Sky Gazer
The 155 foot Sky Gazer is North America's largest traveling Ferris Wheel. It is also the largest ride that has ever been to the North Carolina state fair....
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The 155 foot Sky Gazer is North America's largest traveling Ferris Wheel. It is also the largest ride that has ever been to the North Carolina state fair. With over 500,000 LED lights the patterns and colors I was able to capture in a small long exposure were infinite. This was one of my favorites as there was still some light left in the sky shortly after sunset.
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Oct, 2019Views
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Awards
Top Shot Award 21
Spring 21 Award
Contest Finalist in Bold Colors Photo Contest
9Teen Award
Contest Finalist in Monthly Pro Photo Contest Volume5
Contest Finalist in Social Exposure Photo Contest Vol 25
Staff Favorite
Peer Award
Absolute Masterpiece
Superb Composition
Top Choice
Outstanding Creativity
Magnificent Capture
All Star
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken at the North Carolina State FairTime
This photo was taken in between 6:30 and 7:00pm the sun had already set. The light was mostly gone except for that little patch coming from the right side.Lighting
Not really honestly. The sunset was kind of blah. The sky was a little dull. But I was able to "add some light" to it in post.Equipment
I used my Nikon d3200 and Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8. To get the slightly long exposure I had to use my tripod. I also had to use my 6 stop ND filter. Even after sunset it was still too bright to get the exposure I wanted with out the use of filters. The 3 stop wasn't quite enough so I had to bump it up to the 6.Inspiration
I love long exposures of Ferris Wheels. With the right timing and a little bit of luck you can get some really unique patterns from the lights. When I hear the 155 foot Sky Gazer (North America's largest traveling Ferris Wheel) was coming to town I knew I had to get to the fair and capture this thing.Editing
First I did all of your basic RAW adjustments in Lightroom. I also did some scaling to bring back the size of the Ferris Wheel. This was shot at 11mm (16mm full frame) and shooting that wide made the Ferris Wheel appear smaller than it actually is. It towers over everything so I used the scaling to bring that back to the photo. Then I tried combining 4 exposures in Photoshop to get more of the "swirls" but I realized I liked it better with just the single exposure. After that I used some tricks I learned from Matt Kloskowski's "No Light...No Problem" course to add some light and drama to the sky. He's a great teacher and if you haven't checked out any of his courses I highly recommend it. Then I used the split toning sliders to add some color grading. And I finished it off in Color Effects Pro in the Nik Collection to add even more contrast.In my camera bag
The only camera I have as of now is the Nikon d3200 so it's obviously always in my bag. The lens I use most often is my Tokina 11-16 f/2.8. I love shooting wide angles so it's almost always on my camera. My other lenses I use most often are a Sigma 17-50 f/2.8 and the Nikon 35mm f/1.4. I also carry a 10 stop, 6 stop and 3 stop Neutral Density filter by ICE filters with me. ICE is a great cheap alternative for filters. Don't let the price on these things fool you. They are of great quality and perform exceptionally. I have never had an issue with them. The only draw back is they are screw on filters. Other than that the only other piece of equipment I routinely use is a remote shutter release.Feedback
The best advice I would give is just trial and error. Your definitely going to need a tripod. Filters will help so you don't have to wait till it gets dark to get trails in the lights. Use aperture priority mode on your camera. It makes finding your ideal shutter speed a lot easier. I guess you could also use shutter priority mode as well. Find an exposure that you like and adjust your settings accordingly. For me 2.5-5 seconds gave me the patterns and swirls in the lights that I was looking for so I was constantly changing my aperture to keep the shutter speed where I wanted. Anything longer than 5 seconds and the lights just become a swirly mess. I took somewhere around 100 photos in about a 30 minute span and most were taken at 2.5 to 3 seconds with a handful at 5 seconds. Also, just be patient. I spent a lot of time just waiting for the Ferris Wheel to move because it stops frequently to let people on and off. So waiting for the motion and the right color combination in the lights can be a tedious process. The biggest downside is after you've taken 100 photos you will have many that look great and you'll have to choose only a few to share on social media.
