Symphony

The creation of a visual song

by Benjamin Justin

Lake Tahoe East Shore, NV

Songs are produced every day, yet it is not often that you create a symphony. A thousand moving parts, all layered one over another to create something truly unique. Out of the night rises a crescendo as the milky way galaxy stands tall above tahoes peaceful night coves. Can you hear it? The sound of creation calling.

The clock hit 12:30am.. jacket dawned and my cup holder was filled to the brim with chai tea steaming out. Tonight was the night to create a symphony. As it is impossible to create a symphony with only one man, this image too was created by partnership with my friend and fellow landscape photographer Steve Hamel.

We scooped up our instruments, a wild bundle of visual tools: Tripods, Cameras, drones, lights, batteries, headlamps, and more.. all in search for an image of the milky way rising out of tahoes aqua blue purity. The song was on. After weeks of preparation, multiple trips to the same location, planing the position of the milky way, the lighting, getting our equipment set we played like two masters in an orchestra pit. Drone lighting up the foreground for some of the images, then lights off and pure darkness to make the milky way shine.

I wish that I could say everything always goes as planned yet that would be a total lie. During this shoot I made a rookie mistake and forgot my additional battery pack. My heart raced as I saw my last battery leaking energy before the visual chapters of my song were complete. In a short panic I said a quick prayer, oh God please let my battery last for the rest of this image. To my suprise, through grace and a fair amount of skilled image capture I was able to secure all the images necessary for this beautiful symphony!

This compilation was produced with over 7 images, We light painted the foreground with an overhead drone, while exposing the background in complete darkness to ensure the greatest capture of the milky way. All shot on a tripod with wireless remotes and high resolution captures.