marcadamus 1 Posted June 5, 2010 The milky way and night sky above a forest of Joshua Trees in Death Valley that were 'light painted' by a bright red-filtered light that I hand-held during the exposure. The background glow comes from the sunset over an hour earlier and is actually more light that would be visible to the naked eye. The moon appears in the central-left and looks full even though it was a mostly-shaded, barely-visible sliver at the time due to the intensity of light captured during this long exposure. This was a single exposure at f/2.8, 25 seconds, ISO 3200. Excellent detail throughout since very little adjustment was made to the land areas. Link to comment
marcadamus 1 Posted June 5, 2010 Please read description in the critique session for information on how this image was created using techniques in the field. Link to comment
marcadamus 1 Posted June 5, 2010 Ah yes, life on photo.net. You need ratings to get your images seen more, and yet, the SAME PEOPLE have gone through all of my new posts today and given them the SAME 4/3 ratings multiple times (they know they can't get away with 1/1's, so they do the worst they can). Of course, without explaining anything. You gotta love this site, eh? For humor sake at least...You all know I always respond to any honest questions or critiques, and I thank those who take the time to say anything at all. Link to comment
markvmueller 0 Posted June 6, 2010 Hi MarcGreat image - I love it when photographers experiment with off-beat light situations - in your case it gives those american classic that Xtra. Your body of work is quality and I can only imagine what kind of time, endurance and vision it takes to achieve such profound artistery throughout a portfolio. Unfortunately here on photo.net yes, the rating is a way of getting an image more exposed and I cannot understand many 3 and 4 ones on mine too. Ah well. They are those who truly appreciate once work, they dig and search and remember and come back, these are the ones you will reach without rates. I'lle come back to enjoy your fine american landscape - sometimes I leave a trace, many times I do not. They way it should be in nature. Cheers, Mark Link to comment
michael anderson 0 Posted June 6, 2010 Amazing Marc! This one stands out from the 40 new images in your New Visions and THAT is saying something! A deserving 7/7 from me.-Mike Link to comment
sketch_tbhotmail.com 11 Posted June 6, 2010 Geez man, anyone who knows anything about photography is going to know that this shot is fantastic. I don't know why you even bother commenting on the low raters... give it a week, you'll be up around the 30 ratings mark with an average above 6/6. Link to comment
sumon_mukherjee 0 Posted June 6, 2010 This is really a fantastic night shot. This is a skillfully captured composition with amazing color tonality and great details. Ryan is absolutely right about ratings. Your excellent presentations are never left unnoticed and always appreciated by photo-lovers. Best regards. Link to comment
castelli 0 Posted June 6, 2010 Hey, stupid 4/3 raters, come out and show your coward face. This is an outstanding shot! Link to comment
dom1 1 Posted June 6, 2010 This is an outstanding photo, like most in your portfolio. A well deserved 7/7. Why does PN allow anonymous or non member ratings? Link to comment
sketch_tbhotmail.com 11 Posted June 6, 2010 What did I tell you, already at 20 ratings over 6/6... Link to comment
scottsmorra 0 Posted June 7, 2010 I really like this one Marc. The red filtered light painting was a great choice here along with the inclusion of the moon in the frame. Well done. - Scott Link to comment
sketch_tbhotmail.com 11 Posted June 7, 2010 Also note, you'd still be over 6/6 even with the extra ratings... :) There's also a devout following that will push this higher I'm sure, they just haven't been online yet. Link to comment
craveprints 0 Posted June 7, 2010 So obviously I am new too photography, however it does not take a genius to see that this is a spectacularly beautiful shot. I realize that you did put up an explanation as to how you were able to capture this, that being said I was wondering if you would be so kind as to dumb down as much as possible as how you were actually able to do this so I may be able to try it as well. I understand the f stop and iso setting what I am having difficulty with is the "light painting" I understand it is lighting a subject with a handheld light outside of the frame, but I do not fully understand that explanation. Also (this may also be a dumb question) what type of light source did you use? Any insight would be greatly appreciated. I truly do love this photo, and I will be checking out the rest of your portfolio this just so happened to be the first one I saw. chEERS: Amanda Link to comment
ChristopherSchlaf 0 Posted June 7, 2010 I have asked since my first day here if there is something you dont like about my images let me know dont hide.Well it still happens so I really dont post here to much anymore.Now that Ive got that out of the way.This simply outstanding I must admit that I like the Wind & Light shot a little better.Great job as usual. Chris Link to comment
marcadamus 1 Posted June 7, 2010 Amanda, absolutely. Let me elaborate for you. The first thing I did here was identify a collection of Joshua trees during the daytime that were appealing but not too close to my camera, as it would make things more difficult to keep sharp front to back with an aperture of 2.8, which I needed to let a lot of light into the sensor once it was dark out. Once I selected this particular combination of trees, the first ones being about 15 feet away from my 16mm lens, I set up my camera and focused as perfectly as I could, keeping everything from the prominent trees to the background sharp enough. This is easier the wider your lens is.With my focus set, I waited for darkness to fall. I scouted the best angles for light-painting and knew based on my previous experience where in the sky the Milky Way would be most visible - my comp. was much based on this fact as well.As it began getting dark, I had my ISO set to 100 so I could utilize long exposures earlier and do some practice light painting the trees, visualizing what it would look like later to some degree.As it continued into night, my ISO was higher and higher during my exposures and the amount of light as well as the distance from which I applied it got lesser and further away. Towards the time I took this image, I had switched to a less powerful and warmer light source for the best effect. I had already practiced 20-30 shots.This image was taken about 1 hour after the sun had set, at a time when the faintest of glow was still discernible on the horizon if you looked hard, but more than 50% of the stars in this, the clearest of skies, were quite visible. As I mention in my description, the moon you see here, which appears full, was actually only the faintest sliver to the naked eye, 2 days after 'new' moon. The moon appears full, the Milky Way appears prominent and the glow from sunset much more vibrant than it did to my eye because at ISO 3200 and f/2.8, the camera is capturing far more light and color than our eyes can.For the light painting, I utilized a 10-second delay on my shutter so I could run to a distance of 50 yards or so and flash some red light onto the scene during the exposure multiple times for different trees, then run back.Because I exposed this photograph quite a bit more brightly than you see here and then darkened it in processing, I was able to capture information that was more on the right side of my histogram and save myself digital noise problems that might otherwise of ruined the details visible. I did also apply noise-reduction techniques to sky areas. The 100% crop visible here: http://www.marcadamus.com/photo.php?id=363&gallery=test (I have no idea why the direct link isn't working) illustrates everything is sharp and noise is kept to adequate levels. Link to comment
craveprints 0 Posted June 7, 2010 thank you so much! if these clouds let up i will be attempting it tonight! Link to comment
stacylankford 0 Posted June 8, 2010 Marc,I love this image. Your light painting is smooth and consistent throughout. Very nice work. Link to comment
jeff_henderson 0 Posted June 8, 2010 Another stunning image. Love the warm light source coming from camera right. Excellent job! Link to comment
Alex 0 Posted June 11, 2010 Fenomenal. The colors are just outstanding and those stars are nothing short of magnificent. You have trlly made a work of art here in every aspect, I am glad I bumped into your images.Best regardsAlex Link to comment
amir_ayalon 0 Posted June 11, 2010 Hi Marcthis is absolutely a stunning image!beside your beautiful pictures, i also really like in your posts the behind the scene and your explanations. please continue in doing so. Link to comment
martinamm 0 Posted June 29, 2010 wow just breathtaking as all your photos. i really admire your gorgeous work!!! best regards,Martin Link to comment
adam_hill 0 Posted October 11, 2010 Marc, I'm curious about what technique you use to control your noise? Link to comment
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