Ben Canales likes to take pictures of wild nature. And he likes to do it in the dark.

Well, not exactly the dark, but most certainly at night.

Over the last few years, Ben has been chasing the best starry night skies he can find, and capturing sometimes-eerie, sometimes-elegant, and always beautiful images of the world lit by starlight.

With the rim road at Crater Lake shutting down for the season this week, it's a good opportunity to take a look at one of Ben's most heralded photos.

This image won the best travel photo of 2011 from National Geographic Traveler magazine and was an honorable mention in our 2011 Outdoor Photo Contest (and yes, we feel a little sheepish that Ben has now twice been an honorable mention in our contest while National Geographic is busy giving him national awards!).

Anyways, here's what Ben has to say about camping:

Sleeping under the stars is the incredible bonus of going out camping :-).

I love taking a tent to a place and sleeping in it. I feel part of a place. In it, but not permanently changing it. Just passing through, enjoying what it has to offer.

The images with the tent and the stars is important to me, it is more than just a way to keep the mosquitoes off. It is my home away from home.

Ben has a great newbie guide to taking photos of stars here.

And this time-lapse video of his Crater Lake effort is simply breathtaking.

Crater Lake Under the Stars from Ben Canales on Vimeo.