This tour will show you the night sky like never before, and allow you to take a bit of it home.
As we pull in up to the top of Colorado ’s Loveland Pass at 9:30 pm , I ’m hesitant to choke the car , scarce capable to see where the usurious edge neglect all the way down into the canon . In one direction you may see the brightness level of Denver strike up through the peaks and in the other , a black abyss . Before I have a endorsement to think , our pathfinder Maggie Martin is up and out of the elevator car , headlight on , place up her equipment and rave over the clear night we ’re sign with . “ Wow , check it out , you’re able to see Jupiter over there above the treeline , ” she points out . For someone who does this six out of seven day of the week , she ’s as awe - struck as the rest of the first - timekeeper in our railcar .
Our group for the evening includes myself , one man whose New Year ’s resolve was to pop out a Modern hobbyhorse , another whose was to “ be more adventurous , ” and two women celebrating their anniversary . Besides us , there is n’t another soul in heap , and while some may call back we ’re crazy for spending our Friday night braving the 10 - degree weather condition and added steer , there could n’t be a better clip to keep company Martin on one of her pleasure trip than during the first full Sun Myung Moon of the class .
Martin has know in Denver for 18 year and ownsColorado Astrophotography , a tour experience that takes guests into nature and teach them to shoot the Nox sky and majestic mountainscapes of Colorado . The women- and LBGTQ - owned business provide transportation and equipment and guides you to both iconic and remote bit in Clear Creek County , where you ’ll receive a 1:1 lesson on how to shoot the wonder of our extragalactic nebula . Marin ’s extensive noesis of the planets and constellations is intertwine in the lesson , so you know incisively what to look for and how to use the camera to capture it perfectly . If you ’re golden enough to plan your visit around a meteor shower or full synodic month , she ’ll aid you in capturing shoot down stars and beautiful crest that you’re able to take home as a souvenir .
Courtesy of Colorado Astrophotography
While photography was always a passion of Martin ’s , it was her unique talent for capturing images of configuration , meteor shower , and more over the Rocky Mountains that led her to create her own occupation . The help was initially offered as an Airbnb Experience , but a compounding of quitting her line of work in teaching , being face with the pandemic , and turn inward , led Martin to pursue her dreaming business leading workshop , group experience , photoshoots , date nights , and more .
“ When I leave teaching , I did this , and it was ripe when I start learning how to meditate and get into mindfulness . After I did it enough it became my healing , and as I started to do it more I earn I want to share it with mass , ” explain Martin . “ But in the process of building the business sector I ’ve buzz off much more focussed on the customer experience , the collaborative play list and connecting guests to each other — where they ’re from and why they showed up . ”
No previous experience is required to take a trip-up with Colorado Astrophotography , only the wonder to explore nature and the night sky in a originative agency that will put those nights of staring up at the stars at clique to pity . But it ’s more than a stargazing experience . “ You ’re out in the freezing temperatures , and force to connect with your body . It ’s about capturing all the light in the darkness , both literally and metaphorically , ” explain Martin . “ Everything in our days is 1,000 things a minute , and this is one very slow , long , pic for a picture that ’s beautiful and an experience that connects people . ”
Courtesy of Colorado Astrophotography
Once our camera and tripods are set up , Martin hands out diagram of exposure Triangle and walks us through the three different tv camera options we ’ll be using . For someone whose photography acquirement do n’t go beyond an iPhone , it ’s fascinating to pick up the equation for shutter fastness , also known as exposure time , and how it works specifically for astrophotography , allowing your lens to stay open long enough to fascinate sufficient brightness . Once our dial are set to manual and our picture time was line up to capture the full lunation , we ’re ready to take our “ shot in the darkness . ” “ Keep your lens system facing up , unless you ’re shooting the full moon , ” jokes Martin . “ Then commit your gasp up . ”
After some alone time with our cameras , the radical quick huddles together , oohing and ahhing over each other ’s photographs , scoping out rocks we could pose on to appropriate crack of one another . The two adult female are already coordinating a twosome ’s photoshoot with Maggie where they could impart their snowboards out onto Echo Lake .
Once the hand warmers bear off and we ’re more than satisfied with what we ’ve just capture , our piebald crew is on its way . Winding down through the pass with the pot at our back , we bop along to Colorado Astrophotography ’s play list , which you ’re promote to sum up to during the experience , while we bask in the magic we just see . Some had never been to Loveland Pass , others had never held a camera . But now we ’re all heading home with something much safe than a blurry iPhone photograph and far more cognition about the planet , constellations , and full moon than we showed up with .
Courtesy of Colorado Astrophotography
Whether you ’re mesmerized by the night sky , require to meliorate your photography skills , or are look to have the plain magic of being one with nature at a meter when most people are not , a night of astrophotography will convey you a new perspective and some astonshing exposure your friends wo n’t believe you direct . And it ’s perfect for those visit Colorado or spending a weekend in Denver who may not have access to a car and would be remiss not to visit the tidy sum during their stay .
“ My focus for 2023 is contain how astrophotography is a therapeutic and mindful practice . You ’re fence by blackness and silence , and the cold temperature get you out of your brain and into your soundbox . You have this anticipation for the 20 - 25 seconds it takes for the picture to develop and it really forces you to just slow down down , ” excuse Martin . “ Not everyone is into the wellness factor , and no one has to be . But that ’s what it is for me . It ’s how I mend and how I take time for myself . ”
Regardless of if you ’re planning your first head trip to the Rockies or have hold out here for over a decade , this will be an experience unlike any other you ’ve had in the muckle and is well - merit of a spot on your 2023 bucketful listing .
