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SaguaroPictures

Way over the Saguaro

Amid the volcanic craters of the bioshere reserve known as El Pinacate in northern Mexico I found beautiful clear skies and the magnificent Saguaro cacti. A fe...
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Amid the volcanic craters of the bioshere reserve known as El Pinacate in northern Mexico I found beautiful clear skies and the magnificent Saguaro cacti. A few distant towns cast a warm glow to the horizon as the Milky Way arches over the sky.
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NIKON D600

settings

Aperture f/2.8 ISO 6400 Shutter 30/1 Focal Length 140/10

upload_date

Jan, 2016

Views

1935

Likes

+241

Awards

Contest Finalist in The Night Sky And The Stars Photo Contest

Contest Finalist in A Milky Way Photo Contest

PRO Aluminum Tripod

Contest Finalist in The Milky Way Photo Contest

Peer Award

+79

Superb Composition

+26

Absolute Masterpiece

+11

Top Choice

Superior Skill

Magnificent Capture

Outstanding Creativity

All Star

Emotions

Impressed

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Behind The Lens

Location

In the state on Sonora, Mexico. This specific area is known as Los Pinacates. It has many volcanic craters and is the sight where NASA trained prior to moon missions.

Time

About 3am in the morning.

Lighting

Natural light.

Equipment

This was shot with a Nikon D600 and a Rokinon 14mm lens mounted on a Dolica tripod.

Inspiration

I always wanted to visit this area. I vacation a lot in Mexico at the nearby town of Puerto Penasco. This was my first trip to Los Pinacates and I had intended to just shoot the volcanic craters. Being large holes in the ground that was near impossible. I was surprised to see a large amount of saguaro and organ pipe cacti in the area, and decided to shoot those instead.

Editing

In order to capture the entire Milky Way I had to shoot a panorama. This is a total of 6 shots stitched together in Photoshop. I then did some noise reduction, and added a bit of curves adjustment.

In my camera bag

Nikon D750, Nikon D610, Nikon D7100, an array of Nikon lenses including the Rokinon 14mm, Nikkor 70-200 VR, Nikkor 28-300 VR, Nikkor 50mm 1.4, Nikkor 85mm 1.8, Tokina 16-28mm 2.8, several extra batteries, tripods, and more.

Feedback

Patience. Shooting stars is not like most other things. First, the equipment must be higher end. Only cameras that can handle high ISOs, since one needs to shoot at a minimum 3200 ISO. Better, faster, wide angle lenses are also needed. A 2.8 or larger aperture is always best. There are many videos that one can watch about how to take star photos, but taking a workshop from someone who knows is so much faster. Preparation beforehand is also key. Weather, moon phase, and cloud cover can all have a huge impact.

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Way over the Saguaro