Our Place in the Cosmos

Gallery: Man & NaturePosted October 17, 2012504 views22 comments

My camp on the Alvord Desert playa, under the Milky Way. Southeast Oregon has some of the darkest skies in the United States.

Comments

22 comments

Comment posted by scott lanz on October 17, 2012 at 7:50 AM

Very dramatic and inspirational, at least to me. The REI logo is pretty prominent. You could probably sell this one to them for advertising. Very well done, Alex.

Registered on November 14, 2003, 840 Posts, 12902 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Reed on October 17, 2012 at 7:55 AM

Awesome. The milky way looks like smoke out the chimney of your tent!

Registered on September 19, 2009, 198 Posts, 1074 Comments

Comment posted by Carol Nichols on October 17, 2012 at 10:42 AM

That is an amazing photo Alex. What a gorgeous campground with an amazing sky. I'd definitely be contacting REI if I were you.

Registered on November 7, 2007, 161 Posts, 1420 Comments

Comment posted by Mike Ramy on October 17, 2012 at 11:36 AM

Outstanding Alex,
This is a 'Work of Art' from an Artist with a wonderful vision, impressive as always.

Registered on June 16, 2012, 567 Posts, 2809 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Teller on October 17, 2012 at 12:17 PM

Tremendous image. Great vision and very well executed.

Registered on August 23, 2010, 1162 Posts, 6692 Comments

Comment posted by Shantikara Valuska on October 17, 2012 at 5:16 PM

Area 51!

That's awesome! Very cool image.

Registered on July 25, 2011, 38 Posts, 451 Comments

Comment posted by Karen Kane on October 17, 2012 at 7:36 PM

Simply fabulous Alex. I love the fact that your tent colour is harmonious with the sky/ground tones and the overall lighting/exposure is amazing!!!

Registered on August 4, 2012, 66 Posts, 726 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Siggins on October 17, 2012 at 10:53 PM

Fantastic comp and exposure. Looks like a special place. The ground really makes this photo different.

Registered on October 11, 2007, 115 Posts, 223 Comments

Comment posted by Wayne Jones on October 18, 2012 at 12:36 AM

Masterfully done! A real eye-grabber. If I saw this either in a gallery or as a full-page ad in a slick magazine, it would stop me in my tracks.

Registered on April 18, 2007, 953 Posts, 6435 Comments

Comment posted by Harry Lichtman on October 18, 2012 at 2:50 PM

Way cool! The colors are so great together. Jump into the image and increase sales of an image like this! Spectacular.

Registered on September 17, 2010, 304 Posts, 3507 Comments

Comment posted by James Fougère on October 18, 2012 at 5:49 PM

Saw this on 500px, super cool capture

Registered on October 25, 2010, 41 Posts, 831 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Overacker on October 19, 2012 at 1:08 AM

Fantastic Alex! Of course, I think the glowing tent thing has been done a couple times.... but this is exceptional.

Have no idea what kind of processing went in to this, but I just have to say that the echoed colors between the sky and the landscape (playa, tent, light) are truly remarkable.

Cliche perhaps, but if you're gonna do one, make it stand out - and you certainly did that!

Lon

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

Comment posted by Alex Noriega on October 19, 2012 at 1:19 AM

All the colors were achieved with white balance blends, Lon - the foreground exposure was processed once for the playa (cool) and once for the tent (warm); similarly the sky was once for the sky (cool) and once for the Milky Way (warm). Then just hand blending it all at various opacities through various luminosity masks, tweaking and tweaking until the colors echoed each other!

If you've seen much of my work, you'll know that I don't let it stop me if a location or concept has been done before - I just try to throw my hat in the ring with a unique or stronger image that stands out. One of the first things I learned in photography is that everything has been done before - you just need to develop a style and make it your own. I can't allow myself to pass up an image and effectively be penalized for having been born later than those who did it before me (I'm 26.)

Registered on May 19, 2012, 80 Posts, 195 Comments

Comment posted by Guy Nelson on October 19, 2012 at 6:02 PM

Hi Alex, This is a fantastic Photo...I like how the light illuminates the cracks in the ground
That is Soooo Good!

Thanks for the inspiration
Guy Nelson
Calgary, Alberta

Registered on October 12, 2012, 24 Posts, 138 Comments

Comment posted by Ian Cameron on October 21, 2012 at 5:56 AM

A real cracker of a shot Alex like this one.

Registered on August 6, 2004, 1125 Posts, 3318 Comments

Comment posted by Tonia Graves on October 22, 2012 at 12:16 AM

Simply gorgeous image! I like the centered tent as well as the glow from underneathe helping to illuminate the cracks in the earth.

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

Comment posted by Joel DeYoung on October 22, 2012 at 8:00 PM

This is absolutely gorgeous! Wonderfully done!

Registered on July 12, 2009, 92 Posts, 1074 Comments

Comment posted by Zack Clothier on October 23, 2012 at 12:23 PM

Wow, killer shot man, I don't think I've ever seen a tent shot quite like this. How many exposures here?

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

Comment posted by Basil Greber on October 24, 2012 at 6:23 PM

This is mind-boggling. One might think that E.T. is living in that tent!

Of all the glowing tents I've seen over time, this one certainly stands out from the crowd.

Registered on November 8, 2005, 219 Posts, 1340 Comments

Comment posted by Marsel van Oosten on October 29, 2012 at 10:47 AM

Missed this one - awesome!

Registered on March 9, 2004, 285 Posts, 2277 Comments

Comment posted by Jon LaBass on October 30, 2012 at 12:40 PM

That's just downright cool!

Registered on June 9, 2008, 13 Posts, 63 Comments

Comment posted by Kory Lidstrom on April 18, 2013 at 1:05 AM

This is fantastic! No nits.

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