Composite image of Century Tower against star trails in the night sky. Taken as this year's commencement photo to be given out to spring, summer, and fall graduates as they walk to frame with their degree. First I took the tower photo, then on the next cold, clear night, I drove a half hour south of town at 4:30 in the morning after the moon had set to take the night sky portion at the darkest period of the 24 hour cycle to minimize light pollution. To ensure as much accuracy as possible, I took the tower and sky portion with the same 50mm lens and I made sure to point the lens up at the sky at the same angle and the same compass direction towards the spot in the night sky that would appear behind the tower from campus. In Photoshop, I used a layer mask brush tools to meticulously blend the two exposures into one. While being a composite, this does represent an accurate portrayal of the night sky behind the tower if photographed with a 15 minute exposure.
