Enjoy and by amazed by the night photography of danieljamesgreenwood, learn the techniques and story behind this awarded photo.
"Photography all began with me about a year and a half ago. It all started with cell phone pictures on my android. Just recently I decided to take the leap and further my vision by buying my first full frame DSLR ( Canon 6d ) I work full time so I spend every weekend exploring and capturing beautiful scenes and light. I find lately my camera never leaves my side..I'm still learning a ton..I hope to portray my vision on a digital canvas as best I can with the skills that I have learned so far. My all time dreams are to travel and photograph some of the most iconic locations in the world. Thanks for taking the time to view my work. If you wish to contact me or just ask questions feel free to drop me a message anytime!" - Daniel
1. Where did you take this photo?
This photo was taken on a nice trip up to the Canadian Rockie. It was quite the night as I finally arrived on location at Bow Lake, Banff. My batteries were already quite close to being dead at this time because of all the amazing stuff I photographed along the way.
2. What time of day?
I managed to capture this photo later on in the night. The day time was completely filled with overcast skies. I spent around 3 hours down here at the lake waiting for some nice light for sunset but the clouds just would not leave!. It was around midnight when my friend Zack Splaine who was out already had texted me and told me that the skies had finally cleared. I was so excited to pack up the gear and head out for some astrophotography! As soon as I left the hotel, and started to drive through the ice fields of Banff, I was greeted with a billion shining stars in the sky. I honestly was so overwhelmed with beauty that I nearly drained all my batteries shooting some of the spots along the way to this location. When I finally arrived here at Bow Lake my breath was taken away form this amazing sight. I was glad I had enough battery to snap a few more photos of this amazing location.
3. Anything worth sharing about lighting?
The lighting when I first arrived here was perfect in almost every way I could imagine for any night time photography. The hotel that was behind me in this photo was lighting up the foreground perfectly where I wanted to dial in some exposures and compositions. I knew I was almost out of battery power so I pictured this scene in my mind before I even turned on my camera. I managed to capture this scene with a single exposure before my batteries bit the dust.
4. What equipment did you use?
I shot this scene with my Canon 6D. I love this camera mainly for its low noise especially when its extremely dark out. I used my wide 14mm Samyang prime lens here to take in as much of the scene as possible without having to shoot a panorama. I did use a tripod here, I usually use a tripod in all of my work!
5. What inspired you to take this photo?
I have always been extremely inspired by the night sky and our stars. I have always had this dream and vision to capture snowy tipped mountains with the milky way spanning above it, its always been an image ive wanted to capture. When I arrived here at first there was so much natural beauty around me I had forgotten I had my camera with me for the first little while. Ever since I was a young kid I have always been inspired by stars and exploring space.
6. Did you do any post-processing? If yes, tell us about it!
I did some pretty minimal post processing in this photo. Some simple highlight adjustments and resize, sharpen. Honestly when I first pulled this photo up on my computer I felt it looked absolutely amazing the way it looked already. That's the beauty of exploring the world, there is just so much beauty out there we are still discovering every single day.
7. What equipment do you normally have in your bag?
I generally head out shooting with my Canon 6D, a few lenses such as my 14mm Samyang f2.8 which I use mostly for astro work. Then I got my 24-105mm for my day time landscapes and long exposure photography. I will usually keep a few things in there as well...My 120DB air horn and bear spray for anti grizzly bear gear, I also have a few super bright LED torches for if im in extremely dark locations. My shutter cable release is always with me as well as a few filter sets for various day time long exposure work. I keep a couple clothes in there as well just in case I need more then one.
8. Any advice for others trying to capture something similar?
The best advice I could pass on to anyone wanting to capture amazing natural scenes like this is to just get out in the world and explore. Be safe about it of course but the world is such a big place. When I first arrived in the Rockies I was completely blown away by the vast mountain ranges and it honestly made me feel pretty tiny on the earth. I was surrounded by so many amazing things that all the new ideas of what I could photograph just came crashing into my mind. Its truly inspiring on its own to discover and explore new locations that you have never been to. This was just a quick 3 day trip for me and already I want to pack up and move there forever.
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