debcoimages
debcoimages
Come Outside!

Come Outside!



This image is a reedit of an earlier image. I love to revisit older images when I have learned something new in Lightroom and Photoshop and try out my new skill...
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This image is a reedit of an earlier image. I love to revisit older images when I have learned something new in Lightroom and Photoshop and try out my new skill on them. It also inspires me to get out and shoot some new images. This image was taken in Colorado at Grand Mesa.
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upload_dateApr, 2015

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Awards

Contest Finalist in A Milky Way Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Night Wonders Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Capture The Milky Way Photo Contest
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Contest Finalist in Camping Photo Contest
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5 Comments | Report
HelenRea PRO+
 
HelenRea May 25, 2015
Great image...brilliant processing work! :)))
traceprinslooreppin
 
traceprinslooreppin May 30, 2015
...nicely done!
MikeHarvey
 
MikeHarvey February 19, 2016
very nice 10/10 from me
christinach
 
christinach April 12, 2017
Wow.
Jinjii Platinum
 
Jinjii June 15, 2017
stunning

Submitted to Photo Contests

Tags

#stars #night photography #night sky #colorado #holidays
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Behind The Lens

Location
This was taken at Grand Mesa in Colorado on a moonless August night. Grand Mesa is the largest flattop mountain in the world and is over 10,000 feet above sea level. I was staying in this camp ground for just one night so I was hoping for perfect night sky conditions.
Time
I took this image around 11 pm. I had to wait for the last of the day to leave the sky. I also had to wait for the Milky Way to appear above the horizon. All conditions came together at this time of night.
Lighting
I wanted to find a setting in the park that gave some context to this amazing night sky. I saw the 2 RV's nestled in the trees. The interior light of the campers glowing warm and inviting. The lights were also spilling out onto the trees giving them some detail rather than just being silhouettes. I thought this gave the scene the perfect context I was looking for.
Equipment
I shot this with my Nikon D600, which I hadn't had very long and wanted to test its low light capabilities. I mounted it on my Manfrotto tripod. Lense was my Nikkor 35 -17mm f 2.8. I selected 17mm to include as much of the sky as possible. Exposure was 25 sec. I used my Vero wireless shutter remote and the timer on my iPhone to get the exact time correct. To capture the stars as points of light rather than streaks my exposure could not be any longer than 30 seconds.
Inspiration
I have always loved to lie on a blanket and watch the stars when I was away from the city lights. I had only just started to take images of the night sky and was so excited to be in a place where the sky was really dark so many more stars were visible.
Editing
I processed this image in Lightroom CC. I always shoot RAW files so they need some processing to look good. I adjusted contrast, colour and saturation. I had to do some noise reduction because I shot it at ISO 3200. Then I sharpened the stars using the masking slider so none of the shadow area would be sharpened.
In my camera bag
My camera bag always has 2 camera bodies in it. My trusty Nikon D700 and my D600. Both have full frame sensors. I usually put my Nikkor 80 -200mm f2.8 Zoom on to the D600 and my Nikkor 17 -35mm f2.8 on the D700. The reason I do this is because the D600 is a 24 megapixel camera so I can crop the shot to bring things closer and still have a good file size for enlarging. I also have a Nikkor 50mm f1.4 which I love for its sharpness and speed. The latest addition to my bag is a 10 stop ND filter which I am loving for super long exposures of water and skies. I have also invested in a Nodal Ninja 3 Pano head and am trying my hand at 360 deg panoramas. It is great for keeping all the horizon straight as well as the verticals aligned. Makes stitching so much easier.
Feedback
Night sky photography is a challenge and so rewarding when you get it right! My advice, as far as I have learned so far, is to firstly check where and when the Milky Way will rise. I use PlanIt! for Photographers but there are lots of apps available. Good clear skies and no Moon are other elements to consider. Stars will be brighter and clearer when the sky is dark and not washed out by the reflected light from the moon. Camera settings are quite specific depending on what you are trying to capture. As I said for pin point stars your shutter needs to be open for up to 30 seconds, depending on what focal length lense you are using. There is a chart for calculating this but if you divide 500 by the focal length of your lense it will give you the time in seconds. Of course if you want star trails then your exposure will need to be longer. Your aperture will be around f2.8 - f4 to allow as much light as possible in. It is worth experimenting with different exposures to see the different results. You will soon know which works for you.

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