namibia Trails to Heaven

This was shot on this year's Namibia Untamed workshop. We spentthe afternoon shooting quivertrees and natural rock sculptures, thesky was clear, new moon, no wind, so I decided leave my setup at thelocation and pick it up the next morning (yes, I admit, that was a bitscary).

On the northern hemisphere it's easy: find Polaris and you knowwhere's north and where the stars will circle. On the southernhemisphere it's more complicated as there is no such thing as a'southern star'. I used my GPS to determine south and made acomposition with the tree on the left side of the frame, leaving spaceon the right for the star circle.

During the first exposure I used a small flashlight to paint theforeground from the direction where the sun had set earlier. I thenused a programmable cable release to take 4 minute exposures as longas the battery would last. My D3 managed to take 40 exposures (160minutes) on a fresh battery, more than enough to get some good trails.

Thanks to all participants for making this such a fun trip!

Nikon D3, AF-S 17-35/2.8, 40x4min @ f/4, MC-36, tripod

Excellent picture. The color of the sky is great. Personally I have tried this before, but nothing as sharp and nice like this.

Thanks for showing me how to do this. I hope you don't mind if I try it myself. I love your pic.

 

Breck D. Jones

Nicely done! I love the colours here and the light-painting on the tree is perfect.

Perfecta nitidez.

Saludos.

Marsel, nice one out of a great Namibia portfolio. Spend some time down there too, so appreciate and like your work very much. Cheers, Mark.

Un gran trabajo; enhorabuena por él.

 

Saudos

Buen trabajo, perfecta composición y color.

Truly amazing astrophotography! Best regards, Linh Dinh

Great shot................Best Regards Hamed

Great shot.

I am just back from a job in Namibia. It is an amazing photo location.

Great shot! Definitely something I'd like to try!

Wonderful shot.  Thanx for telling us how it was don: it wouldn't have occurred to me.  Perhaps that's why I never did anything even approaching it.

Congratulations.