22 Jul The Breathtaking Magic of the Night Sky at Frost Creek
Hello Members!
My name is Conor, and I am part of the marketing team here at Frost Creek. Many of you know me, and more have likely seen me, either flying a drone over your heads or shoving a camera in your face. This time rather than annoy you, I want to share something that I think is truly special about this place, and how you can take home your own memories.
Ever since I was awarded the privilege of participating in the rebirth of Frost Creek in 2015, it has always been my happy place. The decompression that happens when you turn on to Brush Creek Rd., and zig zag your way up the valley past the ranches and open space, is truly an unforgettable feeling. The beauty of the setting and serenity it provides is an experience unlike any other.
The mountain vistas are majestic, especially contrasted with the lush vibrancy of the golf course. The sound of the rushing water as your backdrop, and the connection to nature it provides is rejuvenating for the soul. But the one thing that ALWAYS continues to wow me, is those moments when the moon is dark and the clouds are gone, and the stars can shine their brightest.
The night sky at Frost Creek is truly remarkable. Given it’s location away from I-70 and light pollution, it’s a stargazer’s paradise. And I don’t care how old you are, looking up at that sky and seeing the brilliance and vastness will make you feel like a child again.
I happened to be up at the the club 2 weeks ago, and I was greeted by one of those nights. The moon was behind the mountains, and the sky was clear. So I took the opportunity to walk out onto the 9th hole, with just my iPhone 15 and a stand, and captured these pictures:
That’s the colors of the dust arms of the Milky Way, sitting right atop Frost Creek. I did not alter the colors of the pictures in any way. That is all nature. All I did was use my iPhone camera settings and a tripod, and adjusted the contrast. Here’s how you can do it too:
1. The environment has to be right. Obviously it has to be clear and no clouds, but if the moon is high in the sky, it will ‘blow out’ the pictures because the trick is to leave your camera shutter open as long as possible, so it absorbs the most light. If you try this facing the moon, you will end up with an all white photo.
2. Walk out onto the course. You need to be away from as much light as possible, so find a space away from any residual light.
3. Use a tripod or phone stand. It’s hard to hold your phone pointing at the sky for 10 seconds and not move. Any motion will blur the images.
4. Adjust your phone exposure camera settings. If you have a newer iPhone, you can simply do this here:
Click on the arrow at the top of your camera to access the advanced settings, and boost night exposure all the way up to 10 seconds. That means when you click the button, the shutter will not close and the picture will not be complete that whole time.
Also, if you have an iPhone 14 or newer that has the .5 zoom, don’t use it. It is too wide of an angle to capture the detail. Keep it at 1x or 2x.
5. Enhance the picture. Lastly, after you’ve taken the picture, go into your photo gallery, select the picture, and then boost the ‘brilliance’ and ‘shadows.’ That brilliance enhances the existing colors of the picture, and the shadows separates the colors from the dark.
And voila!
So next time you’re up at Frost Creek, stroll on to the golf course with a cheap phone stand, and some patience, and you too can capture your own memories that would make Carl Sagan proud.
Hope you enjoyed!
*These same steps should work with any Android camera as well, assuming you can adjust the exposure. Also, there are free camera apps such as Snap Pro Camera (one I do use), that can give you even longer exposure times for cooler pictures.