A new moon offers the best opportunity for star shots and one happened to fall on Christmas Eve in 2011.  It was unseasonably warm (or at least not bitterly cold) and, after building a toy baby crib and grabbing some very last minute stocking stuffers, I headed over to Chandler Hovey Park.  It’s hard to appreciate just how dark it was when I set up to capture this image.  I could just make out shapes and had to hope the focus was accurate.  Each image took 30 seconds to capture and I had a few failed attempts before getting this one with the right composition and focus.  I plan on trying this out again over the Summer when the Milky Way is more evident in the night sky.