Desert Night Camping
Jul, 2017Views
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Contest Finalist in Outdoor Camping Photo Contest
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
I shot this photo on a camping trip my girlfriend and I took that was actually our first date. We're both photographers that live in Oregon so we went to one of our favorite desert spots in the southern part of the state.Time
If I remember right, it was around midnight or so after the moon went down. I wanted to capture the milky way just over the tent so we had to wait for the moon to set and line to be right. Waiting for the milky way to be just right can take a long time but it's always worth it.Lighting
I knew I wanted the milky way to be one f the main focuses of the image but I also wanted the tent illuminated, so I had my girlfriend, Whitney, inside the tent with her headlamp and when I would say go, she would wave the light around and then turn it off so I didn't get too much of a blown out tent. It took a few tries, but both being photographers, we're pretty patient when it comes to getting the right shot.Equipment
I shoot a Sony A7Rii now, but I used a Canon 6D and a Rokinon 14mm 2.8 to shoot this photo.Inspiration
I wanted to show not only how vast this desert was but how bright the stars can be with no light pollution. I was wanted to convey that feeling you get when you're sleeping in your tent without a rainfly and you just lay down and look up at the stars. So for me, this image can connect me to that feeling anytime I look at it.Editing
I always try to use just one single image and not stack images, nothing against stacking images, but I like to see not only what the camera can do but what I can do with one single image. So in Lightroom, I did my best to keep it closest to what I saw without over editing.In my camera bag
My bag has actually changed quite a bit since I shot this photo. My main body is a Sony A7Rii and the lens I have on it probably 85% of the time is the Sony Ziess 16-35mm F/4 with a Hoya polarizer. I also have a Rokinon 14mm 2.8, Canon 50mm 1.8, DJI Mavic Air with polarizer and ND filters, and between my girlfriend and I we use a Canon 75-200mm 2.8, Sony Ziess 24-70mm F/4, and a Canon FD 28mm 2.8.Feedback
Best advice for night photography like this is to just be patient and play around with the settings. You're not gonna get the shot right away, you'll have to try a lot and be willing that you might not get the shot you wanted, but you'll get a shot. I love when I'm playing around with the camera and stumbled upon something new such as a new technique or a new angle, I feel that's what photography is all about, just having fun and not being afraid to think outside the box.
