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A once-in-a-lifetime meteor shower, named the May Camelopardalids, lit up the skies late Friday and early Saturday.

The first-ever Camelopardalid shower was at its most dramatic in the morning hours of Saturday, though it fell short of the meteor storm of 200 meteors per hour that was forecast by tracking groups.

A photographer with SunChaser Pictures ventured out to Joshua Tree in Southern California to capture the spectacular event from the striking desert landscape.

Light show: A meteor shoots across the sky above the Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California

First-ever: The Camelopardalids meteor shower was a new and unique meteor shower that had some forecasting spectacular meteor 'storms' of 200 shooting stars per hour

'I didn't get a million of them, but I captured a few nice strikes with the Milky Way behind them,' said Gavin Heffernan.

The meteor shower actually produced only about five to 10 shooting stars per hour, disappointing some stargazers.

'Although this is a far cry from predictions, it is hardly a surprise,' astronomer Tony Philips wrote in a SpaceWeather.com update.

'The parent comet, 209P/LINEAR, is faint and currently produces only a small amount of dust. Most forecasters acknowledged that there might be less dust in Earth's path than the models suggested.'

Vantage point: The Camelopardalids was disappointing to some, but for others the show, which was best seen from the U.S. and Canada, was spectacular

The shower began when Earth passed through a stream of debris from the comet 209P/LINEAR, which sparked the meteors.

The name Camelopardalid comes from the constellation is appears to radiate from, Camelopardalis (the Giraffe) and was visible only from North America.

Comet 209P/Linear was discovered in 2004. It will be about 7.6 million miles (12.2 million kilometres) from Earth on Saturday. Next Tuesday, the comet will pass within 5 million miles (8 million kilometres).

Early predictions were for a dazzling display nearing a meteor storm, but scientists did warn that the nature of the shower was unknown.