Sierra Starlight

Tony Rowell, son of wilderness photographer Galen Rowell, has created a compelling world in his “astrophotographs” of nighttime landscapes awash with light from the cosmos. This new book showcases iconic Sierra Nevada landmarks, both natural and manmade, against the spectacular night sky. The Milky Way illuminates a fleet of boats in the harbor at Lake Tahoe; the old Methodist church at Bodie looks both inviting and spooky against the expanse of the night. At Mono Lake, spectral tufa towers stretch up to meet Leonid meteors; and farther west, water from Yosemite Falls cascades into a lunar rainbow. Accompanying several of the photographs are Rowell's stories of achieving a particular shot, stories that often include arduous feats such as carrying heavy packs of camera equipment at over 10,000-foot elevation and filming all night in subfreezing temperatures.