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Monument Valley

Monument Valley
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cameraNIKON D800

settings Aperture f/2.8 ISO 3200 Shutter 272/10 

upload_dateSep, 2014

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892

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Awards

Editor's Choice
Featured
Contest Finalist in 300 Star Trails Photo Contest
Brilliant
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Peer Award
djalmaarmelin keithart Tudorof billmartin_2615 davidjprosser ileanaandreagmezgavinoser NancyFlemingPhotography +34
Absolute Masterpiece
johnanixon plan_z edgaratochefotografo aldridge andrewmalmo 5099_2066 NehaVerma21 +11
Outstanding Creativity
karynellis mrspos Sheilaphoto conniecavins tinabulley Rusmwood tcarraro87 +5
Superb Composition
Charlene-Shelby Ladybuggirl johnconvery pratimaozevartak celanephoto patrick9x9 JerrysPhotography +1
Top Choice
russellsef susanmbrown SOROUT_Photography bgalocha lizaotrefy Ceylon73 EmmEeeElliiessessa
All Star
CliffordPugliese AlanJakarta b2bjacks
Magnificent Capture
vastdreamer gregmorgan
One Of A Kind
NatureLoverJJWal
Superior Skill
DutchTouch
Exceptional Contrast
Eurokiwiboy

Top Ranks

Change Of Seasons Photo ContestTop 20 rank
Change Of Seasons Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 1
The Wonders of the World Photo ContestTop 10 rank
The Wonders of the World Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Our World At Night Photo ContestTop 30 rank
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Everything Nature Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Everything Nature Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
World Photography Day Photo ContestTop 10 rank
World Photography Day Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 2
World Photography Day Photo ContestTop 30 rank week 1
Our Natural World Photo ContestTop 30 rank week 1
Worldscapes Photo ContestTop 10 rank
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Worldscapes Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
The Battle Of Advanced Photo ContestTop 10 rank
The Battle Of Advanced Photo ContestTop 10 rank month 1
The Battle Of Advanced Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 3
The Battle Of Advanced Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 2
The Battle Of Advanced Photo ContestTop 30 rank week 1
World At Night Photo ContestTop 30 rank week 1
ViewBugs Best Nature Photo ContestTop 30 rank
ViewBugs Best Nature Photo ContestTop 30 rank week 2
ViewBugs Best Nature Photo ContestTop 30 rank week 1
ViewBug Image of the Year Photo ContestTop 20 rank
ViewBug Image of the Year Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 6
ViewBug Image of the Year Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 5
ViewBug Image of the Year Photo ContestTop 20 rank month 1
ViewBug Image of the Year Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 3
ViewBug Image of the Year Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 2
300 Star Trails Photo ContestTop 10 rank
300 Star Trails Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 3
300 Star Trails Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 2
300 Star Trails Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 1

Categories

6 Comments |
DutchTouch Platinum
 
DutchTouch September 04, 2014
That is an unbelievable image! Bravo! Incredible! Amazing!
judithlawley
judithlawley September 04, 2014
Thank you, just had to do a quick edit this evening as I thought I would enter my first contest, just got back from hols last night, incredible place!
b2bjacks
 
b2bjacks September 05, 2014
Love how you can see planes taking off! How long and how many images???
NatureLoverJJWal
 
NatureLoverJJWal October 07, 2014
Congratulations on your Award!
cynthiabroomfield
 
cynthiabroomfield October 07, 2014
Congrats, absolutely amazing capture!
jrhalphen
 
jrhalphen October 07, 2014
What a great shot--love your view and staying at The View!
Ceylon73
 
Ceylon73 October 09, 2014
that is amazing !!!! Congrats !!

Submitted to Photo Contests

Tags

#Monument valley #Star Trail #night photography #stars
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Behind The Lens

Location

An beautiful quite night from the balcony of the view hotel at Monument Valley. The best place I've ever been for witnessing dark skies and a Miriad of stars not normally seen back home.

Time

This was taken over a 3 hour period from around 9pm when the stars were abundant and bright.

Lighting

This is a stacked photo of many 30 second exposures, ISO 3200 blended with a chosen photo of the car headlights trailing as they headed back from a tour around the monuments. The highlights were toned down and the headlights were very bright.

Equipment

A good quality tripod is essential for this kind of image. Nikon D800, tripod mounted with Nikkor 14-24mm f2.8, set to f2.8 and 14mm.

Inspiration

I went with the full intention of taking star photos for the 2 nights I was there, both star trails and capturing the Milky Way as I knew this could be the only time I Might be in the presence of such dark skies.

Editing

All of the photos were shot in RAW and converted to JPEG before stacking using StarStax software, alternatively stack in Photoshop using the lighten blending mode. The image of the Monuments were taken earlier in the evening before all of the vehicles had made their way back to the hotel and some adjustments to the highlights and shadows were made. Nik define2 was run to reduce the noise a little.

In my camera bag

I usually carry one camera body, currently a Nikon D810 a Nikkor 105mm f2.8, 24-70mm f2.8, 85mm f1.4, 2 speedlites with triggers, remote release, Hitech 10 stop ND, Cokin Z Pro graduated ND, CL Polariser, cleaning cloth and a sekonic light meter. Oh and spare batteries!

Feedback

A tripod is essential for longer exposures, but just be patient to capture as many frames as required to get the trails that you would like. Obviously you can take way less than this or in fact just do one exposure lasting 30 minutes. It is also useful to take one frame with the lens cap on first as third party software can use it to calculate noise reduction when stacking the images. Do not use NR in camera as each 30 second frame you take will become 60 seconds as the camera calculates for noise reduction itself. You will be out in the wilderness for hours and end up with larger gaps in your trails. Use the in camera intervalometer if you have one or purchase one separately and let it do the work, while you have a nice coffee. Bear in mind that if you are out on a cold night, the battery life of your camera will be shortened, so ensure you have backups. A higher ISO and wide open lens will capture the most light onto your sensor and therefore show more stars than you can imagine and a little bit of a nudge on the clarity slider in Photoshop will also make them stand out. For the foreground of your image either illuminate it during an exposure with a torch or take it at a slightly earlier time than the stars, keep in mind that any other lights included might blow out at longer exposures and any light pollution not visible to the naked eye with appear on the horizon of your image. Above all else experiment and have fun!

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