Mono Lake Star Trails

Gallery: LandscapePosted February 7, 2012629 views12 comments

One of a few photos that I created a little over a week ago while in the field with a client on a private workshop in the Owens valley. This particular photo was taken at Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve. We were treated to great conditions and we put my the star trail photo techniques outlined in my ebook through their paces. This particular image was a lot of fun to capture even if we had to endure bitter cold and dodge smelly sagebrush to get back to our car in the dark. All good fun and well worth the effort in my opinion.

Photo Details:
Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 16-35mm II at 19mm, ISO 3200, f/3.2, 66 minutes [(132) 30 second images, stacked]

Comments

12 comments

Comment posted by Gary McGhee on February 7, 2012 at 9:07 AM

It's quite hypnotic Jim, looks great.

Gary.

Registered on April 15, 2010, 142 Posts, 2416 Comments

Comment posted by Kory Lidstrom on February 7, 2012 at 9:41 AM

Nice work. The reflection is the coolest part -- you must've had perfectly windless conditions. For the record, I think sagebrush smells awesome.

Registered on November 19, 2008, 49 Posts, 1035 Comments

Comment posted by Yiming Hu on February 7, 2012 at 9:48 AM

Very interesting! I've never tried star-trail shots at ISO 3200! I guess the result is kind of grainy, even with the stacking technique, right?

Registered on April 28, 2011, 38 Posts, 733 Comments

Comment posted by Daniel & Loana on February 7, 2012 at 3:55 PM

Wonderful shot, Jim. I never saw before a reflection of star trail!

Congrats

D&L

Registered on October 7, 2008, 166 Posts, 3044 Comments

Comment posted by Tonia Graves on February 7, 2012 at 4:23 PM

Jim, nice work with this! I especially like the fact you captured star trail reflections too!

Registered on October 29, 2011, 92 Posts, 1035 Comments

Comment posted by Martin W. Quinn on February 7, 2012 at 6:04 PM

Star trails AND a reflection, very nice. 132 30 second images is just astounding.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 28 Posts, 189 Comments

Comment posted by Greg Lessard on February 7, 2012 at 6:09 PM

Excellent work Jim! I love the reflection!

Registered on January 14, 2009, 38 Posts, 219 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Overacker on February 7, 2012 at 7:55 PM

Jim,

Can't say I recall ever seeing a reflected star trail image. This is fantastic! And to get this at Mono makes this even better. Personal preference noted.... some of the deep blue and cyan colored trails are a little bold for me, but that's just me. Oh, and I like the thirds comp. Excellent work!

Lon

Registered on November 24, 2006, 521 Posts, 19147 Comments

Comment posted by Zack Clothier on February 8, 2012 at 1:42 AM

Wonderful comp, the startrail reflections are a nice bonus.

Registered on January 28, 2010, 343 Posts, 2257 Comments

Comment posted by Stuart Williams on February 8, 2012 at 3:42 AM

jim, i have a reflected star trail in my mind as well ... (lake magadi in kenya) ... it has to be utterly still though for even the merest caress of air will disturb the water sufficiently to render the image unusable. lake magadi is the only place i know where this might be remotely possible. there are some paradoxes to your image as well - but it works out fine. the star colours might be toned down a little - at least to me.

Registered on December 7, 2007, 247 Posts, 4792 Comments

Comment posted by Kartik Venkatarama on February 9, 2012 at 5:00 PM

Awesome image...a unique capture of Mono lake where it isn't about the lake at all!

Registered on July 27, 2007, 197 Posts, 830 Comments

Comment posted by Kris Johnson on May 15, 2012 at 11:47 PM

Stunned. Hypnotic is right. Great work. The reflection greatly enhances the feel and composition of this image

Registered on March 6, 2010, 26 Posts, 299 Comments