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Chasing the Dark - Pt. I - the Pacific NW.
dls
Registered Users Posts: 385 Major grins
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.
2. Meltwater tarn on the approach to Huntoon Point.
3. Mount Shuksan at Picture Lake
4. Mount Baker with Perseids
1. Awaiting sunset at Artist Point.
2. Meltwater tarn on the approach to Huntoon Point.
3. Mount Shuksan at Picture Lake
4. Mount Baker with Perseids
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5. Awaiting the setting sun at Paradise
6. Perseids at Paradise
7. The Mountain and the meteor
8. Startrails
9. from Upper Tipsoo
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Will post some more light-deprived photos of Mono Lake, Arches, and Yellowstone later as I sort through my 3K+ shots.
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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.
Photos that don't suck / 365 / Film & Lomography
Mahesh
http://www.StarvingPhotographer.com
Very nicely captured.
E
My site | Non-MHD Landscapes |Google+ | Twitter | Facebook | Smugmug photos
Looking forward to Pt. II
Photo Gallery | Blog | I'm Unemployed!
http://danielplumer.com/
Facebook Fan Page
"Out where the rivers like to run, I stand alone, and take back something worth remembering..."
Three Dog Night
www.northwestnaturalimagery.com
your avatar is cool too!
Ana
SmugMug Support Hero Manager
My website: anapogacar.smugmug.com
http://bgarland.smugmug.com/
Thanks a bunch! Yeah... getting bitten by the photobug can bring out odd proclivities in people.
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!
Thanks! Never really shot at Point of Arches before, and was lucky to have gone during such great weather.
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...
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).
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...
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)
Glad you all enjoyed it!
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Website: Tom Price Photography
Blog: Capturing Photons
Facebook: Tom Price Photography
Thanks. Had really liked how this one turned out.
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Photos that don't suck / 365 / Film & Lomography
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 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.
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.
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Phil