To Rule the Night
Aperture f/11 ISO 250 Shutter 5/1 Focal Length 25/1 
Sep, 2019Views
1115
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Awards
Contest Finalist in Manipulations Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Image Of The Month Photo Contest Vol 49
Contest Finalist in Colors In The City Photo Contest 2019
Outstanding Creativity
Peer Award
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
Superb Composition
Virtuoso
Magnificent Capture
Superior Skill
Emotions
Impressed
Top Ranks
Top 20 rankTop 20 rank week 1
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Top 10 rank
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Behind The Lens
Location
Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas, NV, designed by architect Frank Gehry.Time
Just after sundown, synchronized colored lights begin to fill angulated windows. It really grabbed my attention!Lighting
As darkness falls, inside colored lights glow from the windows, illuminating exterior metal wall tiles. When I started working on this image, the plan was to use it as a holiday theme so I added the moon in post-processing. The moon image I took when we had the super-wolf moon, which appeared with some cloud cover. That added drama and coordinated lighting to duplicate the orange window light.Equipment
Canon 1DX,, Canon 16-24mm wide angle lens, tripod, intervalometer shutter remote, flashlight.Inspiration
Frank Gehry architecture is known world-wide for his amazing contemporary design. I am fascinated by the building and when I saw the colored lights at night, wanted to capture the intrigue.Editing
Since the image is a composite, I first processed the building, using Photoshop to clone some of the lighting fixtures in all the windows and saturated the color. The upper right corner had too much negative space, so from my sky file images, selected the super-moon with clouds, color matched the oranges, selected it to a layer, and composited it to the image. Cropped in order reduce unwanted distractions (trees, other buildings).In my camera bag
Two cameras: (used to have a Canon 1DX, which I used for this image), I now have a Nikon D800e and Nikon D850 with a 14-26mm and 70-200mm long lens. Gitzo tripod with Really Right Stuff ball head. Flashlight, ND filters (10,13,16 stops), lens brush, lens cleaners, remote for shutter (especially good for long exposures and night shooting), spare batteries.Feedback
When shooting at night, if you can, choose your location during daylight. You might want to take some sample shots to double check the composition. Make sure to have a tripod and flashlight. An intervalometer remote shutter release is helpful to insure sharp images and also has a lighted timer. If you are going to create composites, keep files of your skies, landscapes, or things you may want to add to your images, observing lighting, shadow directions, color, appropriateness for the composition. Above all, have fun!
