Galactic Observer
The weather forecast was for high humidity levels and cloudy, so we only hoped for the sunrise shots the next morning. We put the tent in the sand, bought some ...
Read more
The weather forecast was for high humidity levels and cloudy, so we only hoped for the sunrise shots the next morning. We put the tent in the sand, bought some souvlaki and beers and we were watching the clouds go by as the night was falling...
Although we said we were going into the tent in the warmness of our sleeping bags for a nice sleep, the weather became promising.
Slowly the clouds disappeared and the stars started making their presence..
We knew were the Milky Way was going to rise and the only thing we had to do was to wait for it to take its place in the shot...
After midnight, when everything was aligned and in harmony, we light painted the ship with different flashlights, from many angles and for various duration times...
About 3 o'clock in the morning, we decided we had the shots we wanted, so we went happily to the tent.
We set the alarms to ring at 5:30 for a morning coffee before the sunrise, but at 5:20 the rain woke as up...
Read less
Although we said we were going into the tent in the warmness of our sleeping bags for a nice sleep, the weather became promising.
Slowly the clouds disappeared and the stars started making their presence..
We knew were the Milky Way was going to rise and the only thing we had to do was to wait for it to take its place in the shot...
After midnight, when everything was aligned and in harmony, we light painted the ship with different flashlights, from many angles and for various duration times...
About 3 o'clock in the morning, we decided we had the shots we wanted, so we went happily to the tent.
We set the alarms to ring at 5:30 for a morning coffee before the sunrise, but at 5:20 the rain woke as up...
Read less
Dec, 2016Views
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Awards
Action Award
Chatter Award
Zenith Award
Creative Winter Award
Curator's Selection
Legendary Award
Top Shot Award
Contest Finalist in Once Upon A Time Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Into The Night Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in My Best Shot Photo Contest Vol 2
Featured
Contest Finalist in Image Of The Month Photo Contest Vol 17
Peer Award
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
Outstanding Creativity
Magnificent Capture
Superior Skill
Genius
All Star
Virtuoso
Emotions
Impressed
Top Ranks
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 1
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Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 1
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
The photo was taken at Selinitsa beach across Gythio in Peloponnese.Time
The weather forecast was for high humidity levels and cloudy, so we only hoped for the sunrise shots the next morning. We put the tent in the sand, bought some souvlaki and beers and we were watching the clouds go by as the night was falling... Although we said we were going into the tent in the warmness of our sleeping bags for a nice sleep, the weather became promising. Slowly the clouds disappeared and the stars started making their presence.. We knew were the Milky Way was going to rise and the only thing we had to do was to wait for it to take its place in the shot... It was after midnight when the shot came to life.Lighting
We light painted the ship with flashlights, from many angles and for various duration times. The goal was to bring out the texture of the ship and give depth to the image, by separating the subject from the background. We also light painted the rock in the lower right third, to use it as an entrance point to the scene.The free bonus was the reflection in the water.Equipment
I used a Nikon D610 (great performer at higher ISO settings) on a tripod, with mirror locked up and the shutter was released remotely with an intervalometer. The lens was the Tokina 16-28 at 16mm and f/2.8, the ISO was set at 2000 and the duration time was 25 seconds to avoid startrails according to the 500 rule. Flashlights were used to light paint the ship, the foreground and part of the beach.Inspiration
The shipwreck "Dimitrios" is well known among photographers in Greece. It was abandoned from its owners at the port of Gythio and the tale says that in a strong weather the ropes broke and the waves carried it where it is now. The subject is an inspiration by it self...A shipwreck !!! So, the inspiration was there...to have it in my portfolio...but the greater inspiration was to do it justice and come back to Athens with the best composition possible, worthy of printing and hanging on my wall. The print looks amazing and makes me smile every single time I see it. That alone is enough inspiration for the next great capture.Editing
I am a strongly believer that the post processing must look natural to the eye...This is trickier than it sounds...I use Capture One for the general balance of the image and Photoshop for specific contrast and colour adjustments. Nik software is a big part of my workflow and I always use masks and luminosity masks to adjust what is necessary to benefit the image.In my camera bag
In my bag I have my camera, sometimes a second body and usually three lenses. An ultra wide (16-28), a normal to mid zoom (35-70) and a tele (80-200). I also carry a polarizer, a ten stops neutral density, an intervalometer, two flashlights, a speed light, a small softbox, a clothe and a rocket blower. I always carry my tripod and occasionally a fast 50mm and an old small 28-70mm f/3.5-4.5 with a reverse ring for my macro shots.Feedback
As with all landscape shots, you have to know the place...Scouting is essential ! For night shots especially, knowing your gear, where the buttons are on the camera, on the lenses, where is what in you bag, surely helps. Sometimes you don't want to turn on a flashlight because you will disturb your vision or a fellow photographer. More technically, for Milky Way or startrail shots, you should know how to focus your lens at infinity, where is infinity on your lens (it is not always at the infinity symbol), you should frame the shot prior to darkness in many cases and you must take several shots in order to nail the exposure. Always check the histogram and try to have detail in the shadows without clipping the highlights. Multiple shots and exposure blending in post is sometimes inevitable. Bottom line : learn your craft and take the time to refine your composition. A badly composed shot is a bad shot, even if it is technically perfect...
