Home · Register · Join Upload & Sell

Moderated by: Fred Miranda
Username  

FM Forum Rules
Landscape Posting Guidelines
  

FM Forums | Landscape Photographer | Join Upload & Sell

  

Archive 2015 · Magnificent Monolith

  
 
Kory Lidstrom
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Magnificent Monolith




BEST VIEWED ON BLACK. Towering 1,500+ feet into the night sky in northwestern New Mexico, Shiprock is visible for miles around, day or night. A rising moon and brilliant Milky Way complete the scene, creating a surreal, otherworldly landscape.

Shiprock is a very sacred and important place to the Navajo people, and, standing before it on a starlit night, it is easy to see why. The feeling of ancient energy is palpable. Many thanks to friend and fellow photographer Colin Sillerud for showing me this magical place.



Feb 09, 2015 at 11:49 PM
JimFox
Offline
• • • • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Magnificent Monolith


Hey Kory,

A cool shot of Shiprock, and the stars are really sweet. Nice job on working the moon, though I think I would clean up that one thin cloud being lit up under the moon. But outside of that, one really cool shot in how you put it together.

Jim



Feb 10, 2015 at 01:05 AM
dgdg
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Magnificent Monolith


This is a cool shot.
How did you light the face of the rock that I guess would be shadowed by the moonlight.

David



Feb 10, 2015 at 08:34 AM
Kory Lidstrom
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Magnificent Monolith


JimFox wrote:
Hey Kory,

A cool shot of Shiprock, and the stars are really sweet. Nice job on working the moon, though I think I would clean up that one thin cloud being lit up under the moon. But outside of that, one really cool shot in how you put it together.

Jim


Thanks, Jim. I thought about cloning out that little cloud, but decided to leave it in since there are other clouds in the scene, as well.

dgdg wrote:
This is a cool shot.
How did you light the face of the rock that I guess would be shadowed by the moonlight.

David


David, there are lights from a town on the distant horizon which add that light. I considered trying to remove the light, but ended up leaving it in because I thought it made the rock display better.



Feb 10, 2015 at 12:33 PM
Jeffrey
Offline
• • • • • •
Upload & Sell: On
p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Magnificent Monolith


That's a fine image, Kory.


Feb 10, 2015 at 01:45 PM
Maritan
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Magnificent Monolith


Great picture. Would you mind sharing the camera settings? Did you have to take more than one picture to get this? I'm still learning how to get impressive shots like this.


Feb 10, 2015 at 01:47 PM
dgdg
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Magnificent Monolith



We don't often have perfect light painting provided for us. Excellent job of using it.

David



Feb 10, 2015 at 03:03 PM
Kory Lidstrom
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Magnificent Monolith


Jeffrey wrote:
That's a fine image, Kory.


Thanks, Jeffery.


Maritan wrote:
Great picture. Would you mind sharing the camera settings? Did you have to take more than one picture to get this? I'm still learning how to get impressive shots like this.


No problem. When shooting star scenes, here are THE settings most people use (including myself on this image): f/2.8, ISO 6400, 20 seconds, 16mm.

Why 16mm? Because you want to shoot at a very wide angle, otherwise the stars will start to trail from the movement of the night sky. The wider, the better. I use 16mm because it's the widest lens I have.

Why f/2.8? Because, obviously, it's a fast aperture, but, more importantly it's the fastest aperture commonly found on wide angle lenses. IF you are lucky enough to have a wide angle that's f/2 or f/1.4, then you can use that, too. Just remember: at such open apertures, depth of field is very limited, so compose accordingly.

Why 20 seconds? Because it's about as long an exposure as you can go without trailing the stars. If you are facing Polaris, sometimes you can get away with a bit longer.

Why ISO 6400? Because it's the fastest ISO on most cameras that doesn't introduce boatloads of noise. Some cameras are on the near horizon that will allow for much faster USEABLE ISO's which will change the game completely, allowing one to use much slower shutter speeds than 20 seconds, which will in turn allow the use of focal lengths much longer than 16mm., which will allow for different types of compositions.

Believe it or not, this is all from ONE exposure. Coming out of the camera, the sky looks washed out and grey. THE KEY to processing the sky is to burn down the shadows in the sky, which will make it black without changing the stars. Then dodge up the highlights, which will makes the stars brighter. When you do this, remember to select the sky and ONLY the sky so that you don't end up affecting the land. The foreground only needed minimal processing: just some dodging and burning to taste.

Hope that helps.

dgdg wrote:

We don't often have perfect light painting provided for us. Excellent job of using it.

David


I know, right? Those were my thoughts exactly.




Feb 10, 2015 at 05:22 PM
dbehrens
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: On
p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Magnificent Monolith


Gorgeous - and thanks for the processing info!
Dave



Feb 10, 2015 at 06:54 PM
lighthound
Offline
• • • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Magnificent Monolith


Very nice! And thanks for sharing the processing.

Question, why do super wide's hide star trails better than longer focal lengths?
Is it simply due to the magnification? I still get tails at 8 seconds but then again, I'm shooting at 17mm on a crop.



Feb 10, 2015 at 07:34 PM
Kory Lidstrom
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Magnificent Monolith


dbehrens wrote:
Gorgeous - and thanks for the processing info!
Dave


Thanks, Dave.

lighthound wrote:
Very nice! And thanks for sharing the processing.

Question, why do super wide's hide star trails better than longer focal lengths?
Is it simply due to the magnification? I still get tails at 8 seconds but then again, I'm shooting at 17mm on a crop.


Think about it: if you're shooting at 16mm, and you move the camera just a hair, the change in the composition is minuscule to the point of almost being negligible. But, move that same camera just a hair at 500mm, and it will drastically affect the comp. In this case, it's not the camera that's moving and causing the change in comp, but the stars themselves. The effect is the same, however.

That's precisely why you're getting trails at 17mm and a crop: because, with the crop, you are effectively at an entirely different focal length than 17mm. If it's a 1.3 crop, then you're at 22mm, and if it's a 1.6 crop, then you're at 27mm, which is a vast difference than 17mm and causes the aforementioned trails.



Feb 10, 2015 at 07:45 PM
Maritan
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Magnificent Monolith


Thank you Kory! I appreciate the tips. I have a few opportunities coming my way soon for some night photography, and I'm going to try and make the most of them by using your tips.


Feb 10, 2015 at 11:03 PM
howardF
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Magnificent Monolith


Very impressive photo.


Feb 11, 2015 at 01:55 AM
Ben Horne
Offline
• • • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Magnificent Monolith


I'm really digging the mysterious mood on this shot.


Feb 11, 2015 at 02:00 AM
Mark Metternich
Offline
• • • • • •
Upload & Sell: On
p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Magnificent Monolith


Sweet and spacey image Kory!


Feb 12, 2015 at 04:18 PM
MJJPhotos
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Magnificent Monolith


Just outstanding! Thanks for sharing the info on your settings/post for this shot.



Feb 14, 2015 at 01:26 PM
ckcarr
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: On
p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Magnificent Monolith


Very nice Kory.
Perfect position with the moon and stars.

A place I'd like to visit someday.



Feb 14, 2015 at 01:57 PM
mabidally
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Magnificent Monolith


Wow amazing.


Feb 15, 2015 at 11:57 AM





FM Forums | Landscape Photographer | Join Upload & Sell

    
 

You are not logged in. Login or Register

Username       Or Reset password



This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.