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Marshall Point Lighthouse Milkyway



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A Panorama of the Milky Way rising over Marshall Point Lighthouse in Maine

A Panorama of the Milky Way rising over Marshall Point Lighthouse in Maine
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Awards

Tamron Lens
Contest Finalist in Nightscapes Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Tripod Required Photo Contest
Runner Up in Foto Digital Volume 1 Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Foto Digital Volume 1 Photo Contest
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Peer Award
Absolute Masterpiece
LindaUllathorne TCMPhoto veronicaiabreu eperalta lewizima jimdavy Kelsa +63
Superb Composition
gerrycanon cristinaramirez dumbdrum Cody_G steveangelakis Aniruddh25 edwardjenny +55
Outstanding Creativity
leojay78 UPbyVeronica tonyhemminger THillaryPhotography Juhan davidleingang anglbear +28
Top Choice
leebassett Pitzi RevMarc_0713 tracyjohnson kherold johnnapier NikoleMorganPhotography +26
Magnificent Capture
CeloxPhoto robbyticknor PennySlacke MRKll anreuys mattczekaj smijh +9
All Star
millefiori67 nornots MaksimK Reghi tropicala LesGreenwood AllenDell +8
Superior Skill
loved2030 balzsdobrn NoelSalisid CurtPeters ThomasPiel kellydavenport Shirasaya +2
Genius
mykhailovdovin Cathleen_Shea jerzyrowinski michaelatkinson_5804 lambenson Aixela
Master Editing
Granjan
One Of A Kind
StevenGarga
Jaw Dropping
BeeMacDee
Virtuoso
johnhenry_7630

Top Ranks

My Best Shot Photo Contest Vol 1Top 30 rank week 2
Nightscapes Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Nightscapes Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
World At Night Photo ContestTop 20 rank
World At Night Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 1
Cities and Architecture Photo ContestTop 20 rank
Cities and Architecture Photo ContestTop 20 rank month 1
Cities and Architecture Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 3
Cities and Architecture Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 2
Cities and Architecture Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
ViewBug Image of the Year Photo ContestTop 10 rank
ViewBug Image of the Year Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 6
ViewBug Image of the Year Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 5
ViewBug Image of the Year Photo ContestTop 10 rank month 1
ViewBug Image of the Year Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 3
Tripod Required Photo ContestTop 10 rank
ViewBug Image of the Year Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 2
Tripod Required Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 2
Tripod Required Photo ContestTop 30 rank week 1
Foto Digital Volume 1 Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Foto Digital Volume 1 Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 2
Foto Digital Volume 1 Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 1

Categories


16 Comments |
DebbieKMiller81 Platinum
 
DebbieKMiller81 November 19, 2014
Congrats on your award. It is really beautiful. Well done.
stephenippolito
 
stephenippolito November 19, 2014
thanks so much @debbiekmiller81
NatureLoverJJWal
 
NatureLoverJJWal November 20, 2014
Congratulations on your Award!
NatureLoverJJWal
 
NatureLoverJJWal November 20, 2014
Voted on Tripod required
arminebalasanyan
 
arminebalasanyan November 21, 2014
super!
AlanJakarta
 
AlanJakarta November 21, 2014
Brilliant shot. Congratulations on being a Runner-up.
sebastianmuglia
 
sebastianmuglia November 22, 2014
Voilà, one of the pictures that for "normal" reasons, although the best, doesn't win!
far2go4
 
far2go4 November 23, 2014
This is amazing. Captures my imagination and makes my pulse increase with life... I would love to buy a print of this if you consider. :)
THOMMAS
 
THOMMAS December 01, 2014
nice work,great idea,kool photo
gusmangming
 
gusmangming December 02, 2014
Amazing congrats
rturnbow Ultimate
 
rturnbow December 02, 2014
Love this, congrats on the wins!
debcoimages
 
debcoimages December 02, 2014
Congrats on your finalist image. Well deserved
itsnickelwell
 
itsnickelwell December 02, 2014
beautiful! Congrats
thomaskast1
 
thomaskast1 December 12, 2014
Stunning work buddy! I'd love to be there some night!
jamesjohnston_3471 Ultimate
 
jamesjohnston_3471 July 04, 2016
Really magnificent image! Great composition and blending.
joannanicholson
 
joannanicholson October 14, 2017
Amazing ????
See all

Behind The Lens

Location

This photo was taken at Marshall Point Lighthouse in Port Clyde, Maine. This epic lighthouse was also featured in the movie Forrest Gump.

Time

I went to Marshall Point Lighthouse with a Maine photographer, Mike Taylor, in the evening in August 2014 during the new moon. This photo was taken at about 11pm and is actually comprised of 12 individual images stitched together to form the panorama image. I was actually in a race against time in order to capture this image when I did as I had to take it before high tide rolled in. The location I was standing in became under water within a couple hours. It's somewhat eery taking picture in the dark and hearing crashing waves behind you, I kept having to turn around and see at what level the water was as I didn't want to get swept out to sea :)

Lighting

For this photo I relied solely on the ambient light from the lighthouse, no other lighting was needed. Each individual image taken was a 30 second exposure. Due to the length of the exposure, enough light was picked up by the camera sensor to illuminate the surrounding rocky ledges as well as the lighthouse.

Equipment

My equipment for this shot comprised of a Canon 5D Mark III and the Canon 16-35mm L II F/2.8 lens, along with a Manfrotto tripod.

Inspiration

Earlier in the year in June, while vacationing in California I visited Joshua Tree National Park and actually saw the Milky Way in person for the very first time. I took an photo of the Milky Way over Arch Rock and have been hooked on night sky photography ever since. The photo I took at Joshua Tree National Park was also published in an article about my first time viewing experience on space.com and also was picked up by yahoo news. Here is a link to the article about my experience http://t.space.com/all/26457-milky-way-photo-joshua-tree-national-park#1 Ever since that trip to California I have been looking for fantastic settings for taking Milky Way photos and considering I live in the highly light polluted East Coast I had to look towards the north east and that's when I stumbled across photos by Mike Taylor. I reached out to Mike and took a trip up to Maine and had a private session photographing locations such as this. This was one particular location that really caught my eye, particularly how the light and shadows emitted from the lighthouse, it just drew me in and I knew I had to go there.

Editing

I take all my images in RAW format and process them via Lightroom. I do basic post processing to help illuminate the Milky Way and enhance foreground objects.

In my camera bag

My equipment bag always includes both wide angle and zoom lenses, I alternate my interests between landscape photography and wildlife. You just never know when you will come across a bald eagle or other fascinating creature, so I like having the flexibility of capturing those moments.

Feedback

I have only recently begun taking photos of the night sky and other than the basic settings for capturing the Milky Way (30 second exposure, ISO 3200, and F2.8) the key is also making the photograph interesting by adding a foreground element. A picture of just the sky without a foreground image is less interesting for the eye. The composition plays a big role in whether you spend a minute looking at an image or several minutes countless times.

See more amazing photos, follow stephenippolito

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