mcginty

I wouldn't crop the image. It becomes too simple and boring. The diagonal lines counter balance the strong horizontal colors. Ry

This is two exposures. The first shot was 7 minutes @ f/3.5 ISO 2000. This exposure allowed me to capture as much detail as possible for the canyon. The upper canyon walls are over 400 feet above me causing it to be very dim. Once my eyes adjusted to the starlight the scene looked like this. The second shot for the stars was 30 seconds @ f/3.5 ISO 5000.

Using layers the star exposure was on top and exposure of the canyon on the bottom. I created a simple mask of the under exposed canyon then removed it revealing the correct exposure layer beneath. Since I over exposed the rocks wanting to capture as much detail as possible I used a curves layer to underexpose to a more nature dimness then desaturated it for a more natural look. Without the curves and saturation layer adjustments the image looked surreal and more unnatural. Last step was a subtle color balance.

To capture this scene it took over 15 minutes because of the dark frame subtraction removing unwanted extra noise double the original exposure. I used a wireless remote to ensure the cables weren't blowing in the wind. One last note I slightly changed the noise processing for the canyon detail by increasing luminance noise removal causing the canyon to be less grainy.

When I first reached Palouse Falls 12 photographers were around the top photographing down into the canyon. Some were using giant flashlights light painting the falls. It looked too unnatural for me and I was already planning to shoot from the bottom because of my past experience there. About 12:30am everyone had left leaving only myself climbing on the canyon walls. It was a fun night for me. When the conditions come together again I want to try it again. Ry

Thanks everyone, The green and magenta you see in the image is called Airglow. This is a natural phenomenon. From Wiki: "Airglow is caused by various processes in the upper atmosphere, such as the recombination of ions which were photoionized by the sun during the day, luminescence caused by cosmic rays striking the upper atmosphere, and chemiluminescence caused mainly by oxygen and nitrogen reacting with hydroxyl ions at heights of a few hundred kilometers." Ry

Thanks everyone, The slant you is from the edge of Steptoe Butte beginning to rise. Thank you again for the kind comments. Ry

Thank you for looking and enjoy,

Ry

While photographing a sunrise I decided to rest for an hour taking in

the beauty of the area and was greeted with these clouds drifting in

from the west.

Thank you for looking and enjoy. Ry

Thanks for comment and suggestions everyone. If you properly expose for a full moonlit scene it should look like daylight. The only difference will be movement in the scene will show blur because of the longer exposure. Once your eyes adjusted to a full moonlit evening you have no need for flashlights. I have noticed the Palouse with it's wide open sky and little light pollution the full moon skies will be blue. If the scene was only illuminated by a partial moon or stars then you would have a darker scene and bolder stars. Next time when there's a full moon try capturing the scene. A good starting exposure is f/4 @ 30 seconds ISO 1000. My exposure was f/5.6 @ 72 seconds ISO 1000.

For this scene I was trying to capture a lunar rainbow on the falls. Last year I was able to capture one. This year, probably because of the freezing weather I was not able to capture one. I wanted to share a photo from that evening because of how uniquely different it is from other photographs of the falls. 

Thanks everyone,

Ry

This is a wonderful moment captured with excellent light.  The family of ducks brings it all together. Ry

That is a great moment captured. Excellent use of the man standing there with the firework background. Ry

Thanks Stephan, That next storm in the background arrived at Steptoe within 5 minutes. I use a large golf umbrella to shield me from the hail and wind. For several minutes the winds gusted over 60mph. I was using my tripod as a brace so I wouldn't get blown off the top. I could hear the cell towers cracking and creaking from the winds. If I had moved back to the car I guarantee I would of found myself laying somewhere on the eastern side of the butte.  I sat in a huddled position for over 5 minutes waiting for the next clearing. I also capture a pretty sweet rainbow to the east just before this image. It's a lot of fun up there during storms, best lighting in the world can be seen. Ry

No HDR, two exposures hand blended together. I used a 30 inch gold reflector to fill the shadows of the lupines and help block the wind. Thanks for the comments and questions. Ry