BuckPhotography

Sky Fire

First light before sunrise over a dried and cracked wash feeding into Badwater Basin in Death Valley.

First light before sunrise over a dried and cracked wash feeding into Badwater Basin in Death Valley.
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NIKON D750

settings

Aperture f/6.3 ISO 100 Shutter 1/80 Focal Length 140/10

upload_date

Feb, 2018

Views

2834

Likes

+579

Awards

Top Shot Award 22

Contest Finalist in Terrains And Textures Photo Contest

Spinlight360 Extreme

Contest Finalist in Pattern Games Photo Contest

Celebrity Award

Contest Finalist in Social Exposure Photo Contest Vol 15

Staff Favorite

Peer Award

+942

Superb Composition

+36

Absolute Masterpiece

+30

Top Choice

+25

Outstanding Creativity

Magnificent Capture

All Star

Superior Skill

Emotions

Impressed

+13

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Behind The Lens

Location

This photo was taken in one of the washes between Furnace Creek and Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park.

Time

This particular frame was appropriately 20 minutes prior to sunrise in mid February. A buddy and I set out for the day around 4 AM and set up our chosen compositions under flashlight based on GPS tags we had made during a scouting trek the day before. Once the sky started turning, I dialed in focus. At first look, the sky was cloudless and lackluster, but just enough clouds rolled in to pull some color from the sunlight breaking over the mountains.

Lighting

Lighting was all natural light based on the few moments before sunrise where the sky grabs direct light and the ground is still in shadow.

Equipment

This was shot on a Nikon D750 with the 14-24mm f/2.8. I don't recall the exact f/stop used, but I imagine it was between f/5.6 and f/8. A Fotodiox Wonderpana 66 frame was used to hold a Formatt/Hi Tech 3 stop reverse GND to tie the light levels together.

Inspiration

I hear people say all the time that you can't get good shots at national parks because they've all been done. I've also heard people describe Death Valley as nothing but ugly brown rocks. I wanted to show how inaccurate both of those statements were.

Editing

This image, as with most of mine, has minor adjustments to curves and exposure with Adobe Photoshop.

In my camera bag

It all depends what I'm shooting for the day, and how far off the grid I plan on trekking.

Feedback

Shoot wide, shoot low, and shoot early. Pick your composition and wait for the light, don't try to chase it.

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Sky Fire