One of my favorite areas to shoot the night sky has to be in Central/Eastern Oregon and this is one of my favorite images from that area. The sky is as dark as can be and the abandoned content is enough to let your imagination run wild. It looks like I'll be spending the April new-moon in Northern AZ/Southern Utah and I'm hoping that I'll have time to to do a full video tutorial covering shooting/lighting/processing and how to utilize a Sky Tracker. I get lots of questions on how to do shots like these and I'm hoping to give back as much as I can. In the meantime, enjoy!!
Tech:
Canon 6D
Zeiss Distagon T* 2,8/21 ZE
Sky: 120 seconds, ISO 800, F/2.8 (SkyTracker)
Ground: 120 seconds, ISO 400, F/5.6
Lighting: Fading moonlight and supplemental LED's
LR5 -> CS6
Nicely done and the composition encourages what you mentioned earlier - letting your imagination run wild. I look forward to your instructional videos. Dave
Wow, so well done! I am planning to try some night shots just around the new moon in S. Utah and Ariz. and Nevada in April but without a star tracker. Your work has inspired me. Thanks.
That's a well planned and executed shot. Interesting foreground. I think light painting is hard to make look nice, and you did a great job. After using a sky tracker, there really is no going back.
120 secs at f/2.8, ISO 800 seems kinda short - did you still have some moonlight or light pollution?
dgdg wrote:
That's a well planned and executed shot. Interesting foreground. I think light painting is hard to make look nice, and you did a great job. After using a sky tracker, there really is no going back.
120 secs at f/2.8, ISO 800 seems kinda short - did you still have some moonlight or light pollution?
David
David,
The 120 seconds @ F/2.8 was just for the stars. There wasn't any light pollution and the moon had just set (was was very close to it). The foreground was light-painted with LED's. I hope that helps!
Callisto wrote:
Wow, so well done! I am planning to try some night shots just around the new moon in S. Utah and Ariz. and Nevada in April but without a star tracker. Your work has inspired me. Thanks.
Thanks for the comments! You shouldn't have a problem getting very similar sky results even without a tracker. You will have to bump the ISO but noise doesn't seem to affect the stars as much as say the foreground. Have a great time out there!
D'oh. I forgot to comment after seeing this picture because I went into daydream mode about finding awesome locations for awesome night photography. Which is what this picture is - awesome night photo at an awesome location.
What a really cool looking shot. I like how you put it together. The stars of course look great, but even more I like your light painting. Not an easy task by any means to get light painting to look so natural as this.
Just wondering, is it possible to post the pre-processing shot of the night sky? I can never seem to get the Milky Way to come out that obviously, not sure if its because of the time of the year (shot one in January at the Grand Canyon) or just processing skills.
Absolutely beautiful shot! Great composition, exposure and processing! Your light painting is perfect. It looks so natural. Wouldn't change a single thing. Looking forward to your video.
kkcy wrote:
Great shot, looking forward to that tutorial!
Just wondering, is it possible to post the pre-processing shot of the night sky? I can never seem to get the Milky Way to come out that obviously, not sure if its because of the time of the year (shot one in January at the Grand Canyon) or just processing skills.
Kenneth
In January the milky way core cannot be seen by us in the north. You just can't pull out awesome detail like this during the deep of winter. Fear not, mid march the Milky Way core returns just before sunrise!
dgdg wrote:
In January the milky way core cannot be seen by us in the north. You just can't pull out awesome detail like this during the deep of winter. Fear not, mid march the Milky Way core returns just before sunrise!
David
Ah I see, thanks! That sounds great, I have another chance at Grand Canyon in March!
kkcy wrote:
Ah I see, thanks! That sounds great, I have another chance at Grand Canyon in March!
Exactly what what David said! The core of the Mliky Way is highest in the sky during the summer months. Which part of the Grand Canyon will you be visiting? The core also faces south (for the most part...it shifts across the horizon as the nigh goes on) so you may want to hit the north rim so you can shoot facing south. March will be much better than January though.
