Starship Launch from Bixby Bridge (Big Sur California)
#170 of 365
#170 of 365
Read less
Read less
Jun, 2015Views
470
Likes
Awards
Winner in S composition Photo Challenge
Peer Award
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
Outstanding Creativity
Top Choice
All Star
Superior Skill
Top Ranks
Top 30 rank
Top 30 rank
Top 30 rank
Top 20 rank week 1
Top 10 rankCategories
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Discover more photos See all
Behind The Lens
Location
Bixby Bridge in Big Sur California. Main problem was to get all of the bridge on the left side and enough on the right without falling off the cliff.Time
Night, obviously. It was late and just before Highway 1 was closed for the night for repair (just north of Bixby Bridge part of the highway had fallen hundreds of feet into the Pacific ocean. During the day there was one way traffic control, after midnight the road was shut down entirely. If we had left a few minutes later we would either have had to wait until dawn or driven 90 miles to the south before heading north again.Lighting
Lighting was by starlight and the headlights of passing cars. Southbound cars gave the red taillights and some headlights. They were useful. Northbound cars were mostly headlights and not so interesting. Problem was that 90% of the cars that evening were northbound and on the average there was only one car every five minutes or so!Equipment
Sony A99, 16-35mm zoom and of course a tripod. Lights (other than the stars) was provided by the headlights of the passing cars. I generally don't use a flash in the field. I do sometimes use LEDs for light painting but in this case the passing cars painted the scene.Inspiration
I consider myself more of a Science, Science Fiction and Fantasy illustrator than a photographer. I love photos (people, landscape and astro mostly but also other photos), but I often try to do something different. And I read a lot of Science Fiction and Fantasy.Editing
There was a lot of post processing. The bridge and car lights were fairly easy, although I worked to bring out details on the dark side of the bridge. Same for the ocean Stars were processed for color, contrast and brightness. Software used was Apple Aperture, Google Nik and Adobe Photoshop. The starship started as a model of an X33 spaceplane that I reworked and then added the rocket exhaust.In my camera bag
I pack my bag for what I am planning to do. I generally plan my shots and make a detailed shot list before going out for a shoot. For landscape I normally use 16-25mm, 24-70mm and 70-400mm lenses. About 95% of the time if I am not in a studio I use a tripod. I think a tripod helps not only to steady the camera but also to slow me down so I take a second and third look at the composition and lighting. I don't use filters very often. I do frequently use a remote release to avoid jarring the camera when the picture is taken.Feedback
There are many beautiful places in the world, and very many photographs of most of them. I think this, in addition to modern high-ISO cameras, is the reason that there are so many "AstroLandscape" photos today. And most are lovely. However many pictures, both those taken at day and at night, are somewhat similar. Try to find a different picture. One that shows the scene in a new way. In this case I imagined that Bixby Bridge, one of the most beautiful in the world, was actually, late at night, a secret starship launch ramp. This, and a similar picture I've posted to ViewBug showing a starship much closer, are some of my favorite images I've made of Big Sur.
