Under the Stars

Took a trip to Joshua Tree last Saturday and came up with this. The light pollution is from 29 Palms a few miles away. The 18x24 print really shows the stars and the heavyweight matt paper hides the noise.

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Cool shot. I like the idea. Did you use the 17-40 or the 18-55? The strobe lighting is a little harsh in my eyes. I might have tried a little light-painting with a warmer hand flashlight. I never thought about doing a vegetation/stars combo before. I am always looking for structures. I maybe need to re-think this. Of course in Indiana there is no cati, and what vegetation we have is all gone with the passing of the first killing freeze this week. Hopefully I can remember this come next spring.

Looks good but personally the light is too bright (looks like car headlights) and noise is evident quite abit . One thing that helps tho is looks like you've caught a meteor passing in the bottom left corner (that white streak) . These images by Wally Pacholka are pushing the limit but stll good images and at the max brightness they can be without ruining the image . Your image is good , just tone down the light source some .

It's funny how much light pollution comes from 29 Palms. I shoot out at White Tank, JT, all the time. The other thing that sucks is that JT is right in the flightpath for Ontario or LAX or Orange County or something... massive numbers of planes at night. After midnight, though, they tend to taper off almost completely.

I have to agree with the other guys -- the fill light is just too hot. I'm going to start experimenting with shots like these using chemsticks and small LEDs. In terms of color temp, I'm not sure what would be best? I usually end up dropping color temp to around 4000K when shooting RAW at night.

Nice idea! If you're only doing a single shot, (and not doing dark frames) try turning on the long exposure noise reduction. Hope you don't mind, I took a shot at some post processing with it. I masked off the tree and land (not as carefully as I should have), then darkened just that part. What do you think?

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Thats much better , makes the colors pop more and show more detail but still needs to come down a little more . Nice work on the PP tho .

It was shot using the 17-40 @28mm. Off camera flash was used.

Actually that is an airplane and I do like Wally Pacholka's art. I talked with for him awhile three weeks ago during the MBAC Art tour here in 29 Palms. We both share the love of the night sky and photography and I love the way he blends his passion together.

Yeah, I remember back in the 80's the light pollution even from Palm Springs, Palm Desert and all those other citys while noticeable, was very manageable. Even on the west end of the park. At least the Marine Base and the City of 29 Palms have adopted laws which is reducing the light pollution. As for the planes, your right on. I usually get one in three exposures with them early evening but the key shooting times around here like you said is the late evening or early morning hours when the flight traffic is reduced.

There has been much comments made about noise and the harsh lighting and I really love these honest comments. It only helps and we can pass on tricks of the trade we pick up through the years. Anyway, I had a vision that I wanted to do for the Southland Art Show which is a judged event. This photo was printed the same night I took it, then framed the next day. I knew the heavyweight mat paper would hide almost all the noise. Printing is the best noise reduction out there. The reception for the Southland Show was today and as always art is subjective. I took away first and an honorable mention out of the three I submitted. Everyone thought the "other" photo (which was a 16"x32" print in a handcrafted frame) took first. Here is the first place framed photo. Take care.

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Rick, sorry I missed this one, it's a real beauty. The frame is perfect.