An Image Of Seasonal Confusion In Arizona is a photograph by Mike Berenson which was uploaded on October 30th, 2013.
An Image Of Seasonal Confusion In Arizona
Wildflowers get confused and decide to bloom in this October image taken under Milky Way stars and iconic Bell Rock near Sedona, Arizona. I'm told... more
Title
An Image Of Seasonal Confusion In Arizona
Artist
Mike Berenson
Medium
Photograph
Description
Wildflowers get confused and decide to bloom in this October image taken under Milky Way stars and iconic Bell Rock near Sedona, Arizona. I'm told the extra wildflower bloom (in Autumn) is a result of the big rains they got a little while back - the same rains that caused flooding in Colorado.
I was on a scouting trip for an upcoming Night Photography Workshop to the Grand Canyon and Sedona, Arizona and on this night of scouting, I found myself near one of Sedona's Energy Vortexes. And after hunting around near the base of Bell Rock, I found a place where I saw a few very cool things line up just right
Under dark skies, before the moon rose, I got into position under Milky Way Skies. I knew I wanted to find some interesting foreground to include below Bell Rock so I started hunting for good places along the Bell Rock Trail with some experience from having scouted earlier in the day and a little help from my lights.
A little while later, I came across this area you see pictured. I'd seen a few wildflowers earlier in the day, but this was crazy! I was definitely drawn to the combination of wildflowers, yucca plant (I think), Bell Rock, and Milky Way skies. After having hunted for wildflowers in Colorado in July, I was thrilled to see them having bloomed on this trip - a complete surprise in October! I didn't understand at the time why they were blooming but I had my theories and decided to take advantage of it regardless.
Photography Technique
So with my position picked and time still left before moonrise, I got my gear lined up and started light painting and shooting to get my settings and light painting approach dialed in. With that behind me, I was ready for the moonrise starting with the gentle light of lunar alpenglow up on both Bell Rock and Courthouse Butte . And with few clouds on the horizon, the light appeared just as I'd hoped without delay. When it crept down the rocks a little ways from the top, I started shooting once again and caught the single exposure capture you see here.
Photo Gear
Camera Body - Nikon D800 Digital SLR Camera
Camera Lens - Nikon Fisheye AF Nikkor 16mm f/2.8D Autofocus Lens
Tripod Head - FEISOL CB-50DC Ballhead with QP-144750 Release Plate
Tripod Legs - FEISOL Elite CT-3472 Rapid Tripod Legs
Remote Trigger - Vello FreeWave Micro Wireless Remote Shutter Release for Select Nikon DSLRs
Exposure Settings
Single Exposure Image
Exposure Settings:
ISO: 6400
Aperture: f/2.8
Shutter Speed: 30 seconds
More Information
Sedona Vortexes: http://www.lovesedona.com/01.htm
Night Photography Workshop in Grand Canyon & Sedona:
http://www.coloradocaptures.com/arches-canyonlands-national-parks-night-photography-workshop-august2014
Uploaded
October 30th, 2013
