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Any night shooters here?


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#1 michael13

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Posted 30 August 2018 - 11:45 PM

Every fall, I make a road trip to the desert southwest with my camping and photo gear, always looking for new locations with dark skies and interesting piles of rocks to photograph. In October I'll be visiting Coal Mine Canyon, AZ, Goblin Valley in Utah, and Esmeralda Badlands in Nevada.

 

Do you guys know of other good places with nearby boon docking/camping areas? I'm attaching a few examples of the kind of locations I like ...

 

Thanks!

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#2 Wandering Sagebrush

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Posted 30 August 2018 - 11:52 PM

Check in with CarlD and Happyjax... They’re both night shooters.
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#3 Happyjax

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Posted 31 August 2018 - 01:41 AM

Michael,

 

Love your shots. Having not been to the west yet I can not help with locations.

I will be interested in where you go though so I can add those places to my list!

 

Keep up the good work:)

 

HJ


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#4 knoxswift

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Posted 31 August 2018 - 02:20 PM

I've been working at night shots. Still trying to figure out the best settings on my camera.
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Valley of the Gods and Navajo National Monument.

Edited by knoxswift, 31 August 2018 - 02:22 PM.

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#5 Smokecreek1

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Posted 31 August 2018 - 03:12 PM

Ya know, on your way down or back and if the smoke clears, you might check out Res "C"  on the lava bench   on the Modoc NF. It is known for it's great night shots of the sky and no nasty city lights. Easy access from 139 or 395 has a prim cg and not many people 'cept day  fisherman.  I camp there allot myself-like to hear coyotes at night!  West side road of Smoke Creek desert from  Gerlach to Sand Pass also good area for shooting stars and neat rock formations!

 

Smoke


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#6 Happyjax

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Posted 31 August 2018 - 11:45 PM

I've been working at night shots. Still trying to figure out the best settings on my camera.
attachicon.gif20180825_093059.jpgattachicon.gifFB_IMG_1535725140381.jpg

Valley of the Gods and Navajo National Monument.

Knox,

 

Your exposures are too long. Use the 500 rule. Divide 500 by the focal length of your lens. If you are shooting crop you have to add 50% to your focal length.

 

So a 35mm lens on a full frame camera would be 14.2 seconds. On a crop sensor it would be 9.5 seconds. (35 +17.5 = 52.5)

 

If you are shooting with a phone good luck figuring that out...lol

 

Wider lens gets you more time. Shorter time requires faster ISO or wider aperture.

 

Good luck :)


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#7 Wandering Sagebrush

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Posted 01 September 2018 - 12:34 AM

Another secret is to take photos (locked down on a tripod) at different ISO. So foreground at a high ISO to bring out details, then shoot the sky at a lower ISO to have crisp stars. Load the images as layers into photoshop, and mask out the areas in each layer/image that detracts from the composite.

Here’s an example

12817774525_cc9b1882cb_o_d.jpg
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#8 knoxswift

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Posted 01 September 2018 - 12:35 AM

Knox,

Your exposures are too long. Use the 500 rule. Divide 500 by the focal length of your lens. If you are shooting crop you have to add 50% to your focal length.

So a 35mm lens on a full frame camera would be 14.2 seconds. On a crop sensor it would be 9.5 seconds. (35 +17.5 = 52.5)

If you are shooting with a phone good luck figuring that out...lol

Wider lens gets you more time. Shorter time requires faster ISO or wider aperture.

Good luck :)


Thanks for the tips. I have a fixed lens so can't change that out. I was wondering if I should use higher iso and shorter times. The stars are elongated...
Thanks for confirming my suspicions.
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#9 Happyjax

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Posted 01 September 2018 - 01:13 AM

Nice shot Sage! Now I know the secret!


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#10 Wandering Sagebrush

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Posted 01 September 2018 - 01:32 AM

Nice shot Sage! Now I know the secret!


Some details... the shot is on my Flickr acct if you want to check EXIF.

“Orion and the Harmony Borax Works
A night shot of the Harmony Borax works in Death Valley. Orion is directly over the mill. Lighting was with a small LED lantern and orange filter. Two exposures, ISO 1600 for the foreground, ISO 400 for the stars, hand blended in PS CS 6. Taken with a Nikkor 24mm PC E at f11 and 20 seconds.”
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