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Cosmic Lighthouse



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Ninini Point Lighthouse, Kauai, Hawaii. Long exposure with Lihue Airport lights lighting up the lighthouse.

Ninini Point Lighthouse, Kauai, Hawaii. Long exposure with Lihue Airport lights lighting up the lighthouse.
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cameraCanon EOS 5D Mark III

settings Aperture f/4.0 ISO 2000 Shutter 30/1 

upload_dateJan, 2015

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Behind The Lens

Location

This photo was taken on the island of Kauai, Hi. The Ninini Point light house is at the south end of the Lihue Airport runway at the opening of Nawiliwili Bay.

Time

The image was shot around 8:30 PM local time. We had been there shooting the lighthouse and the bay area for sunset and stuck around until well after the sun when down.

Lighting

Actually we had originally gone to light paint and photograph the lighthouse. Turns out, when trying to capture the Milky Way, the lights from the end of the airport runway were enough to light up the lighthouse. We just did a little light painting in the foreground. There was enough salt spray in the air to show the lighthouse beam as well. So most of the light is just the ambient with a little light painting for the foreground.

Equipment

This was hot on a tripod with Canon 5D MK III, Canon 16-35 f4 L IS. Lens was set at f4 and ISO at 2000. 30 second exposure.

Inspiration

I was taking my daughter to shoot at the lighthouse as I had been there shooting before. It is a very unique place as planes landing at Lihue airport come in right over this lighthouse. We went to try capture the sunset there, then get some aircraft light trails coming over the lighthouse and also do some light painting. When it got dark I noticed that the sky was clear and knew that the Milky Way should be visible behind the lighthouse. I cranked up my ISO from 200 (that we were using for the light painting) to 2000 and saw that I could get a nice capture. We also determined that the natural ambient light would light up the lighthouse enough so we didn't have to light paint it.

Editing

Processing was done both in Lightroom and Photoshop. Most of the global adjustments were done in Lightroom and the enhancement of the Milky Way was also done in lightroom but just using local adjustmentws on the brush. I had to bring up the lights, highlights and contrast a bit to make it really standout and pop. In some cases multiple brushes are used over the same areas stacking the effect. Photoshop was used to remove the distracting power line and power pole that were in the original image. Then a little finer adjustments using curves and luminosity masks for the Milky Way.

In my camera bag

What I have in my bag often is adjusted based on what I am shooting. With two of us shooting Canon I have a fairly good collection of lenses to shoot and choose from that I have been building up over the years. I do love my Canon 5D MK III! It is a great all around camera and it's low light performance is fantastic! When I am out shooting landscapes I usually have my Canon 16 -35 F4 L IS Lens, my Canon 24-70 F4 L IS or my Canon 24-105 f4 L IS and my Canon 50mm f 1.4. Sometimes a 70-200 or my 8-15 Fisheye will also be with me. Usually there will be some ND Filters, Graduated ND Filters and Polarizers with me too. If I am shooting sports, wildlife or air shows, I shoot with a 7D MK II as a primary body with a Canon 300 f 2.8 L or a Canon 70-200 f2.8 L. The 5D MK III becomes the secondary body with a wider focal length lens on it. I almost always have a tripod and ball head in my vehicle or with me. There are also usually remote triggers in my bag.

Feedback

When trying to shoot the Milky Way, pre planning a little bit is very useful and can save you some time. Usually I have my location for a foreground picked out a head of time and if possible I go there during the day to orient myself and look around. You don't want to be in area near in a city or near a city to avoid light pollution. You also want to be aware of what may be between your foreground and the milky way. A city or town a few miles away may through up a big light pollution dome that will affect the visibility of the Milky Way and the colors of the sky near the horizon. I also use Google Maps to see the full area. I use both Stellarium (free) and Starry Night Pro software for figuring out what time and date the milky way will appear where I want it it too in the sky. You ideally want to shoot when there is a new moon or before or after the moon sets. A full moon will wash out the sky and even in the darkest location will make the milky way difficult to shoot. The Photographer's Ephemeris web app can show what the moon stages are and rising and setting times. Once I have my dates and times, I pack my gear. A camera with good high ISO performance, a fast (f2.8 or f4) wide angle lens, a good sturdy tripod, remote release, spare batteries and the appropriate clothing and gear for the weather. I also usually have a couple of flash lights with different brightness levels to do some light painting if needed. A headlamp really comes in handy for setting up. I get to the site I am shooting as early as I can to set up and compose the shot. Once my camera is all set up on the tripod, I set the aperture for the fastest setting on the lens (turn off IS and auto focusing if on a tripod) and compose the image. Make sure your camera is set to capture RAW so that you get the most data possible in the image. I use live view on my camera and a flash light to set it to compose and set the lens to infinity focus and to also make sure my foreground is in focus. I will shine the flash light on my foreground and zoom in using live view on the spot to check. With my camera set on manual mode, I try a couple of test shots starting at 800 ISO f 2.8 or f 4 and 30 seconds. I gradually change the ISO the higher settings until I can start to see the Milky Way. Once I find the ISO I want to use I will often go a little higher and try it with a shorter shutter setting (20 seconds). Depending on the focal length of the lens, you will start to see star trails at longer focal lengths and 30 second exposures. Once I have my settings done I'll start to shoot at the time the Milky Way will be where I want, continually checking the image and zooming in to check for sharpness and star trails. I may do some different light painting of the foreground often from an angle off to the side of my camera. This is where wireless triggers come in handy. If you don't have wireless triggers you can always use the self timer on your camera. I don't use the built in long exposure noise reduction on the camera because that doubles the exposure time (a lights and a darks image are taken). When I'm shooting I try not to move around much near my camera to avoid any possible vibrations while the shutter is open. I will continue to shoot once I have everything set and continually make adjustment to exposure settings and focus. I check the images often. I often shoot for a while making sure that I have more sharp images than less as I can always choose not to use some good ones but can't fix the ones that are out of focus or poorly exposed. Shooting the Milky Way takes a little practice and pre planning. If you do these and have the right gear you can get a great shot every time.

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