When the Government Shut Down, This Filmmaker Pointed His Cameras at the Sky, with Breathtaking Results

When America’s national parks fell quiet during the recent government shutdowns, filmmaker Gavin Heffernan didn’t look away, he looked up instead. With two Canon 6Ds, a collection of fast lenses, and an endless supply of patience, Heffernan began PARKLIGHT. This series captures the raw, untamed beauty of these protected landscapes through breathtaking time-lapse cinematography.

The first two films in the series, Starstorm Zion and Giants of Yosemite, are awe-inspiring reminders that even in stillness, the natural world never stops moving. “PARKLIGHT is about showing that even when our systems pause, nature doesn’t,” says Heffernan. “These parks remain alive; still glowing, still breathing, but they need us to protect them.”

Each film required about 30 hours of camera time over three days and nights, an endurance test for both artist and gear. “If you’re shooting 25-second exposures and want 10–20 seconds of video, you need 300–400 frames,” Heffernan explains. “That means the camera’s firing for two to four hours per shot. You just set up, wait, and hope for the magic.”

Capturing the Unseen: Starstorm Zion

Starstorm Zion was shot over three nights in Utah’s Zion National Park, and reveals a sky alive with movement and storms rolling across the desert mesas. Heffernan used two Canon 6D cameras with an average exposure time of 20–25 seconds per frame, pairing them with a trio of lenses: the Rokinon 12mm f/2.8, Canon EF 24–105mm, and Canon EF 24mm f/1.4L.

“The toughest part of Zion was shooting with almost no moonlight,” he explains. “It was a real challenge to get definition on the cliffs and mountains. I relied on light from the Zion Lodge, passing cars, and even distant thunderstorms to illuminate the foreground. The storms actually ended up giving me some of my favourite shots, they added so much drama to the edit.”

Post-production was handled in Adobe Lightroom Classic and Final Cut Pro, with star trails stacked in StarStax, a workflow familiar to astrophotographers who blend stills into dynamic motion. The result is a film that pulses with energy, with thunderheads, lightning, and starlight converging into a portrait of the desert that feels both alive and infinite.

Giants in the Moonlight: Giants of Yosemite

If Zion was a battle against darkness, Yosemite was a struggle against too much light (us photographers are never happy!). Heffernan filmed Giants of Yosemite beneath a Super Harvest Moon, a rare celestial event that turned the park’s granite walls into glowing monoliths.

“Because the moon was so bright, the long exposures made it look like daytime,” he says. “It could easily drown out the stars. So I shortened my exposures to 8–10 seconds, which isn’t typical for night timelapse, but it allowed me to hold detail in the moonlight while keeping those incredible Yosemite silhouettes.”

The reduced exposure time proved to be a creative advantage, giving the sequences sharp foregrounds for star trails and showcasing the immense scale of Yosemite’s cliffs in surreal lunar clarity.

PARKLIGHT: A Cinematic Call to Protect

Heffernan launched PARKLIGHT during the recent U.S. government shutdowns, a period when parks were vulnerable and understaffed. Even outside those moments, the National Park Service faces a $22 billion maintenance backlog and nearly a 20% staffing decline since 2010, despite welcoming over 325 million visitors annually.

Through PARKLIGHT, Heffernan intends to transform those sobering facts into a visual statement of resilience. “These parks remain alive, still glowing, still breathing, but they need us to protect them,” he says. “I want the series to remind people that the wild endures only if we care enough to preserve it.”

Future PARKLIGHT destinations include Death Valley, Pinnacles, Yellowstone, Joshua Tree, Crater Lake, and White Sands, New Mexico, weather and conditions permitting. Each video will add another chapter to a cinematic love letter for America’s (and the world’s) most treasured places.

About the Filmmaker

Gavin Heffernan is an award-winning filmmaker and co-founder of the SKYGLOW Project, a visual initiative raising awareness about light pollution through time-lapse cinematography. His work has been featured by National Geographic, BBC Earth, TIME, CNN, and The Atlantic, and has been exhibited in planetariums, galleries, and international festivals.

With PARKLIGHT, Heffernan continues to merge art and advocacy, using the quiet motion of the stars to remind us that nature’s brilliance is never out of reach, we just have to look up.

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