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Archive 2014 · Canyonlands - Window to the Universe

rparchen
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Canyonlands - Window to the Universe

This was one of my first "real" attempts at the Milky Way last year and I couldn't think of a better spot than the dark skies in Canyonlands in Utah. I've been hooked on shooting the night sky every since. I hiked down earlier in the day to catch the sunset (and to find the place) and stayed well into the night to shoot the stars. I may have tripped a few times on the way out but a skinned knee was well worth it. Shot with 5D2, Samyang 14mm, and LED's to illuminate the cave. Enjoy!

Edited on May 14, 2014 at 02:56 PM · View previous versions

May 14, 2014 at 01:03 PM

Kee Woo Rhee
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Canyonlands - Window to the Universe

Oh, yes! False Kiva! Nicely done.
Some people here in this site warned me not to utter a word "False Kiva", though.
Also they want to deter people from there. Well, I see their point but.. this place belongs to the public.
I am planning to visit this place again sometime next year.
Thanks for the nice milky way shot from there. I could not.. due to the bright full moon (-1 day).

Edited on May 14, 2014 at 01:17 PM · View previous versions

May 14, 2014 at 01:17 PM

roguecoolman
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Canyonlands - Window to the Universe

Rick,

Beautiful work. Amazing how many stars gets captured when you're far out from light pollution.

Kee,

I don't think people ever deterred anyone from uttering the name, i mean the area is pretty well known in terms of how many people have seen photos from there. The location obviously people don't spread it around but it's not exactly hard to find out where it is with google these days.

the place does belong to the public, but people also need to learn to respect the place (I mean we all saw what happened to goblin valley with a couple of rambunctious scouts ).

Jason

May 14, 2014 at 01:17 PM

rparchen
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Canyonlands - Window to the Universe

I appreciate the comments guys! And I can see why people wouldn't want this location widely publicized but as Jason notes, it's easy enough to find by just searching for it. I will say that it was nice to just run into two other photographers during the evening and to be the only one there at night though. I hope the trail doesn't get marked to keep this spot (somewhat) less traveled!

May 14, 2014 at 01:41 PM

Kee Woo Rhee
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Canyonlands - Window to the Universe

roguecoolman wrote:
Rick,

Beautiful work. Amazing how many stars gets captured when you're far out from light pollution.

Kee,

I don't think people ever deterred anyone from uttering the name, i mean the area is pretty well known in terms of how many people have seen photos from there. The location obviously people don't spread it around but it's not exactly hard to find out where it is with google these days.

the place does belong to the public, but people also need to learn to respect the place (I mean we all saw what happened to goblin valley with a couple of rambunctious scouts...Show more →

I know what happened at the Goblin. That was really shame.

When I stated that I was warned about... I was pm'ed to delete my message when I recommended False Kiva to someone who was getting information about the Canyonland. Yes, I obliged to this person's request by deleting my reply.

I would respect and trust people here that they have all common sense and integrity about public place and practice "leave no trace". I have no desire here to have another unhealthy discussion about where not to go, etc.

Thanks for your taking time to comment on my statement.

May 14, 2014 at 01:57 PM

Mike K
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Canyonlands - Window to the Universe

Technique question:
Did you use stacking with rotational alignment of multiple exposures to get sufficient dynamic range without star trails in your sky portion of the image? Can you summarize your approach? Thanks.

Nice balance in your composition.
This is a well known, but unmarked location. Someone would have to be highly motivated to find detailed directions prior to their visit and make the hiking effort. This approach would generally discourage vandals. I don't give out detailed directions on my FM posts, especially petroglyphs. One could be more elusive by simply calling the location Canyon Lands NP.
Mike K

May 14, 2014 at 02:23 PM

dgdg
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Canyonlands - Window to the Universe

Rick,

Your blog is excellent and you have some great milky way photos. I like this photo but I think I liked your recent abandoned house and door photo more.
Not to sound critical...
The light painting is excellent, but I think the red toned, less saturated/contrasty 'cave' does not match the sky giving me a sense of imbalance. I might experiment with cooling your foreground so it blends better, unless this is your desired effect. Congrats on capturing the milky way core with lots of detail, but I would suggest it's a bit much relative to your foreground. Maybe try reducing the saturation & contrast, warm the sky values a touch, and adjust for vignetting (upper right corner).

I wish I had been there on my recent trip, but my family schedule and cloudy skies only offered one night out to a more accessible spot.

David

Edited on May 14, 2014 at 03:07 PM · View previous versions

May 14, 2014 at 02:59 PM

nismoxr34
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Canyonlands - Window to the Universe

This looks great, and you nicely framed the milky way!

I was looking to visit Canyonlands when I was in utah a few weeks ago. Sad I didn't have enough time to go around.

May 14, 2014 at 03:03 PM

rparchen
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Canyonlands - Window to the Universe

Mike K wrote:
Technique question:
Did you use stacking with rotational alignment of multiple exposures to get sufficient dynamic range without star trails in your sky portion of the image? Can you summarize your approach? Thanks.

Nice balance in your composition.
This is a well known, but unmarked location. Someone would have to be highly motivated to find detailed directions prior to their visit and make the hiking effort. This approach would generally discourage vandals. I don't give out detailed directions on my FM posts, especially petroglyphs. One could be more elusive by simply calling the location Canyon Lands NP.
Mike K

Mike,

On this shot, I used a SkyTracker and shot the stars first. I'd have to double check the EXIF but the settings were probably around F/2.8, ISO 800, for 4 minutes. I then shot the foreground with the same perspective with the supplemental LED's and then had to mask the stars back into the frame and blend everything together. You can easily take this in one shot but I like the flexibility and low noise by using the tracker and longer exposures since it's easier to get even lighting with the LED's.

And I agree with you about the coordinates as well. I have coordinates to Sky Rock near Bishop and I've been there many times, and I'll even be back in two weeks. I don't give those out since that specific spot is not on the web (last time I searched anyway). As for the name, I've generalized the area to Canyonlands to avoid any issues.

May 14, 2014 at 03:06 PM

JimFox
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Canyonlands - Window to the Universe

Hey Rick,

A very cool shot here, I like what you came away with. Now I know David didn't think the lighting of False Kiva matched the sky, but I had the exact opposite take when I saw this. I thought the blue side lighting from the LED with the red tones on False Kiva balanced perfectly with the blue tones sky that has a hit of that same red/magenta tones in the Milky Way itself and also along the horizon. With shots like these, we can all have different takes and feelings about the color tones, but for me, you nailed it perfectly.

Jim

May 14, 2014 at 03:13 PM

alatoo60
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Canyonlands - Window to the Universe

I like the idea, and was thinking about doing something similar since the time I first saw the picture by Wally Pacholka. Stayng in a Kiva all night is an adventure of its own.
There are lots of things I like about your picture- for example, colder colors look quite natural. As about improvement, most of the landscape outside of the cave looks dark and featurless. Was it intentional?

Sasha.

May 14, 2014 at 03:25 PM

Ton Hung
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Canyonlands - Window to the Universe

very nice picture , if you want to go to False Kiva just go to visitor center of canyonlands ask for False Kiva, They will show you everything you need to know, only question they will ask, how do you know this place, how many people in your group and when do you want to come in that all, just keep this place clean so you can come back take more pitures next time

May 14, 2014 at 06:31 PM

lionking
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Canyonlands - Window to the Universe

Amazing capture!

Andrey

May 15, 2014 at 04:18 AM

Rohanban
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Canyonlands - Window to the Universe

May 15, 2014 at 11:07 AM

elitefroggy
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Canyonlands - Window to the Universe

Excellent shot and great place to shoot the Milky Way. I like how you slightly lit up the foreground. It is a beautiful pic. Dave

May 15, 2014 at 11:59 AM


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