The Dam Keeper's House and the Stars Above (2567)
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After a fun day of kayaking, I photographed the Milky Way as the moon rose over Big Bear, and then quickly drove over to the Dam Keeper's House. This was built using hand-cut granite blocks in 1890, using the same quarry for the rocks as the dam. This dam, built in 1884, regulated mountain water for citrus farmers in Redlands. The house was comfortable and had the first house in Big Bear. Dam keepers and their families lived here, keeping an eye on the dam, until 1977. This included local Big Bear legend Bill Knickerbocker, the "Paul Bunyan" of the region, who cut the large timber beams for the house. A larger-than-life man, he chopped down a large tree, whose stump five feet across, can be seen in the local museum. And he did this when he was over 80 years old. I also want to mention that despite the fact that we were up here for our one-year anniversary, my wife insisted that I run out and take a photo of the observatory anyway. She figured she was going to sleep anyway, and besides, she knows that night photography is like breathing to me. All the same, I made sure I woke up reasonably early so I wouldn't ruin our day. As usual, I lit the house with my trusty handheld ProtoMachines LED2 during the exposure. By this time, the half moon had been out for quite some time, but I still managed to get a very faint Milky Way nonetheless in this single exposure.
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Pentax K-1/15-30mm f/2.8 lens. Single exposure. 15 seconds f/2.8 ISO 1600. 7 August 2020 23:45.

[MikeNArk]

Interesting history and background information. Well illuminated capture. Great capture with just one shot.

[RICHARD L.]

Too bad the wooden roof is always the first thing to go ... Very nice image, Ken, as only you know how to produce.

Regards

[C_Jones]

Nice shot.

[angkymac]

Amazing story about that house.
Great night-time capture of it.
Angky.

[Ken Lee]

Interesting history and background information. Well illuminated capture. Great capture with just one shot.

Thanks, Mike!

---------- Post added 10-25-22 at 06:27 PM ----------

Too bad the wooden roof is always the first thing to go ... Very nice image, Ken, as only you know how to produce.

Regards

Thank you. Yes, you could see some of the remains of the wooden roof, but that was about it. He used some extremely large beams.

---------- Post added 10-25-22 at 06:27 PM ----------

Nice shot.

Thanks!!

---------- Post added 10-25-22 at 06:27 PM ----------

Amazing story about that house.
Great night-time capture of it.
Angky.

Thank you!!