Stargazing by Mt. Hood and shooting portraits with the starry sky

A short pre-story. I was always fascinated by the night sky. Ten years ago, when I studied in Finland, I would walk or bike to a nearby (or not-so-nearby) lake late at night and just sit on a dock and watch stars. While being away from family, stargazing made me feel connected and truly close to them. I think the original Lion King cartoon (my long-time favorite) has a lot to do with that… you know, that scene where Mufasa reminds Simba who he is.

Anyways, fast forward to this year, I got so into shooting the night sky that my camera started “filming” the sky nearly every night. My absolute favorite is to leave it outside on a tripod with interval shooting mode on. Three hours and about 300 pictures later, I am left with a stunning time-lapse of the Milky Way moving across the night sky. Day after day, I thought, well, I do like shooting creative portraits and trying something totally new, so I ended up publishing a model call, to which Lorelai responded.

I was so excited to work with her again—especially on such a unique concept. It’s not every day you book a shoot in the middle of Mt. Hood wilderness, at Trillium Lake, to attempt portraits and silhouettes with the starry sky and Milky Way lighting your background. It was so dark that you couldn’t see anything without turning the flashlight on… but even then, Lorelai managed to pose so elegantly and hold completely still while my camera was taking 30-second-long exposure shots, while standing on a tripod in the waters of a mountain lake.

I love how these results turned out! Love the wide, nearly fisheye angle, mirror-like lake, pitch-black forest, snowy mountaintop, and a beautiful model reaching for the stars… My favorite part is the edge of her silhouette, where the fabric of her skirt moved during the long exposure and overlapped with the stars, creating this sparkly aura.

Want your unique story told like this? Let’s make it happen—DM @veksalinaphotography or inquire at veksalinaphotography.com

Model: Lorelai Shae @lorelai_shae
Location: Trillium Lake, Oregon, USA

// photographer Alina Veksler, VEKSALINA photography, creative portrait photographer, vintage lens, manual lens, cinematic portraits, film look, retro, vintage, elegant, cinematic, Pacific Northwest photographer, Portland photographer, California photographer, Washington photographer, Mt. Hood photographer, night photography, silhouette, mountain lake, fine art, stargazing, the Milky Way