North star

[GB1]

Shot this about 2 weeks ago on a moonless night in the desert...

I like it, but the foreground leaves something to be desired. Suggestions for next time.....?

Note that I adjusted the colors a bit using Corel Photopaint (forgot that Velvia tints green in long exposures)

Info:

Fuji Velvia 50 asa
Mamiya 645 camera with 55mm lens (~ 38 equivalent on 35mm sys)
F2.8 aperature
Tripod
8.5 hour exposure.

[Piet]

I think this is a great shot.The foreground adds perspective to the foto and with a 8.5 hour exposure time what more do you want from it?Great foto.
Piet

[grentz]

pretty cool, the colors almost look fake

nice work

[Clicker]

I love shots like this!!
did you crop it down?

[GB1]

No, really didn't crop it much. I took out a small part of the foreground that didn't add anything. I did, however, adjust the color.... It really shifted green on me without a color compenstation filter (that's for next time).

I'm thinking the next one I try will be with a small village or something in the foreground, to add something to it. Since those lights may overwhelme the stars', I will prob used a graduated neutral density filter to block out some of the village light.

gb

[bobbythebandit]

Or a chuch and steeple ! this is terrific, be happy.
Bobby

[another view]

I'm thinking the next one I try will be with a small village or something in the foreground, to add something to it. Since those lights may overwhelme the stars', I will prob used a graduated neutral density filter to block out some of the village light.

gb

Great shot, your above idea might make it better. Only thing is that light pollution might make the stars not stand out so much, but probably worth a try. Something dramatic that's a silhouette in the foreground would work well, like a church steeple like Bobby suggested, or a fence line. Provia is a good choice for not having to worry about color shifts.

[villenadecorte]

I was going to say the same thing about the Church and Steeple!
But looking at it, anything larger than that molehill would disturn the stars circular path. Its a beautiful path and looks great as is with no alteration in the foreground!


Nice job on those colors too!

VillenaDeCorte
[ QUOTE=bobbythebandit]Or a chuch and steeple ! this is terrific, be happy.
Bobby[/QUOTE]

[Chunk]

Shot this about 2 weeks ago on a moonless night in the desert...

I like it, but the foreground leaves something to be desired. Suggestions for next time.....?

Note that I adjusted the colors a bit using Corel Photopaint (forgot that Velvia tints green in long exposures)

Info:

Fuji Velvia 50 asa
Mamiya 645 camera with 55mm lens (~ 38 equivalent on 35mm sys)
F2.8 aperature
Tripod
8.5 hour exposure.

Nice shot. I like the colors.
A closer up silouhette of one of those scragly bushes might be an interesting foreground for a shot like this.

[Lava Lamp]

Shot this about 2 weeks ago on a moonless night in the desert...

I like it, but the foreground leaves something to be desired. Suggestions for next time.....?

Note that I adjusted the colors a bit using Corel Photopaint (forgot that Velvia tints green in long exposures)

Info:

Fuji Velvia 50 asa
Mamiya 645 camera with 55mm lens (~ 38 equivalent on 35mm sys)
F2.8 aperature
Tripod
8.5 hour exposure.

Really a different, wonderful, and memorable picture. The only tihng I could suggest is something in the foreground. There was a Pop Photography cover once with similar stars and yellow tents inthe foreground that were lit internally that was just unbelieveable.

[GB1]

Lava Lamp - Yes, that Pop Photo cover is what inspired me to try this. The fellow used some internally lit tents on a climbing trip to Kilimanjaro for the foreground. Pretty sure he said it was a 3-4 hour exposure... I don't know how he managed to not overexpose the tents relative to the stars (perhaps he did and corrected it a bit with digital software?). Anyways, it was a heck of a shot, and I guess imitation is the sincerest form of flatery.

The church and steeple may be an idea (or even some desert brush). If I find one that isn't illuminated, I guess I can try artifical illuminating it with flash on camera setting B then let it continue to exp for the rest of the night to get the stars. Calculating the flash/other illumination will be the real challenge. I better experiment with that separately.

Now if I can only find a church out in the middle of nowhere.

GB

[Chunk]

Lava Lamp - Yes, that Pop Photo cover is what inspired me to try this. The fellow used some internally lit tents on a climbing trip to Kilimanjaro for the foreground. Pretty sure he said it was a 3-4 hour exposure... I don't know how he managed to not overexpose the tents relative to the stars (perhaps he did and corrected it a bit with digital software?). Anyways, it was a heck of a shot, and I guess imitation is the sincerest form of flatery.

The church and steeple may be an idea (or even some desert brush). If I find one that isn't illuminated, I guess I can try artifical illuminating it with flash on camera setting B then let it continue to exp for the rest of the night to get the stars. Calculating the flash/other illumination will be the real challenge. I better experiment with that separately.

Now if I can only find a church out in the middle of nowhere.

GB

You can walk around in the dark in front of the camera so you could go to each of the tents and pop a flash inside or turn some other light on momentarily and leave them dark for the rest of the exposure.