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Although this area is named for the large hydra-like Organ Pipe Cactus, there is an enormous number of other desert plants here. This moonlit landscape is a sampling of them, with the most prominent Column Cacti looking something like inverted plumb-bobs aimed at their zeniths. Also visible are the smaller tree-like Cholla cactus, which, as one who brushed against them in the dark would call them, the "brush-with-death" cactus. The desert is not flat, bluffs and mountains ring this area, and the nearby rise is a landscape feature that fell directly below Polaris, the north star beneath which the Earth spins. A 30-minute exposure clearly shows the circular startrail pattern, and also shows the color of the sky when lit by moonlight. Even though we can't see the deep skyblue tone, the film does, and longer exposures would start to wash out the stars, just as photographs during the day cannot capture the stars that are always there, but unseen. |
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