Hi, I'm Jesse Bable
jessebablephotography.smugmug.com
Instagram: jessebablephotography
For my capstone project, I wanted to challenge myself and do something that I’ve never done before with astrophotography. Combining my love and passion for traveling, nature, and landscape photography, I shot star trails all around the state of Arizona.
Within two months, I drove around Arizona for over 2,000 miles shooting star trails. I traveled to Buffalo Park and Lake Mary both in Flagstaff, Arizona. I then drove to Sedona, Arizona to photograph mountains in front of the Slim Shady Trail. Next up was Watson Lake in Prescott, Arizona. Moving up North, I visited the Grand Canyon, Horseshoe Bend near Page, Arizona, and Monument Valley both in Arizona and Utah. Heading down South, I shot at the Superstition Mountains east of Phoenix, Arizona. Finally, I shot in my hometown Tucson, Arizona at Saguaro National Park East.
With my curiosity and adventurous spirit, exploring most of these places for the first time was an unbelievable experience and I’m so glad I did. Shooting star trails isn’t easy. It requires a lot of time, patience, and courage. The majority of these places I traveled to, I was by myself in the dark, waiting, watching, and stargazing. Whether I was facing North, East, South, or West, the stars in my photos are what naturally occurred in real-time, meaning zero sky replacements. With the help of some very warm clothes, a flashlight beanie, my tripod and Canon R5’s interval timer, StarStax, and Adobe Photoshop, I was able to shoot around 15 combined hours of stars moving across the night-sky.
Being the high school class of 2020, COVID-19 ruined a lot of opportunities in my life, but now I am happy to say that I am finally graduating for the first time from an accredited college with a four-year degree! I am forever grateful for this experience living in Flagstaff, Arizona and attending Northern Arizona University to achieve my Bachelor of Science in Photography with a minor in Creative Media & Film. I want to give a special thanks to my family, friends, and professors who supported me through this journey. I know that whatever comes next in my life will be just as exciting and I look forward to the future. To the class of 2024, we did it!
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