Literally waiting for the moon. The most isolated and dark hour I have spent in a long while. The light before the moon came out of the clouds was spectacular. The moon itself ofcourse, once it came out, made everything too dark, leading to very bad shots.
Taken on Sunday, 2nd day in a row at this spot.
Fantastic! Love the stars, moon light, composition! Instant fav. I guess the saying "good things come to those who wait" is not true in this case. Maybe the saying should be "Good things come to those 'while' waiting".
I love this shot. I'm going to be trying some milky way and star shots towards the end of the summer. I've been studying a lot of photos and reading a lot. Any advice?
@adambralston
Not much Adam. I don't have that much experience either. I am planning another shoot at this same location in a couple of weeks, but no moon this time. Will share pics.
The only thing I'll say is get away from urban areas. Took the below shot in Central Aistralia, near Uluru last year. http://365project.org/abhijit/365/2013-09-25
I'll be in Southern Utah about an hour into the dark. Checked the dark skies map http://www.blue-marble.de/nightlights/2012 and it looks REALLY dark where I'll be. Moon will be just a small sliver at that time. Now I have to hope for little clouds. I just don't know if my equipment can handle it. I keep seeing wonderful shots in the ISO 5000 range.... I only go to 1600.
@adambralston I've heard Utah is a fantastic place to photograph the milky way. Will you be in the Arches NP? What lens do you plan to use? If you shoot wide open, you should be able to get away with 1600 ISO.
@abhijit Arches would be a perfect location, and I just might be there on the way back. I'll be near a place called Kanab. West of Grand Staircase Escalante, and just on the other side of Bryce Canyon. Will probably stop in Zion on the way.
My fastest lens is the 50mm f/1.8. Doesn't allow much for composition, but maybe that would get it? All my gear is relatively cheap :) I have my kit 18-55 f/3.5 and I don't think that will work from what I have seen from your photos. Most are recommending shooting at f/2.8 with a high ISO around 5000 and 30 seconds. I could probably get away with ISO 1600 and f/2.8 at 120 seconds, but I think that is long enough to start a star trail.....
Anyway, from where I will be in Utah, I have been there before, and the milky way is still visible there on a moonless night if you let your eyes adjust... Thanks for the advice. Seriously, any bit of experience will help.
@adambralston Adam, you have just named my top locations to visit when I travel through US. My plans are only in the planning stage though.
50mm is not wide enough by a mile. You'll get the stars but won't have any room for a foreground. 18-55 kit would be wide enough if you shoot low in the horizon.
If you can, try get your hands on a second hand Samyang 14mm lens. Or Tamron 11-16 (if you a crop sensor body). I used to have the tamron and was happy with the results. The Samyang is a fantastic lens on either crop or full frame. You may get them for cheap on eBay or similar. They both take great landscape photos.
Anything longer than 30 seconds and you'll get too much movement in the stars. At 30 seconds you'll already see it.
@abhijit Hey, just had an idea. Is this location in the photo near you? I was wondering what the photo would look like on a similar night, but if you did some light painting of the rocks with a flashlight?
@abhijit Awesome! Can't wait to see that no matter what the outcome. I'd be real curious to see if it is possible without affecting the photo itself. Not sure how bright of a flashlight you'd need either. LED?
August 1st, 2014
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Thanks everyone :-)
Not much Adam. I don't have that much experience either. I am planning another shoot at this same location in a couple of weeks, but no moon this time. Will share pics.
The only thing I'll say is get away from urban areas. Took the below shot in Central Aistralia, near Uluru last year. http://365project.org/abhijit/365/2013-09-25
My fastest lens is the 50mm f/1.8. Doesn't allow much for composition, but maybe that would get it? All my gear is relatively cheap :) I have my kit 18-55 f/3.5 and I don't think that will work from what I have seen from your photos. Most are recommending shooting at f/2.8 with a high ISO around 5000 and 30 seconds. I could probably get away with ISO 1600 and f/2.8 at 120 seconds, but I think that is long enough to start a star trail.....
Anyway, from where I will be in Utah, I have been there before, and the milky way is still visible there on a moonless night if you let your eyes adjust... Thanks for the advice. Seriously, any bit of experience will help.
50mm is not wide enough by a mile. You'll get the stars but won't have any room for a foreground. 18-55 kit would be wide enough if you shoot low in the horizon.
If you can, try get your hands on a second hand Samyang 14mm lens. Or Tamron 11-16 (if you a crop sensor body). I used to have the tamron and was happy with the results. The Samyang is a fantastic lens on either crop or full frame. You may get them for cheap on eBay or similar. They both take great landscape photos.
Anything longer than 30 seconds and you'll get too much movement in the stars. At 30 seconds you'll already see it.