Balanced Rock Vortex

Easy to recognize, Balanced Rock seems to pull in all the stars like a black hole vortex. This image started as a single exposure photograph... more

by Mike Berenson

Title

Balanced Rock Vortex

Artist

Mike Berenson

Medium

Photograph

Description

Easy to recognize, Balanced Rock seems to pull in all the stars like a black hole vortex. This image started as a single exposure photograph captured with the moon directly behind the rock and evolved into a work of art.

In one of my night photography workshops, we had great conditions for the Milky Way earlier in the evening so I steered the class over to Balanced Rock for something a little different. And with some light painting from the far left side at capture time, the scene really came to life! What you see here is my taking it one step further by connecting the scene's foreground with the sky using a little Photoshop scripting.

How I Got The Shot
As mentioned above, the image started with a single exposure photograph captured with the moon directly behind balanced rock and some light painting applied from the far left side. For me, the only down-side to using the moon on the opposite side of the subject is that it won't help illuminate the subject for you - so it was important for me to add some lighting and depth to the foreground with light painting. After all, this is a very special place and I wanted to show if it off!

On the processing side, I felt some draw to give Photoshop scripting a try. Yes, the image was already good on its own but I wanted to see what I could do if I placed the center of a vortex directly behind balanced rock. Sure enough, the results kept my attention all the way to the finish line (so to speak). For me, the result drew the eye right into the focal point (Balanced Rock) - which worked very well for me!

Here's more information on the scripts I used:
http://liketheocean.com/night-photography/scripts-to-make-your-star-trails-awesome.

Once the scripts were installed, I used Creative Trails UI to create more layers from my single exposure in a clockwise vortex pattern (after selecting a point selected directly on Balanced Rock using the pen tool). Then I used Creative Effects UI to add a Saucer Style effect. Then in Photoshop, I used some motion blur and a mask to minimize the worst of the repeating pattern I saw in some of the star trails and a mask to get the light painted rock to appear on top of the star trails.

Photo Gear
• Camera Body - Nikon D800 Digital SLR Camera
• Camera Lens - Rokinon 24mm f/1.4 ED AS UMC Wide-Angle Lens for Nikon
• Tripod Head - Acratech GV2 Ball Head / Gimbal Head with Lever Clamp & Acratech Large Leveling Base
• Tripod Legs - FEISOL Elite CT-3472 Rapid Tripod Legs
• Remote Trigger - Vello Shutterboss Version II Timer Remote Switch for Nikon with 10-Pin Connection

Exposure Settings - Single Exposure Image
• ISO:800
• Aperture: f/2.8
• Shutter Speed: 30 seconds

Uploaded

March 4th, 2015