Chasing the Dark - Pt. I - the Pacific NW.

dlsdls Registered Users Posts: 385 Major grins
edited September 11, 2010 in Landscapes
After being up in the arctic for a couple months with no discernible nighttime, I finally returned home a couple weeks ago nearly obsessed to get my nighttime photography fix. I returned in time for the Perseid Meteor showers, and kicked off the 2 week light-deprived journey to iconic spots in the west, starting at my familiar stomping grounds at Mount Baker...

1. Awaiting sunset at Artist Point.
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2. Meltwater tarn on the approach to Huntoon Point.
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3. Mount Shuksan at Picture Lake
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4. Mount Baker with Perseids
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Comments

  • dlsdls Registered Users Posts: 385 Major grins
    edited September 1, 2010
    The next night was spent at Mt. Rainier, in which I was fortunate to shoot with Ron and Danny (Seidman), and incidentally met up with Roaddog 52 at Upper Tipsoo Lake.

    5. Awaiting the setting sun at Paradise
    990877921_KqM7V-L.jpg

    6. Perseids at Paradise


    7. The Mountain and the meteor


    8. Startrails


    9. from Upper Tipsoo
    990883292_64S5M-L.jpg
  • dlsdls Registered Users Posts: 385 Major grins
    edited September 1, 2010
    Next stop was Point of Arches, Shi Shi Beach, at the Olympic National Park

    10.

    11.

    12.
    990886886_6KgwW-L.jpg

    13.

    14.

    15.
  • dlsdls Registered Users Posts: 385 Major grins
    edited September 1, 2010
    Then a quick surveying stop to Crater Lake before heading off to Cali...

    16.
    990900369_bTeVe-L.jpg

    Will post some more light-deprived photos of Mono Lake, Arches, and Yellowstone later as I sort through my 3K+ shots.
  • schmooschmoo Registered Users Posts: 8,468 Major grins
    edited September 1, 2010
    Wow, what a great treat to travel all around the PNW in one thread and get the best light, too!

    I've never heard anyone say they had their fill of daylight, but I completely understand. And you certainly made the darkness looks its best. thumb.gif
  • thapamdthapamd Registered Users Posts: 1,722 Major grins
    edited September 1, 2010
    Beautiful images, Dan! I totally love the star trail images.
    Shoot in RAW because memory is cheap but memories are priceless.

    Mahesh
    http://www.StarvingPhotographer.com
  • eoren1eoren1 Registered Users Posts: 2,391 Major grins
    edited September 1, 2010
    Great images! I literally said 'wow' to myself when I got to #10...then again at #12.
    Very nicely captured.
    E
  • coscorrosacoscorrosa Registered Users Posts: 2,284 Major grins
    edited September 1, 2010
    Chasing the dark - that's right! You really got after it - sleep is overrated. Some outstanding star shots here. Shi-Shi is on my list!

    Looking forward to Pt. II :)
  • dlplumerdlplumer Registered Users Posts: 8,081 Major grins
    edited September 1, 2010
  • squirl033squirl033 Registered Users Posts: 1,230 Major grins
    edited September 1, 2010
    #13 is amazing. EXIF says 51 seconds... is that right? how'd you avoid movement blur in the stars?
    ~ Rocky
    "Out where the rivers like to run, I stand alone, and take back something worth remembering..."
    Three Dog Night

    www.northwestnaturalimagery.com
  • crowcrow Registered Users Posts: 87 Big grins
    edited September 1, 2010
    all I can say is wow, just stunning, especially 3,4,7.
    your avatar is cool too!
    jfghckgvlhyvluijhb;ijol m,lll
  • annnna8888annnna8888 Registered Users, Super Moderators Posts: 936 SmugMug Employee
    edited September 2, 2010
    Wow, these are stunning. I completely understand the "chasing the dark" part. :D

    Ana
    Ana
    SmugMug Support Hero Manager
    My website: anapogacar.smugmug.com
  • nowandthennowandthen Registered Users Posts: 20 Big grins
    edited September 2, 2010
    Love it.
  • bgarlandbgarland Registered Users Posts: 761 Major grins
    edited September 2, 2010
    Incredible set. Really outstanding work. Thanks for sharing them all.
  • dlsdls Registered Users Posts: 385 Major grins
    edited September 2, 2010
    Thanks you all! It has been a tiring 2 weeks, sleeping in tents and in my car for a few hours during the day for the most part (3 nights hotel total... why check into a hotel when you are not going to use it?). However, it was immensely fun and worth it (a couple grams of motrin later). Discovered limitations in my gear as well as technique, and hopefully will continue to refine my skills.
    schmoo wrote: »
    Wow, what a great treat to travel all around the PNW in one thread and get the best light, too!

    I've never heard anyone say they had their fill of daylight, but I completely understand. And you certainly made the darkness looks its best. thumb.gif

    Thanks a bunch! Yeah... getting bitten by the photobug can bring out odd proclivities in people. :D:crazy
    thapamd wrote: »
    Beautiful images, Dan! I totally love the star trail images.

    Thanks. Was aiming for star shots mostly during this series, and glad they came out okay. The sunset and sunrise photos were just necessary bookends for each shoot!
    eoren1 wrote: »
    Great images! I literally said 'wow' to myself when I got to #10...then again at #12.
    Very nicely captured.
    E

    Thanks! Never really shot at Point of Arches before, and was lucky to have gone during such great weather.
    coscorrosa wrote: »
    Chasing the dark - that's right! You really got after it - sleep is overrated. Some outstanding star shots here. Shi-Shi is on my list!

    Looking forward to Pt. II :)

    Quite agree regarding sleep. And you have to make it down to Shi Shi. I think the sea stacks there are much more dramatic than at Ruby, and personally like them more than those in S. Oregon. You would have a heyday there. And Pt II is coming up soon...
    squirl033 wrote: »
    #13 is amazing. EXIF says 51 seconds... is that right? how'd you avoid movement blur in the stars?

    Yep... that is right. The settings were a compromise. There probably are some star movement at that duration, but it is less noticeable given the wide angle of the lens. I usually like to keep it at 30 seconds or less, but to do so would underexpose it substantially and create lots of noise during post-processing exposure correction (or least with my current skill level in pp).

    crow wrote: »
    all I can say is wow, just stunning, especially 3,4,7.
    your avatar is cool too!

    Thanks. Mt Shuksan and Mt Baker are among my favorite places in the world. And I am really partial to #7 too. And my avatar is likely my favorite picture of all time. I sooooo want to go back to Antarctica...
    annnna8888 wrote: »
    Wow, these are stunning. I completely understand the "chasing the dark" part. :D

    Ana

    Thanks. The title is actually a reference and homage to the different photographers "Chasing the Light" (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=126909110665228&ref=ts)

    dlplumer wrote: »
    bowdown.gifclapbowdown.gif
    nowandthen wrote: »
    Love it.
    bgarland wrote: »
    Incredible set. Really outstanding work. Thanks for sharing them all.

    Glad you all enjoyed it!
  • hawkeye978hawkeye978 Registered Users Posts: 1,218 Major grins
    edited September 2, 2010
    Stunning set all around Dan. Really loved #7 but they are all great.
  • dlsdls Registered Users Posts: 385 Major grins
    edited September 5, 2010
    hawkeye978 wrote: »
    Stunning set all around Dan. Really loved #7 but they are all great.

    Thanks. Had really liked how this one turned out.
  • schmooschmoo Registered Users Posts: 8,468 Major grins
    edited September 6, 2010
    Dan, I just have to post again and ask how your 2 months way up north goes. Are you there for work? Do you ever find yourself taking advantage of the golden light when the sun never sets?
  • DRT-MaverickDRT-Maverick Registered Users Posts: 476 Major grins
    edited September 6, 2010
    Any tips on getting those light streaks without digital noise? Is it just the camera?
    Pentax K20D 14.6mp Body : Pentax *ist D 6.1mp Body : Pentax ZX10 Body : 180mm Sigma Macro EX lens : 18-55mm Pentax SMC DA Lens : 28-200mm Sigma Lens : 50-500mm Sigma APO DG EX lens : Pentax AF-500FTZ flash : Sigma EX 2x Teleconverter.
  • Roaddog 52Roaddog 52 Registered Users Posts: 309 Major grins
    edited September 6, 2010
    Great set of images, really like the images from the coast.

    I hope to get out and do some more night photography in the near future. I too would like to know what you, Danny and Ron are using to eliminate the noise.

    Phil
    I don't know where I'm goin, but I'm goin anyway.
  • rookieshooterrookieshooter Registered Users Posts: 539 Major grins
    edited September 6, 2010
    Very impressive. Thanks for sharing!
  • dlsdls Registered Users Posts: 385 Major grins
    edited September 10, 2010
    schmoo wrote: »
    Dan, I just have to post again and ask how your 2 months way up north goes. Are you there for work? Do you ever find yourself taking advantage of the golden light when the sun never sets?

    I work up there frequently, but unfortunately, my schedule and lack of transport precludes me from getting to areas that are a bit more interesting to shoot or being out at the best light. For someone who prefers to shoot nature landscapes, Kotz itself is, well, much more picturesque when there is a lot of snow covering it. Otherwise, it might be a great place to shoot weather-worn wood structures on stilts surrounded by snow machine carcasses and struggling wild grass. Very Wabi-sabi. The surrounding areas (Gates of the Arctic NP, Kobuk Valley, Bering Land Bridge) are reportedly incredible, but transport there is hard to come by. Regarding lighting, the sun sort of goes low near the horizon usually around 2-3 am in the summer. It does not set below the horizon until early/mid August, so there is none of that twilight glow during any reasonable hour. However, I hope to get some shots when I return in a couple days.
    Any tips on getting those light streaks without digital noise? Is it just the camera?
    Roaddog 52 wrote: »
    Great set of images, really like the images from the coast.

    I hope to get out and do some more night photography in the near future. I too would like to know what you, Danny and Ron are using to eliminate the noise.

    Phil

    By no means am I an expert, and for the most part am experimenting myself. Ron and Danny, I suspect, are much better skilled than I in answering this.

    For me, the most important element in reducing noise is getting the right exposure. Nothing introduces noise more than having to increase exposure in pp. For static star shots without much star movement, I am usually limited to about 20-30 sec exposures (can be longer with wider angle). That may mean jacking up the ISO and opening the widest aperture to fit that time setting and making certain the histogram is not too left weighted (hard to judge exposure on LCD in the dark... it always looks brighter than it is). There is more flexibility with ISO and aperture with star trail shots, but I usually limit those to about 10-15 minutes otherwise long-exposure noise creeps in.
    I have just started trying in-camera noise reduction (increases exposure time x2), but cannot tell you as of yet how it works on the more challenging static star shots. The initial attempts look good. Drawback is that it ties up the camera longer, and it chews up battery time. And yes, the camera (or more accurately the sensor) does make a difference in this circumstance, and how fast your lens is.
    For PP, I use LR3 for noise reduction, with the tradeoff being a small decrease in sharpness. There might be better software out there... historically there are, but not certain how it stacks up against the new LR. And if I were not such a lazy bum and slow on learning PS, I suspect you can do noise reduction in layers to target the NR to select areas and not apply it globally.

    Hope this is helpful.
  • Roaddog 52Roaddog 52 Registered Users Posts: 309 Major grins
    edited September 11, 2010
    Thanks Dan, for the info. I have lightroom 3 upgrade on my schedule for this weekend.

    Phil
    I don't know where I'm goin, but I'm goin anyway.
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