Starscape from Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada. This was a half-hour exposure. I bounced light onto the arch from my headlamp during the whole exposure off of nearby red sandstone rocks. To accentuate the red color of the stone, I placed a red gel over my headlamp for a few minutes of the exposure, and then painted around the inside edge of the arch for a little extra juice. Canon 5DII, Nikon 14-24mm.
One of the things I like about it is that there are really only two colours at work, yet it has such a dramatic impact. The manipulation of light under the arch is perfect.
Your lighting technique was creative and excellent - so much more even and controlled than with straight-on light painting, and the highlight under the arch really pulls it together.
This is very nicely done. Was this a single 30 min exposure? It sounds like it. What did you shoot it with?
Great work on the lighting as Dave mentioned. Light painting is definately not easy, and usually one area gets more then others and can look wierd, but your painting is really perfect.
thanks Jim -- yes it was one 30-minute exposure. I try to do all my starscapes as single exposures, as I have found stacking shorter exposures to be a bit uneven. Shooting when it is cold helps keep the noise to a minimum. I shot this with my 5DII and a Nikon 14-24mm. To keep the light painting looking even, I actually didn't light the arch with direct light (except for the rim lighting on the inside of the arch); instead, I bounced light off of rocks in front of the arch. Reflected light is a lot softer, but off course is also very faint, so I had to sit there wiggling my flashlight for a half-hour to get enough light on the arch!
I must agree with the group, Fantastic image. I am generally not a fan of light painting but this image demonstrates truly beautiful execution. My hat is off to you sir.
Very cool shot! I'm not normally a fan of light painting either, but this is very nicely done!
I'm with Sharon....would like to see more on the right, but don't know if a position change, to still get the Polaris region and the arch in the frame, is possible?
