New Release - Last Light

This was the final frame from my night at Joshua Tree National Park. It was taken a moment before the moon set behind the mountains, casting the landscape into total darkness.

I spent a lot of the night experimenting with various techniques while using the moon as my key source of light. I thought it would be interesting to use the moon as a backlight to silhouette a Joshua Tree while using a thirty-second exposure to enhance the night’s stars. The last thing I did was use an auxiliary light to highlight the edge of the Joshua Tree to give it some color and texture.

Location: Joshua Tree, California

Camera: Sony A7r
Lens: Canon 16-35mm f2.8L
ISO: 800
Aperture: f2.8
Shutter: 30/1

Joshua Tree, Backlit by the Moon — The Setting Moon at Joshua Tree

Alik Griffin

A professional video editor, and photographer with a Bachelors in Film studies from UCSD. Based in Los Angeles, I have created commercials, trailers, and other video content for various clients and platforms since 2005. I also love to write about my passions and share my insights on my blog.