Pillow

The Big Dipper
Rocky Mountain National Park
Photograph by Tom Atwood

Photographing the Big Dipper is easy and difficult at the same time. Easy because it's usually visible and not hard to locate. (Unlike, say, the North Star.) Difficult because to make the Big Dipper interesting, you need some help. In a photograph, the famous constellation is always the same: seven white dots. Never changes. So, I look for help on the ground. Or in this case, in the mountains. And I was grateful for the additional effort by those clouds rolling in at the top of the front range of the Rockies. Almost like a pillow for the Big Dipper if it ever falls from the sky. Now, that would be a photo. Exposure: 25 seconds; Aperture: f/3.5; ISO: 800; Focal length: 18 mm.