“How different our lives might be if we internalized a different message. We could say, ‘I’m not a great photographer. But so many great photographers came from humble beginnings. I may seem like I lack promise. But so many of us do. If I put myself in a position to grow, I could blossom into something special. I could create something amazing.'” – Ken Lee

Ken Lee is a night photographer whose work illuminated by starlight reveals a hidden world of unseen beauty.

Long drives

Ken Lee spends hours traveling dusty back roads to abandoned historic places. He uses a camera, a sturdy tripod and an LED flashlight to photograph these subjects against a swirling, star-swept sky background. He works in the Mojave Desert, Joshua Tree National Park and other locations in the American Southwest.

It’s not astrophotography

Ken Lee doesn’t photograph celestial bodies that require specialized tracking mounts for his camera. He looks for foreground subjects that would be best framed by a Milky Way background.

On Photography: Ken Lee, unknown to present
Ken Lee

He uses a variety of lenses from fisheyes to short zooms like the Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8.

On the other hand, he uses longer focal lengths to compress a scene. Stars become more fantastical. The foregrounds look larger and more imposing. He recommends a 15-30mm f/2.8 lens by Pentax for the job.

Slow shutter adventures

Ken Lee’s style of photography is deliberate. It requires exposures that last several minutes to record the details of found objects and to show the deep royal blue sky lit by starlight. He paints things he finds with colored LED lights revealing haunting details. He wears big boots, carries bear spray, lots of water and convenience store munchies.

He has published two books — Abandoned: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles and Abandoned Southern California, The Slowing of Time.

Ken Lee is self-described as a sleep-deprived wanderer. His work has appeared in National Geographic books, Omni Magazine, The Los Angeles Times and Westways magazine.

Ken prefers to travel light, especially when exploring abandoned areas or hiking long distances in the dark. All his equipment can fit in a small backpack, leaving him free to explore on foot easily.

Creativity

“When we set out to do something, we initially might have humble beginnings,” Ken says when talking about creativity. “We’re frequently awful at something. But this is the way of life. Things evolve from nothing. A tiny seed in a field can turn into a meadow of radiant flowers. But a tiny seed in the middle of the street turns into nothing.”

“We’re frequently told, ‘You can’t do that.’ We hear that creating something is for other people,” Ken says. “Other people are talented. They have a gift. But not us. How tragic it is to think, ‘Those people, they had this beautiful talent. They create beautiful art. They create beautiful photographs. But not me. I don’t have that inside me.'”  

Different message

Ken looks at creativity differently. “How different our lives might be if we internalized a different message. We could say, ‘I’m not a great photographer. But so many great photographers came from humble beginnings,'” Ken continues. “‘I may seem like I lack promise. But so many of us do. If I put myself in a position to grow, I could blossom into something special. I could create something amazing.'”

“I’ve had the pleasure of seeing people begin the journey. They create a beautiful night photograph. You can see the smile, the gears shifting as they realize that what they are creating points the way to something special within them. It’s often a humble beginning. But that’s how it is. They might begin to think, ‘I could blossom into something special. I could create something amazing.’“

Sources: Ken Lee, Milky Way Photographers, Lenses for Night Photography, Fisheyes, Pentax 28-105mm.