Celestial Himalaya

Gallery: LandscapePosted May 14, 2014252 views13 comments

Here is my very first attempt at night photography.
This shows a couple of mountains in the Himalaya: the right one is Ama Dablam and to the left is Lhotse (Everest is just out of the frame to the left).

I was very surprised by all the sky colours in the RAW file, it definitely does not come from light pollution. The blur on the left mountain should be from snow drift.

Having followed the very interesting discussion around John’s excellent night shot, I sort of arrive at the conclusion that the processing is down to my personal preferences…
So this is processed at WB 4000K. Blending of sky and foreground at 2 different EVs. 12 minutes, ISO 800, f2.8.

Please view large, thanks for any thoughts you may have.

Comments

13 comments

Comment posted by Crystal Brindle on May 14, 2014 at 8:16 PM

Stunning!

Registered on February 14, 2014, 4 Posts, 16 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Kearl on May 15, 2014 at 12:05 AM

While not being a huge fan of long star photos, this works nicely due to the colors.
I do think the snow drift hurts the image a bit, but with super long exposures this stuff happens.
The WB you chose works for me...

Registered on September 2, 2013, 209 Posts, 1514 Comments

Comment posted by Roel Wijtmans on May 15, 2014 at 3:04 PM

What you are seeing is probably airglow. In contrast to the aurora, airglow can be seen all around our little globe, but it has the same colors as the aurora (although in a lower intensity).

I love this one, as I belong to the minority that actually likes star trail photos. The greens are a bit too cyan for my taste, but that's a small nit. What focal length was this taken at?

Registered on September 30, 2012, 116 Posts, 2257 Comments

Comment posted by gary phillips on May 15, 2014 at 4:45 PM

I like this , Karsten. I'm such a neophyte when it comes to night photography that the nuance escapes me. I don't mind the star trails at all and it's cool to see an image of the Himalays. The colors are wild.

Registered on October 24, 2013, 185 Posts, 4136 Comments

Comment posted by Karsten Wrobel on May 15, 2014 at 5:56 PM

Roel, thanks for the explanation. The focal length is 50mm.

Registered on November 1, 2008, 117 Posts, 851 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Teller on May 15, 2014 at 9:14 PM

I can't believe that there are not more comments for this image. It is almost a surreal image. I like the colors, the detail in the mountains and it almost looks like the stars are raining down on the mountains. I like it.

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

Comment posted by Patrick O'Healy on May 15, 2014 at 11:49 PM

Wonderful image. I like the trails. Colors are rich.

Registered on March 13, 2011, 326 Posts, 1679 Comments

Comment posted by Roger Clark on May 16, 2014 at 3:18 AM

Hello Karsten,

This is a very nicely composed image, The mountain peaks shooting up in the same direction as the star trails work very nicely. The cyan color in the center and the red color near the horizon appear to be red and green airglow. If so, then the cyan color should be more green if you want a natural color, and a color balance with less blue would make the red airglow a nice red. I like the blowing snow on the mountain peaks. Well done.

Roger

Registered on May 8, 2014, 2 Posts, 23 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Seaver on May 16, 2014 at 4:15 AM

The star trails and the subtle colors in the sky are great and its so nice that your blend gave good detail in the main peaks. Well done.

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

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on May 16, 2014 at 1:43 PM

I really like this image. Beautiful scene and your choice of exposure time is excellent. Very nice work on the color balance. All kinds of comments lately about the "right" way. It is a very personal choice on white balance for night images in my opinion. I did think this image could use a bit more punch. I did a few quick adjustments to produce this version. See what you think.

Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments

Comment posted by R.Bill Moser on May 16, 2014 at 2:14 PM

Karsten, I really love what you did with this scene. I think you composed it well and the processing looks good.

Registered on January 29, 2010, 285 Posts, 4281 Comments

Comment posted by Karsten Wrobel on May 16, 2014 at 2:24 PM

Keith, thanks for your input.
I played around a lot with the image before posting it and actually toned contrast down and desaturated a bit before posting because I did not want to make it look completely surreal...
But I might have changed my mind again and will probably rework it towards something much more psychedelic, so I agree with you

Registered on November 1, 2008, 117 Posts, 851 Comments

Comment posted by Kah Kit Yoong on May 18, 2014 at 4:33 AM

A beautiful startrail image. I like the subtle presentation of the colours.

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