Lake Lila under the Stars

Wonderful overnight at Lake Lila to watch the stars. I had some client work in Saranac / Lake Placid / Tupper on Friday, so I planned to spend some time at Lila.

I was traveling lite, no canoe, no camping gear - just some snacks, camera gear, too few layers, camp chair and my summer weight sleeping bag. I walked in around 6pm, looking for a spot on the northern shore to setup for an evening of star gazing. I scouted a few spots, hoping to find campsite 5 from the road, and ended up at the western edge of the lake. I found a great beach, but as I climbed out of the woods there were some folks setting up having arrived by canoe a few minutes before me. I backtracked on the road and eventually got a glimpse of lovely beach through the trees and bushwhacked to the water, stumbling right into 5.

I staked out the site and beach, and then setup my camera, chair and tarp.

Lake Lila iPhone snaps by Mike, on Flickr

Snacks, and then the waiting game began.

Lake Lila iPhone snaps by Mike, on Flickr

Quiet:

Still, Lake Lila by Mike, on Flickr

Pastel:

Pastel, Lake Lila by Mike, on Flickr

Twilight:

Twilight, Stars by Mike, on Flickr

The bugs were intense. I wrapped myself in my summer bag and all the layers I had. It sounded like there were hundreds of people in the woods running window fans. Eventually it cooled enough that the bugs subsided, the bats stopped flitting about, and I was left with the sky, quiet, and a bit cold.



Test Shot, waiting for the Earth to rotate a bit more:

Lake Lila Milky Way (test shot) by Mike, on Flickr

Milky Way:

Milky Way, Lake Lila (v1) by Mike, on Flickr


I have another set of sky images that I'm processing of the Milky Way. Lots of learning... I packed up at about 2:30, walked back to the car, took a nap in the hatchback, and made it back to Vermont for breakfast. A good couple of days.

When I was at Tupper I photographed one of my clients projects, the new bandstand (unfinished):

Timber Frame, Star Trails (cool edit) by Mike, on Flickr