Bonnie and I drove up to Trillium Lake to get some star shots. It was a perfect night for it.  We got there early enough hoping for a pretty sunset, but there were not any clouds, so we didn't get the sunset we wanted.  But if there had been clouds, then we would not have gotten the star shots we were actually up there for.  Here is one of the mountain just as the sun was stetting.  You can see the lift that stays open year round in the shot below.

This one was taken just as the stars began to appear.  The water made a perfect mirror to reflect them.

 Beside us was a great view of the Milky Way.

 Here is my favorite of the night...just as I began the shot, which was a 30 second exposure, somebody at the other end of the lake turned on some lights.  It really added a nice touch to get the line of light across the lake and the trees on the other side.  Those lights you see on the mountain are from the Timberline Lodge. The colors on the horizon all pop out when you do the long exposures.  So much extra light we don't normally see shows up.

Do you see the Big Dipper?

 This last shot was a 30 minute exposure.  A man that was shooting up there told us that you have to find the North Star and shoot towards it to get the circle.  He showed us exactly how to find the North Star, right up from the Big Dipper.  This was the first time I have tried a long exposure like this.  I am pretty happy with how it turned out.  I am not sure if you can see the lines from the stars, but you will notice that there is a little blip...I guess my tripod must have been bumped about halfway through the exposure.