Want to take majestic night sky photographs in the desert? There's a class for that

It's no secret that one of the best stargazing spots in Southern California is Joshua Tree National Park. The park is an International Dark Sky Place — meaning that aside from some light pollution coming from Palm Springs and the Morongo Basin, it has some of the darkest skies in the region — and it's just a two- or three- hour drive from Los Angeles.

But the best way to see the stars there isn't with your eyes. It's with a camera.

"As it gets dark, you'll see there's a kind of light, mottled appearance where the Milky Way band is," said Jon Norris, who has taught photography workshops in the park for four years. "You will be able to perceive the Milky Way, but the image your digital camera will take will be much, much clearer than what your eyes can perceive."

Norris, a former aerospace engineer turned landscape photographer, teaches some of his dark-sky photography workshops via the at Joshua Tree National Park, a nonprofit cooperating association that provides educational