Milky Way, Arizona Style

Gallery: Man & NaturePosted December 2, 2010427 views10 comments

Driving back from an Albuquerque business trip I knew I'd hit the NE Arizona desert in the evening and that the moon wasn't rising until after midnight, so camera gear was ready (an article by Richard Peters gave me the direction on how to get this shot). I pulled off at the exit (#311, I-40) for the Petrified National Forest figuring it'd be dark, and was it EVER. I parked near the gate and got out and couldn't see where to step! But the sky... it was beyond breathtaking. This image doesn't even begin to represent the Milky Way and the immense amount of stars that were all around me out there. I kept hearing Psalm 19:1 in my head! I took several images, this is one of them. The road you see is the path to the forest, and I was up against the closed gate (my tripod was on top of the square cement pillar, very handy!).

Canon 5D Mark II, 16-35mm/2.8 lens, and my very first shoot with a carbon fiber tripod, why did I wait so long?!?

Single image, 30 seconds, f/2.8, ISO 3200. I did shine a light on the foreground in the last few seconds of exposure, and ended up burning it down, was too bright.

BTW, infinity on the lens gave me VERY soft stars. I manually set focus at about TEN feet and that worked best (verified with the 10x zoom in Live View, the best friend of landscape photogs). Later I verified in my DOF calc that 10ft at 2.8 will focus to infinity, FYI.

Comments

10 comments

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on December 2, 2010 at 10:30 PM

Stunning is all there is to say about those stars... I'd crop out the bottom as it adds absolutely nothing to the image (and takes away from it, in my opinion especially because of the light that was shone).

Registered on February 4, 2009, 1093 Posts, 7035 Comments

Comment posted by Paul DeCesare on December 2, 2010 at 10:45 PM

Yeah, I've been toying with that, kinda bugs me too, glad you mentioned it. But with nothing on the bottom, don't you think it's sort of lost though? Terra firma sort of anchors the image IMO. What do you think of this crop with just a wee bit of horizon?

Registered on August 31, 2007, 29 Posts, 202 Comments

Comment posted by Paul DeCesare on December 2, 2010 at 10:49 PM

Thanks John, appreciate it... we're trying to determine how much land is needed. Some may not want to see any (I have horizontal shots like that from last night also, maybe to post another day).

I like the orangy light from the desert dust, came out brighter in the image than I had expected due to the long exposure.

Registered on August 31, 2007, 29 Posts, 202 Comments

Comment posted by Timothy F. Hale on December 2, 2010 at 11:36 PM

OMG!!!!

Registered on December 10, 2003, 282 Posts, 405 Comments

Comment posted by Kah Kit Yoong on December 3, 2010 at 3:39 PM

I prefer the original crop. Wonderful sky and I like the colours there too.

Registered on September 27, 2006, 636 Posts, 10682 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Zemmin on December 4, 2010 at 12:31 AM

I prefer the original. It gives the feeling of the road heading off to the stars and bring some perspective to the photo. Excellent photo.

Registered on November 4, 2010, 8 Posts, 170 Comments

Comment posted by Donald Case on December 4, 2010 at 6:26 PM

Awesome, Psalm 19:1 is appropiate

Registered on January 28, 2010, 45 Posts, 99 Comments

Comment posted by Paul DeCesare on December 4, 2010 at 7:48 PM

Hey, I really appreciate everyone's input. I do prefer some ground and a glimpse of the road leading into it... I just needed to tone down the distracting bright green blob in the LRC. I also did a bit more Noise Ninja cleanup. May not show here but in full view it has helped. The typical soft edges of Canon WA zooms is really evident with these stars, wonder how the 14mm/2.8 performs. Anyway, here's the final version, and thanks for commenting, really helps!

Registered on August 31, 2007, 29 Posts, 202 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on December 6, 2010 at 12:07 PM

Excellent job in getting this difficult shot. I happen to like a crop without the ground showing since you have a wonderful colored layer for the stars but it is a personal choice and either way a very cool shot, well done.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments

Comment posted by Paul DeCesare on December 6, 2010 at 12:17 PM

Thanks Jim. Hmmmm, if I totally crop off the bottom, that means I can post this in ESS, right??

Registered on August 31, 2007, 29 Posts, 202 Comments