Night Colors

This is my first post at the NPN so I'm pretty excited! I've silently followed the NPN website for a long time and it had and still has a huge impact on my development as a nature photographer. So, naturally, the time comes for me to join in.

I chose this image to be my first post because it's one of my personal favorites and my first really successful star trails nightscape. This is a monumental rock formation (The Rock Mushroom) located near the medieval fortress Asara, Eastern Rhodope Mountain, Bulgaria.

In "Night Colors" I recorded the emotions I had accumulated during my trips to this magnificent place. From the overwhelming feeling when I first looked down the rocky plateau to the beautiful calmness of the starlit night spent in protection of the rocky niches.

From technical point of view this is a single 1 hour and 15 minutes exposure started about two hours after sunset. I’ve used the moonlight to define the fore and middle-ground and emphasized them by star trails and light pollution in the background. The symbiosis between natural and artificial light is ever symbolical.

Camera: Canon EOS 30D
Lens: Tamron 17-50 f/2.8
f/5.6
ISO 200
Focal length: 17mm

I've been tempted to post this image to the Landscapes gallery but maybe this is the best place for it because of the lights from the villages in the background.

Thank you for your comments and critiques!

Cheers