Although the sanctuary is located in a moderately-populated valley, the skies here are still dark enough for stargazing on moonless nights.
I get excited about this lack of light pollution because of my newest hobby: astrophotography. This genre of photography encompasses any imaging of objects and phenomena in space. Those celestial subjects can include the moon, the sun, the other planets, meteors, auroras, Imperial battle stations, neighboring galaxies and stars, and anything else that emits or reflects detectable electromagnetic waves.
Like many who dabble in this art form, I began by taking long exposures of the night sky with terrestrial landscapes in the foreground. It might sound expensive and difficult, but taking these wide shots only requires a hobby camera, a sturdy tripod, and relatively dark skies.
While the techniques do require some patience and persistence to master, you can learn the basics by watching tutorials on YouTube. The most tricky step in the process is tinkering with the camera’s exposure settings. Most importantly, the shutter needs to be open for the right duration to let the perfect amount of starlight reach the sensor. I typically leave the shutter open for 10-20 seconds. Then, I manually focus the lens on the stars (which is practically focusing “to infinity”), set a delayed shutter timer, and make sure the white balance is capturing the scene’s colors with the appropriate warmth or coolness. From there, photographers can create more artistic, difficult or unique shots (e.g., by blending multiple captures into composite images), but this certainly isn’t required.
For months, I’ve dreamed of photographing the chimpanzees’ home under the Milky Way, capturing their little world in the same frame as countless others. The proverbial stars aligned around Labor Day; I volunteered to watch the sanctuary at night in place of Diana and J.B. (who took a much-deserved weekend vacation) and was lucky enough to have a clear, moonless night during my tenure as the overnight watchman.
I set out just after sunset and admired the silhouettes of the forested hills against the rose-colored sky. Eventually, the scene darkened and rendered the Milky Way visible with the naked eye. I trekked around the perimeter of Young’s Hill, trying not to annoy the nearby cattle with my headlamp or step on any nocturnal critters that might be lurking in the prairie grass. Eventually, I picked a good location where the Ponderosa pines made a natural frame around my window into the cosmos.
I wondered if any of the chimps were still awake or if all sixteen were blissfully curled up on piles of fleece blankets in the heated playrooms. From what we’ve seen, they’re mostly heavy sleepers. (Burrito, for example, picks his sleeping spot right after dinner is served.) Still, it’s possible they occasionally venture out into the greenhouses long after the humans have left and watch the Milky Way turn overhead as the coyotes yip in the distance.
We humans know what the stars are but that doesn’t make them any less wonderful. I like to think the chimps are awestruck by them, too.
The following are my favorite images from my nocturnal hike around the sanctuary. I hope you all enjoy them!
