Galaxy Falls

coscorrosa

I went to Palouse Falls on Saturday night for sunset, and the sunset was great. Unfortunately it was great 120 degrees from the direction of the falls. So to overcome the boring sky I left my tripod alone and waited a few hours and shot the stars and blended them together with a previous exposure of the falls at sunset.

Here's the result (the "haze" in the middle is the milky way).



I'm not sure it works or not, but I am sure my Photoshop skills suck when I have to make a selection on anything that's not a rectangle :lol3

Update: Here's a tamer version with a still shot of the stars:



Hybrid:

anwmn1

I don't think this works as a photograph per se but this is a pretty unique image to look at. To me it comes across as more surreal or like a digitally manufactured landscape one might create for a video game or computer generated movie. It is quite intriguing actually.

rainbow

I think that is a great capture of the landscape and the falls. I do not like the sky as much. I think I would have liked a night sky of the stars without the star trails better.

Thanks for sharing.

CoryUT

I agree that the sky would be better without the star trails, but beautiful image overall. The waterfall and canyon are both very pleasing to look at. This makes me want to go.

coscorrosa

anwmn1 wrote:

I don't think this works as a photograph per se but this is a pretty unique image to look at. To me it comes across as more surreal or like a digitally manufactured landscape one might create for a video game or computer generated movie. It is quite intriguing actually.

Thanks, I was going for sort of a surreal effect, I agree it's not really a photograph at this point, but the sky was so @#$!@$!$@ boring that I felt I had no choice but to wildly compensate. Like I said I'm not sure it works, but it's better than the crap sky I had at sunset. Or at least different

coscorrosa

rainbow/CoryUT: Thanks for the feedback! I posted a non-acid-trip version with a still shot of the stars

rainbow

coscorrosa wrote:

rainbow/CoryUT: Thanks for the feedback! I posted a non-acid-trip version with a still shot of the stars

Can you darken the sky of the second one and then combine it with the landscape of the first? I think that would make for a killer photo.

anwmn1

rainbow wrote:

Can you darken the sky of the second one and then combine it with the landscape of the first? I think that would make for a killer photo.

Agree with this request. Darken that sky close to what you have in the first and it should be pretty sweet.

coscorrosa

anwmn1 wrote:

Agree with this request. Darken that sky close to what you have in the first and it should be pretty sweet.

I tried. Lots of noise when I darken the sky though. I guess it's OK, I don't even print my good photos so I don't have to worry about the noise on this one

hawkeye978

I like the hybrid version the best. I feel the pool may be a little dark here compared to the canyon to the right.

In the sky is that the Milky Way or just clouds?

coscorrosa

hawkeye978 wrote:

I like the hybrid version the best. I feel the pool may be a little dark here compared to the canyon to the right.

In the sky is that the Milky Way or just clouds?

Hmm, the Photoshop version of the file has enough detail but the converted JPG doesn't. That is the Milky Way, if there were actually clouds in that direction I wouldn't have had to resort to this nonsense

kdog

I like it with the sky from #3, and the earth of #2.

CWSkopec

Great idea to try saving the shot from a bland sunset, Ron!

I'm torn between #1 and the hybrid version and can't make up my mind as to which is my favorite. Nice work!

ront

I don't Ron, I guess I am a bit unconventional when it come to photography. I like things that others don't and the other way around also. I guess that I have not been schooled enough yet:). I am not knocking anybodies elses opinions.
I like all 3 of the photos. IMHO, they all have their own qualities and I think they look pretty cool. Nice to see you made it out to PF again.

Ron

Marc Muench

Great post Ronthumb

Really like the 3rd one, because it is darker and matches more what we might actually see. Fun stuff:D

thapamd

They all look good to me, Ron! It seem like you can do no wrong, in my eyes. Original, creative, and totally fun!

Photozz

I also like the sky in #2 with the land in #3 makes for a very cool photo!

astockwell

I like the first one, and you said you merged a bunch of long (30sec?) exposures to get it? Do you have a bulb setting on the camera, and a release? If so, do a single shot. Also, I think the first shot would be much stronger of a composition if it were vertical. You could have your interesting foreground in the falls, and then a great backdrop, and see more of it.
Things to think about.

-Andy

coscorrosa

kdog wrote:

I like it with the sky from #3, and the earth of #2.

Yeah, I kind of like this version too. Do you have a full size version so I can upload it to my gallery? But man there's a lot of noise (not just in yours but in mine). I guess I shouldn't care.

coscorrosa

CWSkopec wrote:

Great idea to try saving the shot from a bland sunset, Ron!

I'm torn between #1 and the hybrid version and can't make up my mind as to which is my favorite. Nice work!

Thanks Chris, the sunset was indeed bland, and I had nothing else to do (and it's a 4 hour drive, so I don't want to come away with nothing). It's a little freaky standing on the edge of a 200 ft canyon at night with rattlesnakes on the other side! (Didn't see any this time though).

coscorrosa

ront wrote:

I don't Ron, I guess I am a bit unconventional when it come to photography. I like things that others don't and the other way around also. I guess that I have not been schooled enough yet:). I am not knocking anybodies elses opinions.
I like all 3 of the photos. IMHO, they all have their own qualities and I think they look pretty cool. Nice to see you made it out to PF again.

Ron

Thanks Ron, as Mark Twain said, I never let my schooling interfere with my education I think I could still play with this shot a bit more and get something even better, I'll come back to it with a fresher perspective in a few weeks.

coscorrosa

thapamd wrote:

They all look good to me, Ron! It seem like you can do no wrong, in my eyes. Original, creative, and totally fun!

Thanks Mahesh! I love Palouse Falls, but I've only gotten good light there once (at sunset and sunrise):

coscorrosa

Marc Muench wrote:

Great post Ronthumb

Really like the 3rd one, because it is darker and matches more what we might actually see. Fun stuff:D

Thanks Marc, I was just playing around, it does give me some ideas for when I'm in the Southwest in a few weeks (I'd be curious to see Horseshoe Bend like this for example).

coscorrosa

astockwell wrote:

I like the first one, and you said you merged a bunch of long (30sec?) exposures to get it? Do you have a bulb setting on the camera, and a release? If so, do a single shot. Also, I think the first shot would be much stronger of a composition if it were vertical. You could have your interesting foreground in the falls, and then a great backdrop, and see more of it.
Things to think about.

-Andy

Thanks for the feedback Andy. The first shot was about 5-6 5 minute exposures. I've found that any exposures longer than that introduce way too much noise (I haven't tried them with long exposure noise reduction though). Blending multiple exposures reduces the noise as the noise is pretty much randomly distributed. I agree that a vertical composition would work - but IMO - not from this perspective, but from (or nearer to) the base of the falls. I really like the canyon and flow on the right from this vantage point.

dseidman

I think this is really cool! You're making me want to try this out. I kind of like how the canyon leads your eye toward the Milky Way (in the second and third photos).

By the way, your skies were boring because I didn't come along.