Sagehen Meadow at Night 1
"Sagehen Meadow at Night 1" - Photograph of the Camas wildflowers at Sagehen Meadows, near Truckee, California at night. A headlamp was used to light ...
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"Sagehen Meadow at Night 1" - Photograph of the Camas wildflowers at Sagehen Meadows, near Truckee, California at night. A headlamp was used to light up the flowers during a long exposure.
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Feb, 2017Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
I shot this photo at Sagehen Meadows, just southwest of Stampede Reservoir, a bit north of Truckee, California.Time
When the Camas are blooming, any time of day can be great here. But this photo was shot at 4:34 am. It was totally worth the early alarm clock to meet a couple photographer friends of mine at the trail and then 4x4 out here.Lighting
For this photo, I used a head lamp to "light paint" the Camas flowers and the trees in the background during a 25 second long exposure. The ISO was 800, f 4.0.Equipment
This photo was shot with a Canon 5D Mark II with a Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens. The lens was set at 40mm. A tripod and shutter release cable were used.Inspiration
I have been to this location many times over the years as I live about 20 minutes away. Sometimes the meadow has only a few Camas blooming and it can be a boring area, other times, we have very wet winters and the Camas flower blooms can look like a purple lake in the meadow. This was a great year and I wanted to show a photographer friend of mine the location as it is hard to find if you've never been there. Photographers Abe Blair, Tony Spiker, and I all met up super early, we hopped into Abe's truck, and headed down the muddy 4x4 trail to the meadow for some predawn and sunrise shots. It was obviously not a disappointing trip. The sunrise was an incredible sight too. Oh, and then, a couple days later it started snowing so I rushed back and got some really cool snowy wildflower shots. It was a great year for a great location.Editing
I do my post-processing in Adobe's Camera Raw program. I made basic adjustments and dodged and burnt a bit until it looked well balanced. I did the image sensor dust removal in Photoshop CC. I've printed this one as a 30"x40" canvas print on my Epson 9900 and it looks great!In my camera bag
These days if I'm bringing one body and one lens it my Canon 5Dsr and my Canon EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens. But usually I bring my big Lowpro Pro Trekker 300 AW which holds more equipment like my Canon 1DS Mark III or my 5D Mark II. I also carry a Canon 16-35 L lens, a 24mm tilt-shift lens, 580 EX II flash, Lee filter system and filters, tripod, and various accessories and back country gear.Feedback
If you are wanting to capture something similar to this photo, do your research on the location. Download any maps ahead of time as I don't believe there is reception out there. It's best to have someone else show you the location as the 4x4 dirt road there has a few forks in the road. a high clearance 4x4 is a must if you're driving. Hiking or biking to the location is also possible. Get there early for a star filled night time shot like this. Don't forget your head lamp and wear boots that you don't mind getting muddy. Experiment with the head lamp "light painting". It usually takes me a few exposures to dial in how long the head lamp is actually on during the long exposure. Sunrises and sunsets can be great here too, but I'd recommend mosquito spray for those times of day...
