Through the Darkness - a photo on Flickriver

Black Canyon of The Gunnison National Park, Gunnison Point

Title is from ~Audiomachine's epic Through the Darkness

A happy memory, almost unplanned. My youngest son and I spent the day driving up from Durango to Montrose, and then after dinner headed to a national park we had never been to, on a dark trail, rocky and descending into a pitch-black chasm. While the Milky Way wasn't low enough to be in view, the stars did not disappoint, and neither did the location, Gunnison Point. Having my son's help saved the night too, as he always plays "photographer's assistant" and has a great appreciation for clear starry skies.

They are not kidding when they named this Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, it's dark even in the daytime. In fact, parts of the gorge only receive 33 minutes of sunlight a day, its walls are so sheer and steep. The Gunnison River is primarily responsible for carving the canyon and the geology of this park is amazing. The streaks in the walls seen here are from pegmatite lava which flowed into cracks and hardened. The gorge features the tallest sheer cliff in all of Colorado with a sudden drop of 2,250 feet (690 m).

This is a single image, processed in Capture One Pro. The 30 seconds necessary to get enough data for the RAW file to record most details of this dark landscape also led to some minor star trails.

Selected for FLICKR Explore May 26, 2023 # 37

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Taken in: United States / Colorado / Lujane (show map)

Taken on: October 12, 2022

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Camera: Nikon Z 9, f/1.8, 30 sec, 20mm, ISO 800 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon Z 9
Lens:	NIKKOR Z 20mm f/1.8 S
Aperture:	f/1.8
Exposure Time:	30
Focal Length:	20mm
ISO:	800
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	No Flash
Exposure Program:	Manual
Exposure Mode:	Manual
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Gain Control:	Low gain up
Sharpness:	Hard
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	Capture One 15 Macintosh
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