, inspiration found in the unseen and the unspoken, that to this day ring deep within my aching soul...the celestial wind whispers a lonely lullaby over the mountain peaks and through the trees, seeming to call your name somehow into my sleeping soul. i wonder if you know that you live there, nestled in between the breaths of air and beating of my heart, where time stands still and eternity waits on the edge of the horizon. i wonder if you know that it’s you that holds me even while you are so far out of reach; you who are the lyrics of a love song etched deep within the walls of this aching heart, singing a timeless song written in the stars" ― c. ara campbell, written in the stars

"find me under the milky way, soul bare and heart open. let me swim in your spirit past the sentry of time and space that stands in the way and let me love you... planting 1000 kisses upon your naked heart in worship and in awe of your existence in this universe, i am replete with joy. if a million stars fell from the skies whispering their wishful promises into my open ear, not a single one would i entreat to change a single layer of you. let us stretch our fingers towards eternity together wrapped around dreams and laughter, souls bare and hearts open under the starry night" ― c. ara campbell, soul bare and heart open

"it can’t be helped. it’s you. and there’s nothing else. you are my eye’s only focus and my heart’s single truth. we could be standing on the surface of the moon beneath a blanket of stars, and still, i would see only you" ― beau taplin

"night air, good conversation, and a sky full of stars can heal almost any wound" ― beau taplin, remedy

"some nights i wonder if the stars watch us the same way we watch them, other nights i think of you and i'm sure of it" ― beau taplin, playing with fire

"the night is starry and the stars are blue and shiver in the distance. the night wind revolves in the sky and sings..." ― pablo neruda

"and i, infinitesimal being,
drunk with the great starry
void,
likeness, image of
mystery,
i felt myself a pure part
of the abyss,
i wheeled with the stars,
my heart broke free on the open sky" ― pablo neruda, 100 love sonnets

"we are travelers on a cosmic journey, stardust, swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity. life is eternal. we have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share. this is a precious moment. It is a little parenthesis in eternity" ― paulo coelho, the alchemist

"a certain darkness is needed to see the stars" ― osho, the secret of secrets

"look at the stars, and let that silence penetrate you. or look at the starry night and let that velvety darkness surround you, envelop you, dissolve you. this is the way of the simple heart" ― osho, the book of nothing

"and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart...i carry your heart [i carry it in my heart]" ― e. e. cummings, 100 selected poems

"if hers are the stars in the nighttime sky, mine are the haunted empty spaces in between" ― nicholas sparks, dear john

""there must be a glowing light above. the joy must escape in light through the stones and shine dimly into the darkness. it is impossible that this sacred festival of destiny should not send a celestial radiation to the infinite. love is the sublime crucible in which is consummated the fusion of the final being, the human trinity springs from it. this birth of two souls into one space must be an emotion for space" ― victor hugo, les miserables

"he was there alone with himself, collected, tranquil, adoring, comparing the serenity of his heart with the serenity of the skies, moved in the darkness by the visible splendors of the constellations, and the invisible splendor of god, opening his soul to the thoughts which fall from the unknown. in such moments, offering up his heart at the hour when the flowers of night inhale their perfume, lighted like a lamp in the center of the starry night, expanding his soul in ecstasy in the midst of the universal radiance of creation, he could not himself perhaps have told what was passing in his own mind; he felt something depart from him, and something descend upon him, mysterious interchanges of the depths of his soul with the depths of the universe" ― victor hugo, les miserables

"as love is a song written in your heart, the moon is a poem in a starry night" ― deepak chopra, buddha

"find a beautiful piece of art. if you fall in love with van gogh or matisse or john oliver killens, or if you fall love with the music of coltrane, the music of aretha franklin, or the music of chopin...find some beautiful art and admire it, and realize that that was created by human beings just like you, no more human, no less" ― maya angelou, even the stars look lonesome

"let me die

from having being drunk on
indigo skies, my liver...
overflowing with stars" ― sanober khan, turquoise silence

"i am a flawed person. a brook with many stones, a clear blue sky with many blackbirds. i have many shortcomings. a rainbow that’s not long enough, a starry night with clouds. but i can only be thankful to my beoved who accepts me just this way, and i can only be grateful to the people in my life who love the clear blue sky with many blackbirds and who are patient with the rainbow that isn’t long enough, and know the stars will come out from behind the clouds. and because of this, i am taught love, because of this i love my beloved, and i love these people" ― c. joybell c.

"night after night on starry wings
night lovers soared so high
miles apart, across the oceans
their love forgot to sigh
in heavenly flight’s timelessness
that highest height treasured
into the deepest of all blues
their depth of love measured" ― munia khan, attainable

"she walks in beauty, like the night
of cloudless climes and starry skies;
and all that’s best of dark and bright
meet in her aspect and her eyes:
thus mellow’d to that tender light
which heaven to gaudy day denies.

one shade the more, one ray the less,
had half impaired the nameless grace
which waves in every raven tress,
or softly lightens o’er her face;
where thoughts serenely sweet express
how pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

and on that cheek, and o’er that brow,
so soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
the smiles that win, the tints that glow,
but tell of days in goodness spent,
a mind at peace with all
a heart whose love is innocent!" ― lord george gordon byron, she walks in beauty

"i love all that thou lovest,
spirit of delight!
the fresh earth in new leaves dressed,
and the starry night;
autumn evening, and the morn
when the golden mists are born" ― percy bysshe shelley

"the rainbow comes and goes,
and lovely is the rose;
the moon doth with delight
look round her when the heavens are bare;
waters on a starry night
are beautiful and fair;
the sunshine is a glorious birth;
but yet i know, where’er i go,
that there hath past away a glory from the earth" ― william wordsworth, intimations of immortality

"the true harvest of my daily life is somewhat as intangible and indescribable as the tints of morning or evening. it is a little star-dust caught, a segment of the rainbow which i have clutched" ― henry david thoreau, walden

"when you wish upon a star, your dreams really do come true" ― walt disney

"a day without sunshine is like, you know, night" ― steve martin, a comic's life

"starry, starry night, flaming flowers that brightly blaze. swirling clouds in violet haze reflect in vincent's eyes of china blue. colors changing hue, morning fields of amber grain, weathered faces lined in pain are soothed beneath the artist's loving hand...now i understand what you tried to say to me. and how you suffered for your sanity, and how you tried to set them free...they would not listen, they're not listening still, perhaps they never will" ― don maclean, vincent (starry, starry night)

"the stars drew light across the night sky in that little mountain village, and the silence and the cold made the darkness vanish away. it was...i don't know how to explain it...as if everything solid melted away into the ether, eliminating all individuality and absorbing us, rigid, into the immense darkness. not a single cloud to lend perspective to the space blocked any portion of the starry sky" ― ernesto "che" guevara

"the sweetest melody that plays
on starry nights and wintry days,
most soothing to my listening ears
and calming to beleaguering fears,
i call a symphony on air―
the song of sweet, still silence rare" ― richelle e. goodrich, making wishes

"a starry night sky is something that touches your soul. our civilization's religion, philosophy, science, art and literature all have roots with our views of the heavens, and we are now losing this with consequences we cannot fully know. what happens when we cannot be inspired by the night sky?" ― alisha sevigny, summer constellations

"it was a clear, starry night, dead calm. whenever i see a sky like that, i wish i could paint...because in a way, that starry night sky is a mirror in which we see our own faces" ― henning mankell. italian shoes

"you and i
the starry sky
dancing in the night
talking all things life" ― nikki rowe

“she remembered thinking falling for him would be like falling in love with darkness, but now she imagined he was more like a starry night: the constellations were always there, constant, magnificent guides against the ever-present black" ― stephanie garber, caraval

"the dark is kind and cozy,
the dark is soft and deep,
the dark will pat my pillow
and love me as I sleep.
the dark is smooth as velvet,
and gentle as the air,
and he is good to children
and people everwhere.
the dark can see and love me
without a bit of light,
he gives me dreams and resting,
he brings the gentle night.
god made the dark, so daytime
could close its tired eyes
and sleep awhile in comfort
beneath the starry skies.
the daytime, just like children,
needs rest from work and play,
so it can give us children
another happy day.
god made the dark for children
and birdies in their nest,
all in the Dark, he watches
and guards us while we rest" ― john martin, god's dark

"i like people who get excited about the change of seasons, the sound of the ocean, watching a sunset, the smell of rain and starry nights" ― brooke hampton

"we have to create.
it is the only thing louder than destruction.
our hands full of color
reaching towards the sky,
a brush stroke in the dark.
it is not too late.
that starry night
is not yet dry" ― andrea gibson, the madness vase

"she is a living, breathing work of art. as audacious as dali's mustache, mysterious like a mona lisa smile. as sensual as o'keeffe's painted petals. glorious, like a van gogh starry night" ― john mark green, taste the wild wonder

"then suddenly you came with your sun-heart, your starry night sky-mind, wings-hands and you painted all over my solitude. the frozen land in me became your rose garden" ― anita krizzan

"sometimes i would look up at the stars and wonder if you were ever looking at them at the same time...and when i looked up at the stars, i saw us. you were the stars, and i was the dark sky behind you" ― jenn bennett, starry eyes

"the universe and the light of the stars come through you, into me" ― jalaluddin rumi, in the arms of the beloved

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ABOUT THE IMPRESSION

"van gogh could never have painted as beautifully the stars in your eyes" ― bodhinku, stars in your eyes

in my photography, i always use filters to create longer exposure effects and to balance the light in my composition in-camera...i often use as many as four filters at time, and i always use at least one filter...for this exposure, to get the effects and balance i was looking for, i used two progrey filter in the capture of this composition...

this composition is comprised of a two separate exposures captured about 1.5 hours apart from each other, taken in the same frame at a focal length of 22mm, as my camera, a nikon d810 with a nikon nikkor 14-24mm f2.8 lens did not move at all during the time between shots, and was positioned atop my trusty induro phq3 series 5-way panhead mounted on my dolica tripod 70" carbon fiber tripod

the first exposure was taken about 11mins after sunset at 6:06pm pst during the blue hour on 10-10-2020 to create natural lighting on the foreground "brain" rocks and the dwarfed ponderosa tree...for this longer exposure, i used two progreyusa filters...

i chose to use the 3.0nd 150mm progrey titan filter to stop down the post-dusk light 1o stops and permit the ultra long exposure time of over five minutes to help naturally saturate in-camera all the colors happening in the blue hour, all the colors of the foreground naturally...combining this 10 stop filter with a 0.9gnd 150mm progrey titan filter to balance down the sky an extra three stops and help make the clouds more colored with the purple-reds from the sunset...

and with using both filters together, creating the effect of a richer sky with motion blur in the clouds to help merge more beautifully with the star exposure later in the night when the milky way was in place over the tree in the same camera frame

plus, in combination with using these two filters, i also used the specially designed progrey g-150z holder to hold both the progrey filters and secure them to my nikon d810 mounted with the super wide nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 lens (shot f/11 at 22mm for 333sec, iso-64 in a landscape orientation)...

then the second exposure of the stars, planets, shooting star and the milky way was taken using no filters in the exact same frame at close to 1.5 hours later when the milky way moved in place over top of the tree around 7:25pm pst on 10-10-2020 (f/2.8 at 22mm for 15sec, iso-3200)...and then the two were merged into one composition using layers in adobe photoshop cc to achieve the perfect lighting and celestial glow of the entire scene...

i wish to openly thank my sponsors who have always supported me through both the good and bad times...for truly this long exposure impression would not be possible without the use of my trusted nikon d810 with a nikon nikkor 14-24mm f2.8 lens along with my faithful induro phq3 series 5-way panhead mounted on my dolica tripod 70" carbon fiber tripod, in combination with the progreyusa filters which i use with every photo i take...

"if nothing else...if i open my eyes, if i cry, if i think, if i sigh, if i giggle, if i dance, if i love, if i breathe, then i have lived a full days worth of life...nothing is wasted, nothing" ― bodhinku, if nothing else

"contemplate without thinking. be certain only in your uncertainty. stop the world. slow down everything. let it all be. shut off the noise. relax. seize this moment. reconnect. feel and sense what surrounds you. listen to all the colors of light whisper as they envelope you. see the melody and harmony that float about unnoticed. taste the solitude of all this wonderment. smell the beautiful silence. now discover your peaceful serenity. then, reach out and touch your faith with all your senses. this is my world. awaken!" ― bodhinku, my world

"my photography is my way of keeping a diary" ― bodhinku, my diary

i leave you today wishing that bright joy and spiritual peace fill your life...imploring you to make every moment count, no matter what, always and forever, for that is the only thing that truly matters...

and above all else,

i hope this message and impression find you well.

namaste,

bodhi

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please visit me at:

http://www.bodhismith.com
http://www.instagram.com/bodhismith
http://www.facebook.com/Bodhi.Impressions

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