Questions And Answers
Questions and Answers
Do You Go Out Alone for the Night Photos?
Question: Thanks for sharing this fantastic photo. Question: Were you in the park alone? Do you travel with a group? I'm curious.I'm thinking about taking a trip out to Vegas to shoot the parks in the area and am thinking about doing some night shoots alone. Any thought?
Answer: Usually I go out at night alone, although that might not be the best choice for everyone. I have gone out a few times with workshops, and occasionally I find someone at the site and we shoot together. Being out there at night is something you have to get used to. A lot of people are unnerved by the isolation and darkness. This says a lot about our society. It is estimated that 80% of people in the USA have never seen the Milky Way. Many people ask me "what is that cloud in the sky"? Once there was a complete blackout in Los Angeles and people called the police to report a suspicious cloud hovering over the city. It was the Milky Way. We are not used to being out in the dark except for moving from place to place. And we are not used to being so utterly alone. I love the feel of being out there at night, but it is not for everyone. You need to be really careful. I wear really high boots and keep an eye out for potential rattlesnakes. I really pay attention to where I step, always. You have to make sure your footing is always secure, because you may be standing on rough ground or ledges and you are going to spend a lot of time with the lights totally turned off. Before I turn the lights off I look around and see just where it is safe to step. I always keep an eye out for any people or large game. Take bear spray for example. Anyway it has been safe for me so far, but you do need to be careful. Some people even take a dog with them! It's a great experience, but remember to think about how to be safe.
Cheers, Wayne
More Posts from Wayne-pinkston and Others
The Alien Throne by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website Instagram Facebook The Alien Throne, New Mexico Badlands. Nikon D810A, 14-24 mm lens, 14 mm, f 3.2, 25 sec., 6400. For more images like this please take a look at my website here . Thanks for all the kind support! Hope you enjoy! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family. Cheers, Wayne
Sunset Arch Panorama, Escalante by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: This is a panorama of Sunset Arch in the Escalante National Monument, Utah. This was taken in a workshop with Royce Bair (his workshops and ebook are highly recommended). This is a combination of 12 vertical images, taken with a Canon 6D Camera, and a Nikon 14-24 mm lens at 14 mm, f 2.8, 20 sec., and ISO 8000. The arch is about a 20-30 minute hike from the parking lot, and is less visited than many of the well known arches in Utah. It's petty much in the middle of nowhere, off the beaten path. Our group settled in for the night and we were blessed with great weather. Escalante is one of the least light polluted areas I have seen in the USA. This makes for excellent detail in the sky. The faint light pollution on the horizon is from Paige, Arizona or Lake Powell, many miles distant. Doesn't the Arch look like a sleeping dragon? Thanks for looking. Hope you enjoy!
The Long View by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website Instagram Facebook Mobius Arch in the Alabama Hills of California. Panorama of 11 verticle photos, 19mm, f/2.8, 20 sec., ISO 12,800. There is lighting with LLL (Low Level Lighting) . This is not light painting but is very dim constant light that is left on and attempts to match starlight in intensity, typically done with light panels on tripods. One advantage is that it creates little or no visible light pollution and does not destroy your night vision. You cannot even see the light until your eyes become dark adapted, and then you can barely see it. Please see: www.lowlevellighting.org For more images like this please take a look at my website here . Thanks for all the kind support! Hope you enjoy! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family. Cheers, Wayne
The Potholes of Escalante by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website Instagram Facebook Escalante Utah Pothole. These are giant eroded holes in the rocks and many have their own isolated landscape or ecosystem. Very fascinating! This was captured during a workshop with Royce Bair. I highly recommend his workshops. This is a reprocess. I think this is the hardest image I have ever processed. I just did not have the skill to do it adequately at the initial time, and I am not so sure that I have it now, lol. The difficulty comes from the wildly colorful sky (with bands of color and brightness, all the airglow, and all the clouds. I did several short panoramas over the pothole, and I did another 10-12 photos all from the same spot and with the same exposure factors. I was waiting for the clouds to clear, which they never did. I went back and pieced together the parts of the MW without clouds from the various frames. I “borrowed” parts of the MW and sky from the other photos I took at the same spot. The wild air glow makes it hard to know just what the sky is supposed to look like. Thanks for taking the time to look. Hope you enjoy! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family for all the support and encouragement! Cheers, Wayne
Tower of Babel by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website Instagram Facebook Tower of Babel, Arches National Park, Utah. Nikon D810A Camera, 14-24 mm lens, 24 mm, f 2.8, 20 sec., ISO 8000. Lighting with Low Level Lighting (LLL). For more about this technique please see lowlevellighting.org For more images like this please take a look at Wayne Pinkston Photography . Thanks for all the kind support! Hope you enjoy! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family. It's a pleasure to post here. Cheers, Wayne
Night on Fire by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Anasazi Part 4: The Anasazi were a Pre-Columbian Indian people that lived in the SW region of North America. This is the Anasazi or ancient Puebloan ruin called House on Fire or Flaming House ruin in Mule Canyon, Utah. The name comes from the appearance on the rocks just above the ruin. In the morning at a certain time the rock takes on a color that looks like flames. I wondered just what it might look like at night, and found that the warm lights on the rock did reproduce the appearance, perhaps even better. I shot the standard close up views of the ruins but liked this wide view as well, which is a bit more unusual. The ruins are tucked in below a large rounded or elliptical rock dome with the arching Milky Way overhead. Disclaimer: No rooms or ruins were touched or entered in the making of this photo. The lights were placed in the rooms using a fishing pole and string. (No fish were harmed in the making of this photo either!). This is a panorama of multiple vertical images combined in Lightroom. Nikon 810A camera, 14-24 mm lens, at f 2.8, 14 mm, 30 sec., and ISO 8000. If you visit these sites please treat them with respect and care. Thanks for taking the time to look. Hope you enjoy! Your time, faves, and comments are much appreciated! Please join me at: Website Facebook Instagram Blog
A Night with the Goblins by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website Instagram Facebook Hoodoos in Goblin Valley, Utah. There is lighting with LLL (Low Level Lighting) . This is not light painting but is very dim constant light that is left on and attempts to match starlight in intensity, typically done with light panels on tripods. One advantage is that it creates little or no visible light pollution and does not destroy your night vision. You cannot even see the light until your eyes become dark adapted, and then you can barely see it. You can still enjoy the wonders of the night sky. For more images like this please take a look at my website here . Thanks for all the kind support! Hope you enjoy! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family. Cheers, Wayne
Small Canyon in Nevada by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website, Instagram, Facebook Small Canyon in Nevada. 7 images stacked in Starry Landscape Stacker. 12 mm fisheye lens, f 2.8, ISO 8000, 25 sec. Why 7 images? Who knows, probably lost count, lol. Love that “red” Navajo Sandstone! Thanks for all the kind support over the last year, it is much appreciated! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family!
Recommended eBooks for Nightscape Photography
1) Milky Way Nightscapes by Royce Bair
2) Nightscape by David Kingham
Both are excellent books and I have read both more than once. The information in the books is complementary.
It's a Long Way From Here To There by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website Instagram Facebook Bryce Canyon National Park. Canon 6D Camera, 16-35 mm lens, f 2.8, 20 mm, ISO 6400. Single Exposure. For more images like this please take a look at my website here . Thanks for all the kind support! Hope you enjoy! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family. Cheers, Wayne
