Distinctly Montana Magazine

Distinctly Montana Winter 2018

Distinctly Montana Magazine

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D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A • W I N T E R 2 0 1 8 22 Timeless photography evolves slowly. John studies the movements of the planets and stars, hikes a trail, or hears an Indian prayer. Tidbits from each begin to collect, swirl in his head, and form a cohesive photographic vision of celestial bodies juxtaposed with landscapes as a way to cap- ture the essence, the mood, the beauty, and myths of Montana's mountains and skies. Soon the vision demands his full attention, and begins a rigorous, regimented procedure. First, John determines when and where he would need to be in order to bring the landscape and the celestial body together in a single view. He uses several websites to give him the exact locations of the planets, the stars, and the moon on any given night in any given location. Finally, he calendars all the nights when everything will line up perfectly. No matter that many of these nights are during cold winter months. en he waits. He waits for weather forecasts indicating cloudless skies. One month may pass, so he tries the next, and the next. An entire year passes. Rather than giving up, he carries his vision into the next year. It may take him one year or ten. He persists until the magic happens and he is in exactly the right place, at the right time, with the right equipment for a photo like no other. John's book Glacier National Park After Dark took decades to complete. In it, he intertwines the Glacier's mountains and skies with scientific information and essays about the spirits and myths of its first peoples, the Blackfeet Indians. e cold and stillness of Montana's iconic Lake McDonald in winter are readily felt when view- ing its cover photo. D UNROVIN RANCH'S FRIEND AND PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER JOHN ASHLEY is driv- en by not one, but several passions that push him to extremes in Montana's mountains in the dead of winter, in the darkest of night. John can't help it. He is enthralled with night skies, those that are untainted by the lights of human civilization and showcase the Milky Way, comets, shooting stars, and other celestial wonders that populate man's dreams and superstitions. Dark skies not only draw on his atheistic senses, but tap into his insatiable curiosity and keen interest in science. And overlaying both, is John's deep love for Montana, its landscapes and peoples, and the myths and stories that rise from their union. The aurora as seen from Glacier National Park W inter

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