Most photographers charge their camera batteries at night so they can shoot tomorrow,
I charge mine during the day so that I can shoot TONIGHT! - Charlie Favret
Through my photography I seek to connect more deeply with nature.
Several years ago, while watching a nature program on TV, I became fascinated with the time lapse videos of flower blooms opening up and clouds floating by. But what really captured my attention was the heavens rotating right before my very eyes. I was amazed and decided right then that I needed to figure how to do that on my own. So began my adventure of chasing the night skies... learning more than I expected about the stars, ways to imagine their majesty and about my place in the universe!
The relationship between the human eye and the camera is a funny thing.
During the daytime, the human eye (along with some help from our brain) has a much greater dynamic range than a camera. We can see more detail in the shadows and the highlights than the camera can, while with the camera you need to make trade-offs for what to expose or need to add artificial lighting if you want to mimic what the eye sees.
All of that changes at night!
Through the use of the camera’s high sensitivity sensor, exposures lasting up to a minute and a steady tripod, the camera can pick up dim lights and even colors that the human eye cannot see at night (think back to your elementary science class, it’s all rods and cones). The night opens up a whole new world after the sun goes to sleep! Add to that multiple exposures lasting an hour or more and you can begin to get a sense of the cycles of nature that are occurring all around us, every minute of every day.
Please join me in exploring the wonders of the night sky.
While the night sky may seem the same for days on end, every night is a little bit different from the previous night and is an adventure waiting to be experienced. There is so much that you can see from your own backyard: stars slowly changing day by day, planets moving past them, man-made satellites soaring overhead and meteors zooming past in the blink of an eye. After you get comfortable with that, we are well placed in Central Texas for you to get into much darker skies with a drive of an hour or two.
Take your time with each image and consider how it was made, what direction the camera was facing, how long the exposure was, what is happening in the sky.... and be sure to scan the QR codes to see the skies in motion or learn more about how you too can take in some of these celestial wonders.
Let’s Talk!
My email is favretfoto@gmail.com if you have any questions about how to get started or if you have any comments. Also you can visit my website at favretfoto.com or Instagram @favretfoto to see more of my creations.
Wishing you clear skies,
Charlie
About Charlie
Charlie Favret is a photographer who is passionate about exploring the unexpected beauty in nature from the smallest detail of a blooming flower to the vastness of the dark night sky. Bold lines and colors fascinate him. He enjoys the creative and the technical challenge of creating something that cannot normally be seen.
When not taking pictures, he can often be found riding one of his classic motorcycles around the Texas Hill Country and, even then, a still or video camera is usually involved. Charlie is originally from New Orleans and is a 20 year resident of Round Rock enjoying life with his wife Zee and cat Lucy. They love taking road trips, tent camping at state parks and staying at historical hotels across Texas.
In addition to exhibiting in locations across Williamson County, Charlie serves on the Board of Directors of Round Rock Arts Council and is a member of the Round Rock Arts Gallery Committee, the Williamson County Art Guild and the ‘Art Attack photographer collaboration.
START HERE!
It is said that every photograph tells a story and in this exhibition, each photograph tells a piece of a much larger story about the Earth and the Universe around us. The title card next to each one has a brief caption to think about and a SPECIAL QR Code.
The QR Codes lead to pages on my website with a module about the science of the image, the story behind it, experiments you can try, links to external resources or a brief time lapse video clip. Be sure to try some of the EXPERIMENTS at the bottom of certain pages.
If you want to advance to the next image without having to scan the next QR Code, click the green NEXT IMAGE button at the bottom of each page.
Please join me in exploring the wonders of the night sky.
Enjoy!
All images and text of the "While You Were Sleeping Experience" are copyright Charlie Favret unless indicated otherwise.