I have spoken several times in the past about contemporary California photographer Beth Moon. Recently she has departed from her traditional platinum palladium medium, but not from her compelling tree images nor from a compelling dose of magical mysticism, into gloriously illuminated and colorful night skies.The result is her “Diamond Night Series.” The image that I have chosen for Favorite Photographs of 2015 #6  is her “Fornax.” Astronomy buffs will recognize that Fornax is a constellation in the Southern Sky named for a furnace. This is the word furnace used in its alchemy context, a vessel for the creation of new substances and new worlds.

These images were taken of great baobab trees at wild, remote locations that are far from human civilization with its light pollution. They are meant to indicate the interaction between living things and the celestial forces of the universe. My motivation of choosing “Fornax” is that it indicates a creative force that causes the trees to appear to dance and be repelled from one another but at the same attracted and drawn to the Milky Way. I think that these images also suggest that our light pollution has taken away and blinded us from an essential element of magic in our world. It has locked our sights in the direction of rationalism.

On her website Ms. Moon adds a technical note that explains how the images were taken on moonless nights with a wide angle lens at an  ISO of 3200 – 6400. In some cases she used a flash light to introduce a soft and natural glow.  That flashlight is, of course, the artist’s paintbrush.The comment about the wide angle lens reflects what is referred to as the rule of 500. Divide the number 500 by the lens’ focal length (This is the true focal length; so if you are not using a full-frame camera you’ve got to also divide by the length of the sensor in divided into 35 mm.) and that is the longest exposure that you can use without getting star trails in your image.

But the bottom line is that once again Beth Moon has heighten our awareness of the pure magical world that photography reveals and she has once again dazzled us.