Nature's Delicate Balance is a photograph by Mike Berenson which was uploaded on June 3rd, 2014.
Nature's Delicate Balance
In life, there are a lot of places where we can see a balance. There's a balance between artificial and natural lighting and another one between day... more
Title
Nature's Delicate Balance
Artist
Mike Berenson
Medium
Photograph
Description
In life, there are a lot of places where we can see a balance. There's a balance between artificial and natural lighting and another one between day and night. But then on another level, there's a balance of life between humanity and nature. And then there's the balance between our planet earth and all the external forces that affect it.
For me, it's all a delicate balance that I love to show off in my photography. This image was captured at the beginning of twilight (before sunrise) during one of my awesome night photography workshops in Arches National Park.
How I Got The Shot
One of the keys for getting this image was to wait long enough to let the Milky Way get up close and personal with Delicate Arch. To do this, I used one of my tricks where I distracted myself with a another nearby location and came back to Delicate Arch just in time for this image. And it was good I captured it when I did because the blue glow from twilight was already beginning and the Milky Way stars were starting to fade.
From a lighting perspective, we added some gentle light painting from a higher angle on the left. Or more accurately, my night photography instruction partner, Darren White added some really gentle illumination on the arch from a position above and behind me so he could illuminate the arch from an angle similar to the rising sun. And with this effort to add some very subtle lighting hints, the scene really seems to come together - especially with the position of the light polluted clouds behind Delicate Arch.
On the post-processing side, I found that several curves adjustments helped to bring the exposure down to pleasing levels. In the process of doing that, some amazing color came out in both the foreground rocks and the clouds above. As I didn't do any blending of multiple exposures, this might have been a good example of what Lightroom can do but I enjoy using the flexibility of the curves adjustments in Photoshop so that's where I spent most of my time bringing the image to life.
I then finished the image with a hint of help from Nik's Color Efex Pro (using the Tonal Contrast filter) with a masked adjustment on the Milky Way and a bit on the lines in the foreground.
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
Exposure Settings - Single exposure photograph
� ISO: 6400
� Aperture: f/2.8
� Shutter Speed: 30 seconds
Uploaded
June 3rd, 2014
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Comments (24)
Scott McGuire
Congratulations Mike...your work is featured on the homepage of the National Parks of the United States of America group. Thank you for the submission!
Nicole Swanger
This is a great image. It has a perfect exposure, great composition, and an interesting subject. I love the sharpness in the arch and the sweeping of the clouds. Great capture!
Mike Berenson
Hi Bob, that's a good question. We know the area well and have gps with maps and lights to help along the way. That said, we took our group up in the dark of the night so we could get there in time to see the Milky Way without having to wait from sunset for it. Then, we stayed long enough to walk down during twilight. So it was just the way up that was at all a challenge and for us, we were well prepared for it so it went smooth & quick. Thanks for the great comment!
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