Kirk D. Keyes Photography

05/31/2023

What could be better than getting out on your birthday and capturing a photo of the Moon? Well, probably several things! But since my birthday is in January, getting good weather conditions to happen on a day the Moon rose just at the right time to capture it in the Belt of Venus made my birthday!

I shot this with a and a 70-300mm G lens. It's a single exposure at 1/13 sec, f/10, ISO 200, and 134mm. I did crop in a little, so it's probably more like an effective focal length of 150mm.

It was taken in the Columbia River Gorge, east of Portland, Oregon.

05/05/2023

I had great luck catching the on March 23rd. Despite heavy clouds in Portland, I determined there was a chance of clear skies in . As I hoped, the clouds broke a few miles west of this historic schoolhouse, revealing an awesome display!

In case you're curious about the unnaturally colored lights inside this historic schoolhouse, I'm not saying it was aliens... but it was aliens!

I also had the luck to run into Heather Tianen and Roux Roamer, both outstanding photographers from the PDX area.
, FE 20mm F1.8 G, ISO 1600, f/2.0, 13 sec. CT-3442, GD , 2.0, Viola2
Single Shot

03/20/2023

Have you tried doing portraits under the stars?
Here's one I took of my friend Brendon Porter while at Canyonlands in 2019. We were shooting next to each other, and I looked over and he was beautifully illuminated by his camera's LCD. I reframed my camera and asked him to hold still as I took his photo. With that first shot, his face was overexposed, so I had him put his hand on the camera power switch and I asked him to turn his camera off after a few seconds while he stood still as the exposure continued for the stars.
Single shot: Sony a7III with 24mm G-master at f/1.4, ISO 6400, 15 seconds.

03/04/2023

Every so often, you learn about a new product that makes you wonder, why didn't someone think of it sooner? The LRTimelapse PRO Timer 3 intervalometer is one of those items for me. The PRO Timer 3 is not a "do everything" device. It is a small, lightweight, and easy-to-understand intervalometer. Think of it like a Formula One car of intervalometers - it triggers your camera shutter with the highest performance possible....

The LRTimelapse PRO Timer 2.5 is the next level of intervalometers. Our long-term review details making better timelapses with the PRO Timer.

02/19/2023

Did you know there's a Stonehenge in Washington State?
Completed in 1929, it was the first memorial in the USA dedicated to the soldiers and sailors of Klickitat County who died in World War I.
While it's not as old as England's, it evokes a mystique. Built with an early 20th Century understanding of the original, the altar stone was placed to be aligned with sunrise on the summer solstice.
Captured with a 39% Waning Crescent Moon
Single Image
Sony a7IV
ISO 6400
f/2.8
13 sec exposure
Sigma 14-24 mm F2.8 DG DN
2x Luxli Viola 2 RGB LED light panels for low level light outside
1x Luxli Viola RGB LED panel for low level light inside

02/13/2023

Meteor showers are one of the most fun and exciting activities you can see in the night sky. The thrill of watching a bright meteor streak across the heavens will last long after the meteor has faded. Meteor shower photography is a great way to capture these memories and create an awesome picture. You might be surprised you already have everything you need to photograph meteors showers....

Meteor showers are one of the most fun and exciting activities you can see in the night sky. The thrill of watching a bright meteor streak across the heavens will last long after the meteor has fad…

10/07/2022

I'm honored to be featured alongside a talented group of photographers in the Black and White photography show "Tonality" at the 301 Gallery in Hood River, OR. The show opening is tonight from 5 to 7 PM, Friday, October 7th.
If you're in the Hood River area tonight, swing by and say "Hi!" It's a beautiful drive from Portland, and there's a wide range of dining options In town, so you can make a fun evening of it.
The 301 Gallery is located at 301 Oak St, Hood River, OR 97031.

01/26/2022

Thank you to all people that have followed me, despite having zero posts. I promised everyone that after reaching 100 followers, I would make a post. Today I hit that number.
I'll start with a photo of Comet NEOWISE I took in July 2020. Big and bright comets like NEOWISE are fairly rare. I've seen two others in my life, both in the 1990s.
Since I didn't know when the next one would arrive, I wanted to capture a unique image of it.
I wanted the comet to appear large in the photo, so I rented a Sigma 105mm Art lens from . Mt. Hood has been a favorite subject of mine for over 30 years, so it seemed like a great opportunity to pair the two into one photo.
After spending many hours looking over Google Earth, Google Maps, and using I found a location 30 miles away from the summit of Hood.
I arrived with and around sunset and we setup. I had four cameras, three for time-lapse and my Sony a7iii to take stills.
Around 3am, the comet approached its closest to Mt. Hood; I took a series of shots as it swept by the top. Everything worked as planned, and we got our shots before the comet disappeared into dawn's impending glow.
I knew this image was special, so I asked my friend MaryBeth Kiczenski if she could do the processing for me. I've been a fan of her photography and I knew she would do an amazing job with it. I'm throughly pleased with it, it's just what I hoped to get. Thanks, MaryBeth!

Camera settings:
Taken 7/11/20
Sony a7iii
Sigma Art 105mm f/1.4
3200 ISO, f/2.5, 3.2 sec
Stack of 15 photos
Sky processed separately from foreground. 

08/09/2021

The Perseid Meteor shower is here this week. Take a listen to the latest Photog Adventures podcast where Aaron King, Rhonda Pierce, and I discuss how best to photograph it.
https://soundcloud.com/user-407436417/tips-info-about-the-upcoming-perseid-meteor-shower-ep-168
From Photog Adventures description -
Perseids are going to be great this year! The timing with the moon is working out really tremendous for us this year and so the annual Perseid Meteor Shower is going to be the best we have had in several years! So let's get ready for it!
Know the best mornings to go out and tips on how to take advantage of it as best as possible!
Kirk Keyes and Rhonda Pierce joins me on the podcast to talk the Perseid Meteor Shower and Rhonda's transition to a mirrorless Canon camera.
Read Kirk's Perseid Meteor Shower article over on MilkyWayPhotographers.com: bit.ly/3CbbS9P

Perseids are going to be great this year! The timing with the moon is working out really tremendous for us this year and so the annual Perseid Meteor Shower is going to be the best we have had in seve

07/03/2021

I (Kirk Keyes) was on the Latitude Photography Podcast discussing several of my recent astro-landscape photography adventures. Host Brent Bergherm and I discuss six of my photos, all taken in the last couple of months in Oregon and Southern Utah.
We talk about photographing the Milky Way with people, the recent total lunar eclipse, using super-telephoto lenses with the Moon, and a whimsical environmental portrait with the Moon.
You can listen to the podcast on your favorite podcatcher, or through the link here, along with all the photos:

120 Recent Astro-Photography Adventures with Kirk Keyes June 27, 2021 by admin There’s just something about photographing the night sky that causes me to stop and contemplate our existence. In this discussion Kirk and I don’t get too philosophical, but we do take a dive into photographing the ni...