Inside the Photo #23
Talking with Julia Vaughan
Happy Tuesday my dear friend! Another month has started and it’s time for another brand new Inside the Photo.
My guest today is Julia, amazing landscape and astro photographer.
I met Julia during the beautiful times of Pictas, when the community was vibrant and dynamic. Her images always take me to wonderful places and always make me feel the beauty of Nature as if I was there with her taking the pictures.
Hi everyone! Thanks for your interest in learning more about my work.
I grew up in beautiful Vermont, the Green Mountain State in the eastern US, with a childhood full of outdoor adventures. Since my first 35mm camera in high school, I have loved capturing, revisiting and sharing special moments. A trip to New Zealand with my first DSLR kindled a deeper interest in photography that has become a passion.
When I am witnessing a glorious sunset, or the magic of the vast night sky, or a bee diving into a pollen-covered flower, I feel more alive than at any other time. This in-the-moment mindfulness centers me amid the hectic pace of life.
In sharing the images I create from those moments, I hope to bring some of that joy, wonder and serenity to those viewing my photographs. I produce print orders via my online print shop, and I do as much teaching and online coaching as I can around my full-time job.
There are images in Julia’s portfolio which, once admired, can stay in your memory for long. A starry night, like the one below, or the clouds flowing in dense waves over the Bay Area on a magic sunset, just to mention a couple of examples. I’m absolutely in love with what I see every time I linger on her portfolio.
I’ve chosen my image “Euphoria” to share for Inside the Photo. I made this image in March 2024 in Death Valley National Park – specifically Badwater Basin, a salt flat at the lowest point in North America. I had visited Death Valley six times before this trip, so I had seen and photographed the salt flat numerous times. Normally after a heavy rain, water will pool between the salt ridges and create the opportunity for reflections for a day or so, then the water evaporates in the dry desert air. I had only seen this once.
In ancient times, there was a lake located in Badwater Basin, but it dried up tens of thousands of years ago. During the winter of 2023-2024, an unusual amount of rain fell in the park – so much that it refilled the ancient lake for several months! As my trip approached, I was ecstatic that the lake had not evaporated yet. What luck!
During my trip, I wanted to make the most of this extremely rare opportunity (potentially once in a lifetime) to create images with temporary Lake Manly. I had clear skies only twice on this trip, and I spent the last night at the lake from about 2 am until after sunrise. Wearing my tall rain boots, I waded into the shallow water and set up my equipment, in utter amazement at the starry sky both overhead and reflected beneath me in the water.
After several other compositions, I decided to try to create an image that conveyed my pure joy in this moment. I very rarely include people in my images, but that would be necessary here! I set up the image with my husband as my model, got my settings where I wanted them, and then switched places with him and had him press the button on my camera. I hope you like the result! The lake had fully evaporated by one month later.
There are plenty of reasons, as you can see, to follow Julia’s work on her socials. So let me make things easier and share them here. You only need to click and follow 😁
Thank you so much for being with us today and sharing this wonderful image and story, Julia!
Take care and talk soon!
Great story. Good on you for going to all that trouble. It was certainly worth it.
Beautiful photo and great story behind it! What a moment to witness and treasure!