Starstruck
I had just that one night to witness the Milky Way for the first time ever. We were camping for the night in the White Desert, Egypt, but hope was low from my e...
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I had just that one night to witness the Milky Way for the first time ever. We were camping for the night in the White Desert, Egypt, but hope was low from my end as the moon shone birghtly.
After a lot of patient waiting for hours, the moon set at around 2am. Within minutes the sky became a pitch black canvs with stars shining the birghtest i'd witnessed in long!
I re-lit the campfire while everyone slept peacefully and setup my tripod. Shortly after a desert kit fox joined me and slept beside me.
The fact that you're staring right at a spiral of the Milky Way overhead was just too overwhelming to digest that night! By far this experience has been the best ever!
Used a Nikon D7000 and Tokina ATX PRO 11-16mm f-2.8 lens.
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After a lot of patient waiting for hours, the moon set at around 2am. Within minutes the sky became a pitch black canvs with stars shining the birghtest i'd witnessed in long!
I re-lit the campfire while everyone slept peacefully and setup my tripod. Shortly after a desert kit fox joined me and slept beside me.
The fact that you're staring right at a spiral of the Milky Way overhead was just too overwhelming to digest that night! By far this experience has been the best ever!
Used a Nikon D7000 and Tokina ATX PRO 11-16mm f-2.8 lens.
Read less
Jun, 2014Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This was shot in Al Farafra, Egypt, popularly known as 'white desert'. It was my first time viewing the Milky Way, hence it was equal parts of amazement and challenging to nail the position and shot!Time
I had anxiously waited after sundown for the moon to set and the sky to get dark enough. It wasn't before 1:45am or so, that the moon dipped and the sky came to life. While everyone slept, I stayed up all night until dawn. This was shot around 2:20am when the Milky Way was almost vertically above me.Lighting
Once the moon had dipped below the horizon, it got pretty dark, albeit it was studded with more stars than I'd ever seen. Since I was a Milky Way virgin back then, a few minutes went in figuring out the optimal exposure time. Then I proceeded to re-light up the campfire to provide light to illuminate the foreground & myself. The idea was to have some foreground illumination followed by a silhouette of the rocks and then the bright, star studded sky!Equipment
This was shot on my first DSLR, the Nikon D7000 with a Tokina ATX PRO 11-16mm f2.8 lens, mounted on a Vanguard Alta Pro 263AT tripod.Inspiration
I was 18 and had just finished my first year of college when I made this trip to Egypt. It was also during the Revolution period against Morsi which had caused massive national unrest. This trip to Egypt was proving to be much more than I had imagined it to be, giving me experiences which most people my age seldom get to experience. It was all very inspiring and highly nurturing to the young me, deepening my love for travel & photography alike. I guess this image is representative of me embracing new experiences and also of a night which helped me make the choice of pursuing photography & travel as a life & "career".Editing
Of course. Shooting RAW always requires some degree of post processing and my image is no exception. I prepped the image with basic adjustments, clarity, edge shrapening, tone curves, color and then did selective adjustments via brush on the Milky Way to bring it out ever so slightly.In my camera bag
My workhorse combo of the Nikon D750 + Nikkor 16-35mm f4 is always in my bag! Following that I pack catering to my needs specific for that trip or assignment. You'll find either a Nikkor 50mm f1.4 or the Rokinon 85mm 1.4, at times both. The Nikon D7000 goes in as a secondary/backup body along with a Nikkor 35mm f1.8 DX. ND filters, Polarizer and spare batteries always! 2 flashlights, a Rode Video Mic GO and notebook remain in my bag forever. If needed, I slide in a Macbook Pro 13 Retina (2014). Oh, and sometimes I carry an Exakta Varex iia to shoot on film!Feedback
Knowing nature is a key to succeeding at shooting landscapes! Always keep track of the weather and celestial cycles. The Milky Way is best visible in areas with little to no air & light pollution, so you have to get far out of the urban jungle. Use apps such as Photographer's Ephemeris & Stellarium to keep track of sky activities such as sunrise/set, twilight, moonrise/set etc. The time at which the Milky Way becomes visible will vary depending on the phase of the moon, so always try to shoot in the period from a New Moon and to the First Quarter to get best results. Ensure you get the exposure time right using the '600 rule' to avoid star trails and motion in the sky. Try using an ultra wide or wide focal length with the fastest possible aperture. An f/1.4-2.8 range is ideal, but good results are achievable at f4 with an increase in ISO(there will be little more noise, hence f4 works better on full-frame bodies than APS-C). And a good, sturdy tripod is crucial, weigh it down with a bag if the wind picks up!
