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Communication - WC 586

Gallery: Weekly ChallengePosted May 30, 201371 views7 comments

We were walking around, looking for decent subjects to do a little bit of moonlight shooting in Joshua Tree National Park when I came across this lone joshua tree slanted towards the moon as if it was reaching out to it. After setting up, I experimented with the f-stop to get the right combination of flare. The resultant waves look like the tree and the moon are communicating or it does to me anyway.

Thanks.

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by Carolyn Derstine on May 30, 2013 at 8:42 PM

Welcome to NPN, Byron!

Looks like this is your very first posting. . . and a wonderful one it is. A great combination of interesting elements in this shot. Your comp gives some personality to the shot, with the look of the tree and moon communicating.

I like the moon star, the flares, the sky colors, and the nice details and lighting on the tree. Amazing amount of stars visible too. Great job!

Registered on February 16, 2011, 610 Posts, 3684 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Cross on May 30, 2013 at 10:20 PM

Nice concept and execution Byron. I like it. I'd like to see a little less light on the J tree. Did youy light paint it? Nevertheless it's a fun image. To me it looks like Verizon has designed another one of their camo cell phone towers for use in the desert. You never know.

Registered on April 3, 2010, 271 Posts, 1342 Comments

Comment posted by Byron O'Neal on May 30, 2013 at 11:15 PM

Thanks to you both for commenting. It's really nice to see some dialogue happening. It is indeed my first posting here. I plan on being more active and submitting some writing soon as well.

To address Peter's question, I did indeed do a little bit of light painting as the tree was backlit and it threw off the balance to simply leave the tree as a silhouette. I'm rather partial to my Fenix E11, at 105 lumens it works rather well for either a wash or a spot treatment in a small package.

It still amazes me how much ambient light pollution Joshua Tree can get. Arch Rock is probably my favorite spot in the park at night as it faces in a more easterly direction and cuts down on the unwanted illumination.

Registered on April 2, 2013, 2 Posts, 2 Comments

Comment posted by Tonia Graves on May 31, 2013 at 12:47 AM

This is a really fun and interesting night shot! The Joshua Tree does seem like it's communicating with the moon. Actually it reminds me of a satellite for some reason beaming up messages to the heavens. Also the light-painting works for me in this.

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

Comment posted by Ed Williams on May 31, 2013 at 1:40 AM

Totally, absolutely, very cool Byron. Love it. Great shot and a lot of fun. Welcome to NPN.

Registered on December 28, 2010, 636 Posts, 3499 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Seaver on May 31, 2013 at 9:39 AM

Welcome to NPN. This is a fun idea and I think the sky portion and the leaning tree are very well done. I find the brightness of the J tree (especially the top) and the foreground too strong for a "realistic" picture, but that's where artistic vision comes in to play.

Registered on January 23, 2011, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments

Comment posted by Scott Fricke on May 31, 2013 at 1:11 PM

I'm pretty sure what you caught here is an alien in disguise and it's mothership above... Great concept and execution with the flares, this has a lot of "personality" for lack of a better word. Welcome to NPN!

Registered on January 19, 2007, 133 Posts, 1448 Comments