Album Night Shots and Star Trails

wes242 said:
so my question is did you have it flash multiple times, or do you one have to do it once on like the last frame? If you stack them and the last shot is lit up will it work that way?
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Once for the tent and once for the rock.

I have found that using a flash produces better shadows and a sharper image then a moving headlamp or a flash light YMMV. I have been using a small stationary lantern lately and have been pretty pleased with the results.

When mixing light painting and start trails I typically start by painting my foreground a few different ways before I let my trails roll. For this shot I set up my comp then fired off a few shots at iso800 f5.6. I was strobing the tent then running off to the left (out of frame) and strobing standing rock within the 30sec frame. After I got the paint job I wanted I set my camera to ISO1600 F2.8 and then let my trails go for 40min or so. In post I stacked everything like normal but excluded the painted frames. After it was stacked it was off to cs5 to layer in the my favorite painted shot of standing rock and the tent ( I decided to leave the head lamp trails from the main stack).

When shooting a campfire shot I always use a single shot for the foreground. Typically its the brightest shot, edited in LR, and then sent off to cs5 for layering. Its an easy way to "control the chaos" and keep your foreground and sharp with out too many blown out highlights.

In the main stack of this image there was all sorts of head lamp trails, no details on the trees, and a white blob around the fire.
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nick said:
Very nice. Just curious, what was the moon cycle and your camera settings? And is this a single exposure?
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Yes, single exposure. Moon was full or very near. ISO 200 f/7.1... and I went back to look at my EXIF again and realized it was a 20 minute exposure, not 40. I remember it being 40 because I used long exposure noise reduction in camera, doubling the time needed for the photo.
 
Summit said:
Standing Rock by Summit42, on Flickr
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Jeez dude. That shot is killer. Definitely faved and I'm sure I'll share on FB when/if you get that upload there.

Miss Buffalo said:
how did you get all the details in it? I haven't done anything to mine yet, but maybe I can enhance it a little bit with software
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I used unsharp mask in Photoshop in Lab Color mode (selecting the Lightness Channel only, and then switching back to RGB), and I also used Topaz Adjust's Photo Pop setting. I like that setting a lot and use it often to bring out detail. I'm definitely not a Photoshop guru, and haven't figured out LightRoom even, so I use iPhoto and Photoshop to play around and get the results I like.
 
First post to this site. I am usually asleep or passed out when it is time for some night shots, but here are a few that I managed to stay up for.

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Ruedi Reservoir, Co



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Moon and Venus over Thompson Divide, from Carbondale, Co.


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In Meander Canyon, Colorado River


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Another one.
Greg
 
Love the moon/sun shot
 
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