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SUP and Stars

SUP and Stars



A Stand Up Paddleboarder glimpses a shooting star while enjoying the Milky Way from Sun Valley, Idaho. To light the water, I stuffed remotely-triggered flashes...
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A Stand Up Paddleboarder glimpses a shooting star while enjoying the Milky Way from Sun Valley, Idaho. To light the water, I stuffed remotely-triggered flashes into dry bags & strapped them to the underside of the paddleboard. I then leveraged the early light of the moon to bring the landscape & the iconic ski mountain to life. The paddler was a ninja at standing still on the board for the long exposure, despite the wind & numb feet. I had the warmer duty of shooting from atop an ant hill & fending off sprinklers & a pair of curious raccoons bent on climbing my tripod. Hope you enjoy the result!
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cameraCanon EOS 5D Mark III

settings Aperture 28/10 ISO 800 Shutter 8/1 Focal Length 50/1 

upload_dateSep, 2016

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10747

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41 Comments | Report
MateoM
 
MateoM March 14, 2017
Very nice!
charliepeepers
 
charliepeepers April 23, 2017
You Sir are in AMAZING Artist....This is beyond words...This is DEFINITELY a wall hanger
charliepeepers
 
charliepeepers April 23, 2017
I have to follow you to see more of your gift
sdondero Platinum
sdondero May 15, 2017
Just seeing your comments, very kind, thank so much!
trishhennessy
 
trishhennessy October 12, 2017
Soooooo how did you do that? Love this!
sdondero Platinum
sdondero October 13, 2017
Thanks, glad you like it! Overview is in the description. Sure was fun!
trishhennessy
 
trishhennessy October 13, 2017
Magnificent t!!!
kellythatcherearnhartfarley
 
kellythatcherearnhartfarley November 03, 2017
Join the conversation. Add a comment or even better, a critique. Let's get better together!
kellythatcherearnhartfarley
 
kellythatcherearnhartfarley November 03, 2017
I thought I recognized Bald Mountain (born in Sun Valley).....Well Done!
FredericMONIN Platinum
 
FredericMONIN November 04, 2017
GREAT shot
derxphoto
 
derxphoto November 05, 2017
very beautiful work
Davewsphotography Premium
 
Davewsphotography November 06, 2017
incredible shot, I really love the tones. Bet that was a fun one to create!
Neckbone
 
Neckbone November 08, 2017
Very cool image, nicely done. Congrats!
fargason
 
fargason December 23, 2017
Thanks for sharing the details of how you set this up
Katnott
 
Katnott January 18, 2018
This photo is awesome! I love it!!
enachevanamaria
 
enachevanamaria February 27, 2018
Incredibile, Magnificent, Superb!!! ????????????
jimdavis_8840
 
jimdavis_8840 March 27, 2018
Amazing shot, please consider entering this into my long exposure challenge, Voting starts on April 4th
speterson6
 
speterson6 May 05, 2018
Amazing and very creative work....Love it :-)
stuntman
 
stuntman May 29, 2018
Stunning!
bobtoye Platinum
 
bobtoye June 14, 2018
Beautifully envisioned, wondrously delivered. Bravo!
jimperkins
 
jimperkins July 06, 2018
Flying high
victoriarimes
 
victoriarimes July 18, 2018
Love the editing effects
isilvaphoto
 
isilvaphoto August 01, 2018
Amazing!!
justinmoore
 
justinmoore August 01, 2018
Fantastic!!
OlgaReytor
 
OlgaReytor August 01, 2018
NAME "???????"
simonapaval
 
simonapaval August 03, 2018
So surreal! I love this photo! Absolutely great work!
christianfredriksson
 
christianfredriksson August 04, 2018
Incredible shot, I want to take a simiral shot in Aurora.
mikebreslin
 
mikebreslin August 06, 2018
So how did you get the flash remotes to trigger while underwater and in dry bags? What brand were they?
irishrose1958
 
irishrose1958 August 07, 2018
This is amazing
sap
 
sap August 23, 2018
Wonderful shot
steveleiken Platinum
 
steveleiken September 01, 2018
Surreal. And very cool!
idpablo
 
idpablo September 04, 2018
Amazing photo, thank you for sharing the details about how was done
jadebuckingham
 
jadebuckingham September 14, 2018
Stunning
DWWjr
 
DWWjr October 23, 2018
Fantastic shot!!!!
IreneNo Ultimate
 
IreneNo November 11, 2018
Amazing talent
jeanmariebrun PRO+
 
jeanmariebrun February 24, 2019
Quite unique picture. Thank you for sharing in the caption some keys about the "making off". Definitely very creative! Congratulations!
sdondero Platinum
sdondero January 22, 2020
Thank you!
PhotographybyTessa
 
PhotographybyTessa March 31, 2019
Beautiful Photograph 👏🏼
sdondero Platinum
sdondero January 22, 2020
Thank you!
angelennaholdsworth
 
angelennaholdsworth August 02, 2019
Great effects
imagesbyPattiC Platinum
 
imagesbyPattiC November 02, 2019
Great imagination and creativity in both the composition and the technical aspect. Kuddos.
sdondero Platinum
sdondero November 03, 2019
Many thanks Patti!
DonHoekPhoto
 
DonHoekPhoto November 03, 2019
This is really cool! Well done.
sdondero Platinum
sdondero November 03, 2019
Many thanks!
jasonmain
 
jasonmain February 02, 2020
This is awesome!!!
sdondero Platinum
sdondero February 02, 2020
Many thanks!
AxeGrinder
 
AxeGrinder June 08, 2021
Simply amazing, I can't imagine how you do it !
sdondero Platinum
sdondero June 08, 2021
Right on, many thanks!
Romea PRO+
 
Romea June 12, 2022
Wow, so awesome!😊
sdondero Platinum
sdondero June 12, 2022
Many thanks!

Submitted to Photo Contests

Tags

#night #stars #astrophotography #milky way #Sup #water #reflections #stand up paddleboard #shooting star #Bald Mountain #Environmental Landscape #water sports
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Behind The Lens

Location
I took this in the middle of a golf course in Sun Valley, Idaho.
Time
After sunset (obviously)...the shoot lasted a few hours, from probably 10pm to 1am.
Lighting
This was one of the trickier lighting challenges I've faced...in order to light the water, which was the vision, I put two SpeedLights attached to PocketWizards into dry bags and secured them to the bottom of the paddleboard, pointing in opposing directions. In order to get a signal strong enough to pass through the water, I had the model hold the transmitter and fire it upon my verbal command, which just had to happen at any point during my long exposures.
Equipment
This was a few years ago (2016), so it was shot on a Canon 5D Mark III, on a Manfrotto tripod. Also, two Canon 580EXII speedlights, PocketWizards, dry bags, and a bottle of whiskey to stay warm.
Inspiration
I'll happily throw some inspirational credit to Paul Zizka, up in Canada, who in my opinion is one of the grandmasters of environmental portraits at night.
Editing
I always use both Lightroom and Photoshop for all of my workflow. I had to balance the ambient, and also shift the water color--which naturally comes out as a disgusting green when lit at night--to jive better with the bluer tones in the rest of the image.
In my camera bag
These days, if you don't count the gear I have on my "to sell" list, I'm nearly fully switched over to Canon R5 camera bodies, and am gradually moving to the R-series lenses. In general, these are my lens configs: 14mm f/1.4, 15mm f/2.8, 16-35mm f/2.8, 35mm f1/4, 50mm f/1.2, 24-70 f/2.8, 70-200mm f/2.8, 85mm f/1.4, 100mm f/2.8 macro, 200-400mm (w/ 1.4X extender) f/4-6.3, 200mm f/2. I use Manfrotto and Peak Design tripods & ball heads, also have an arsenal of Elinchrom lighting gear.
Feedback
Be sure to have a firm grasp on long exposures, flash photography, and how to make those work in tandem before subjecting a model to tough conditions...at least if you ever want them to shoot with you again! Also, scouting plays a huge role, and not just for compositional elements (foreground/midground/background), but also including the timing of things like moon phases, Milky Way positioning, etc., and also the weather...we would have been dead in the water (pun slightly intended) if it had been cloudy, or even slightly windy, as they boarder would have been all over the place. Lastly, be sure to take good care of your model...even in the summer, they'll likely get cold, and certainly uncomfortable after standing still for long stints. Lastly, be patient and have fun!

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