ViewBug community member marjonatalielaitakari is lucky enough to live in a country where landscapes are beautiful and the light is unique. Here is something we can learn from marjonatalielaitakari about the techniques and story behind this awarded photo. "I took my first photography course in 2012 and have been taken by this hobby ever since. I love nature and capturing it in different states. Hope you enjoy my photos."
Where did you take this photo?
This photo was taken near Salo, Finland. We were taking milky way photos during the night but the clouds catched us and we needed to move away from our original location. Then driving back from the coast we were checking the cloud situation and in which direction the milky way would be and then came with an idea to stop to a bridge going over Turku-Helsinki motorway. Not far we found one suitable our purposes and started navigating towards it. Soon we found ourselves in forest maintenance road that was going on and on and on. I was almost loosing my faith on getting to the bridge one it showed itself to us - a bridge in the middle of nowhere.
What time of day?
This photo was taken around 3 am when the milky way was in the western sky and aligned with Turku-Helsinki motorway going from east to west.
Anything worth sharing about lighting?
This photo was taken using long exposure in order to shoot the car lights lighting the scenery, the light trails and the milky way.
What equipment did you use?
I used Nikon D610 with Samyang 14mm f/2.8 lense. And in order to take this shot I also used my very heavy duty Sirui tripod.
What inspired you to take this photo?
I got this thought of taking a photo of the motorway reaching to milky way but rest of it came during the photo session. The idea kind of crew while I was taking my shots.
Did you do any post-processing?
I shoot raw as it gives me more freedom with post-processing. Here I made a composition of 3 pictures, one exposure where cars lights were lighting the scenery, one for light trails and one for the sky in order to get the picture I saw in life while standing on the that bridge.
Any advice for others trying to capture something similar?
First thing is to have an idea, then check where you can find a place to take that photo based on that idea. For example this one was taken more than 100km from my home but based on the prework I already knew that the milky way would be at west at 3 am and that this motorway will have parts which would be aligned with it if I just arrive there at the right time. Also you need to be aware of the weather as the clouds kills the photosession completely. Also you need to take milky way photos on new moon phase as moon lights the sky so that milky way is not really visible anymore. So prework is mandatory but having good luck and good idea helps.
Where did you take this photo?
This photo was taken at Porkkala peninsula, Finland.
What time of day?
Evening
Anything worth sharing about lighting?
During this photo shoot it started snowing and it already looked like we were not going to get any good pictures at that day but all the sudden the snowing stopped and the sun came visible. As the snowing continued at the horizon the sunset colored the whole sky with this amazing red color.
What equipment did you use?
This photo was taken with Nikon D7100 and Tamron 17-50mm lense. Also I used my Fotopro MGC-684N+ tripod.
What inspired you to take this photo?
Winter, open sea and wish to get amazing sunset colors to the picture.
Did you do any post-processing?
I do normal post-processing activities as I take RAW-pictures. This picture is one exposure shot, colors and contrasts adjusted to make the picture to pop out.
Any advice for others trying to capture something similar?
There is no quick/easy way to capture the perfect light. The only way is to go out as often as possible and be prepared as the light might change very, very rapidly. It is all about being in the right place at the right time with the vision in your head of what your shot should be like.
What equipment do you carry in your bag?
I normally carry my wide range of lenses from extra wide Samyang 14 mm f/2.8 to telephoto Sigma 70-200mm lenses as you never know what happens during the photoshoot. I also carry my Nikon D610 and my Sirui tripod. I have a buch of ND filters, 3 batteries and many memory cards to equip me to what ever situation comes up in front of me when I am out in the field shooting.
