Milky Way Madness At Mesa Arch is a photograph by Mike Berenson which was uploaded on September 14th, 2014.
Milky Way Madness At Mesa Arch
On this last night of my night photography workshop in Arches & Canyonlands, rainy skies cleared out which opened the door to Milky Way skies and... more
Title
Milky Way Madness At Mesa Arch
Artist
Mike Berenson
Medium
Photograph
Description
On this last night of my night photography workshop in Arches & Canyonlands, rainy skies cleared out which opened the door to Milky Way skies and Mesa Arch. I had a plan for that spot that I'd been sitting on ever since I got inspired by a really good photographer named Abe Blair at that same location years earlier.
And while I don't often get into the pictures of my students, I knew my students would enjoy this one. Sure enough, I couldn't help but notice the audible gasps and "holy cows" from students when they captured images that night - from all three of the locations we stopped at.
After visualizing this scene for years, it was great to finally bring it to life.� All I had to do was show my nerve in walking out onto the arch - and forget about that big drop down into the canyon!
How I Got The Shot
I knew going into this image that I'd either need some help or more likely, that it would need to be a composite image. The reason is that I wanted to do the light painting myself and also be in the image which required another click of the shutter. And if I'm going to do another click of the shutter for the foreground, I might as well get the best quality possible by dropping the ISO.
And rather than shy away from going for this during one of my workshops, I decided to include it and to communicate with all the students so they'd know just how to take advantage of it. They knew where I'd be and had a chance to get into position to make the most of it. And since this was our final night of shooting, they were fired up and ready to use the skills they'd been learning in the previous few nights.
Given the choice of shooting the sky or the foreground first, I usually choose the sky. I figure that if the sky looks good and there isn't any reason to delay, shoot it first. Otherwise, you'll risk not being able to shoot the sky if clouds come in and block it in the time you shoot the foreground.
So I shot the sky first with me up on the arch lighting up the sky with my flashlight. Then, I lowered my ISO, focused closer, and shot for the foreground while I applied my light painting.
In post-processing, I used blending techniques similar to those shown in my recent video tutorial on blending multiple exposures (http://www.coloradocaptures.com/night-photography-blog/blending-multiple-exposures-photoshop-video-tutorial). Finally, I used creative approach with Star Spikes Pro on just the brightest of stars where I gave them a little more pop where my light beam hits the Milky Way stars (or so it appears).
Photo Gear
� Camera Body -�Nikon D800 Digital SLR Camera
� Camera Lens - Bower 14mm f/2.8 Ultra Wide-Angle Lens with Focus Confirm Chip 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 FreeWave Micro Wireless Remote Shutter Release for Select Nikon DSLRs
Exposure Settings - 2 Blended Exposures
Exposure #1 (with me in the image)
� ISO: 3200
� Aperture: f/2.8
� Shutter Speed: 30 seconds
Exposure #2 (with light painted foreground)
� ISO: 800
� Aperture: f/2.8
� Shutter Speed: 30 seconds
________________________
If you have any interest in shooting Milky Way stars or in shooting images like this, you won't want to miss my Night Photography Workshops in Arches & Canyonlands National Parks in Utah and Teton National Park in Wyoming. They're awesome opportunities to learn a ton about shooting Milky Way skies (from myself and fellow night photography instructor, Darren White) and get some killer shots at hand-picked locations and times.
Workshop Details: http://www.coloradocaptures.com/night-photography-training
Student Testimonials: http://www.coloradocaptures.com/testimonials/
Uploaded
September 14th, 2014
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Comments (4)
Bob Christopher
Hi Mike...I like your image. Once again, thanks so much for your information in your description of how to accomplish this. You are braver than myself in standing on Mesa Arch in the dark...tough for the mere mortals to stand there in the light. How do you make the flashlight look "Blue" in the image? Thanks again...Cheers Bob f/v
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