Beach rocks on Lake Huron and the Milky Way, Michigan | Image # NI-10000
I had another opportunity this weekend to photograph at night and try out some concepts I was thinking about. I had imagined this photograph before making it, the trick was finding the right time and place. With a new moon this weekend, and perfectly clear skies forecasted for Friday night, I drove up the coast of Lake Huron to the closest “dark sky” spot I could find.
If there is anything I have learned so far in still being a newbie at night photography is that it is pretty much 3 equal parts of planning, technical aspects of capture, and then development. You have to know when the conditions will be right and get far enough away from light polution, even though it contributed significantly to this image at the horizon.
When I was actually there, my eyes could not pick up such a strong yellow glow from these cities – likely across the lake in Canada. But over a 20 second exposure, it is quite amazing what a camera sensor can pick up and your eyes can not. Not only in light polution, but in details of the stars and Milky Way itself.
“…in the smallest cells are reflections of the largest. And in photography, through an interplay of scales, a whole universe within a universe can be revealed.” ~ Ernst Haas
I like the planning aspects in the PhotoPills app as it will tell you easily the best viewing nights (New moons), and when and where the Galactic Center of the Milky way (the most detailed area) will rise. The augmented reality part of it is useful in pitch blackness as you can hold your phone up and see where the Galactic Center is in relation to your surroundings. Technology has certainly made this process a bit easier. I never attempted this type of photography back in my film days.
This is a combination of two different exposures. The first is to get the exposure and sharpness of the stars & sky correct, which has its own focal and exposure setting. The second exposure was for the foreground, again with its own unique focus point and exposure. It simply isn’t possible (with today’s technology anyway) in a single exposure to get both.
So I envisioned a photograph of beach rocks at night and I think this comes pretty close. I may let it simmer for awhile for any further tweaks, but for now, it’s solid enough. This is also my 10,000th cataloged image – note the ID number… NI-10000. This numbering system is carried over from my slide film days. It represents the number of processed and cataloged images in my library, which is uniquely different than total number of shots. A unique milestone I suppose, if only just another number. Perhaps a large number is fitting for a shot of rocks and stars.
Beautiful sky, cool foreground. Congrats on number 10,000 for your catalog!
Thanks very much Tom!
Beautiful image, Mark. Where I first viewed it I was wondering if you combined multiple images to get the rock foreground and night sky both properly exposed and then low and behold I read you did. I heard on local Utah news the other day the state was discussing guidelines and ordinances to protect the Utah dark skies.
Thanks Brooks. I also hear stories now and then about protecting dark sky areas. It is definitely a growing area of concern when it comes to sprawl. We have one nationally recognized one in our northern lower peninsula called the Headlands Dark Sky park. Much too far away for me to make a single evening shoot there.
That is truly stunning. Well done!
Thanks Darla
I’ve not attempted any nighttime images although I love seeing them. I’m not sure people understand the amount of light pollution we have in the world. And, I’ve seen those satellite shots that are just mind boggling. Interesting to know this is two images and how you focused on the foreground and background. This type of photography needs to be pre-visualized. In my books, this is well done, Mark!
It’s fun to attempt once in awhile when I get the ambition. I still have been missing the times when the aurora borealis can be seen down at these latitudes.
It is interesting to think about perhaps how few people have experienced true darkness outside. The number of stars alone can just blow you away. Thanks Monte.
A nice image, Mark, even with the strong glow on the horizon. Like you, I’m always amazed by how much more the sensor sees over a 20 to 30 second exposure. It makes you wish that humans could somehow instruct their eyes to do a “long exposure”.
Yes, Photo Pills is a great app. It can tell you where to look and at what time of night, especially for when the galactic core is going to be visible. And it has lots of little apps within it. It can even help with time lapse stuff.
Somehow Paul, I think it isn’t too far fetched to have some type of hybrid eye contacts that are small LCD screens in the future.
I do like PhotoPills quite a bit. I especially like it for calculating the long exposure times with something like a 10 stop ND filter on. It has great DOF tools, and now the Milky Way tool really just adds icing to the cake.