Pacific Northwest Nights – A Timelapse Journey from Matt Dieterich on Vimeo.
In honor of International Dark Sky Week, I am proud to share my timelapse production “Pacific Northwest Nights”, which I created to raise awareness for night sky education and conservation efforts to limit light pollution.
Timelapse photography is an inspiring way to showcase the night sky. While working as an Astronomy Ranger Intern at Mount Rainier National Park in 2015, I saw firsthand how important the night sky is to the human experience. My time at Mount Rainier taught me that the night sky is part of our heritage, and is in need of protection due to the ever increasing threat of light pollution. Through this first timelapse video production of mine, I hope to showcase the beauty and emotion I felt while under the night skies in the Pacific Northwest.
Humans have been drawn to the mystery of the night sky for thousands of years. For me, I have been fascinated with the night sky since I was a kid. I started the hobby of astrophotography in 2007 using a digital camera and telescope to share my view of the night sky. For the last 10 years, I have traveled to dark sky locations to photograph the night sky free from city lights. My goal is to inspire both children and adults to get outside and enjoy this remarkable treasure! Now more than ever we need stewards to help protect our night skies for future generations.
I used the opening aurora scene to create my U.S. Postal Service Forever Stamp photo that was selected for the National Park Service Centennial stamp collection in 2016. The Perseid meteor shower segment of this timelapse (0:38 to 0:55) was used to create my “Skyfall” image, which received an Astronomy Picture of the Day.
