Geminid Meteor

Gallery: LandscapePosted December 15, 2011193 views10 comments

Nikon D5100 w/ Nikon 20-35mm lens
ISO 3200, F2.8, 10 sec exposure
Location: Tucson, AZ - Catalina State Park

I hestitate to post this because it doesn't live up to the high standards here, but this is how we learn right? Last night I went out before the moon rose to capture a time-lapse sequence in hopes of catching a meteor or two from the Geminid meteor shower that peaked on 12/13. This is one of the frames from that sequence. I realize that there is a lot of noise in this image, but I did my best w/ my limited processing skills. (RAW image processed in PSE9). Comments & critiques welcome.

Btw, this is best viewed in a dark room.

Comments

10 comments

Comment posted by Nathan Apodaca on December 16, 2011 at 12:06 AM

I'm glad you caught that meteor! Unfortunately, I don't really know much about editing yet---especially night shots, so I'll just sit back and enjoy the photo! However, I will ask how you got both the sky and landscape in focus (it looks pretty sharp) at f/2.8??? My intuition would have told me to have it at about f/8-f/16.

TFS---it brings back some good memories of Tucson!

Registered on November 16, 2011, 67 Posts, 1127 Comments

Comment posted by Ray Whitt on December 16, 2011 at 12:26 AM

Wonderful image! Love the sky and how you've composed the image.

Ray

Registered on May 27, 2011, 92 Posts, 2619 Comments

Comment posted by Tonia Graves on December 16, 2011 at 10:24 AM

Thank you for the positive response so far! Nathan, this was shot with an older Nikon 20-35mm lens which was focused almost at its furthest range. I wasn't very close to the main Saguaro so I think that's why everything appears in focus. I'm not sure if that answers your question...?

Registered on October 29, 2011, 92 Posts, 1035 Comments

Comment posted by Nathan Apodaca on December 16, 2011 at 10:54 AM

Yes, it does! BTW, I noticed you said it has a lot of noise. I watched a tutorial recently about sharpening RAW in Photoshop, and it mentioned using the luminance slider to help with the speckles... Like I said previously, I don't know much, so this might be common knowledge here!

Registered on November 16, 2011, 67 Posts, 1127 Comments

Comment posted by Nancy Lea Sandy on December 16, 2011 at 12:26 PM

I see you got one (meteor, that is) Full moon pretty much washed it out this year. I think it would be more effective if the cacti were black silhouettes. The little bit of detail in them is more of a distraction than a benefit, IMO. Beyond that, this is a very nice image and you did a good job on the sky.

Registered on January 24, 2011, 576 Posts, 6942 Comments

Comment posted by Bruce King on December 16, 2011 at 7:40 PM

I'm not seeing a lot of noise but I'm on a crappy work monitor. I would tweak the WB for a cooler cast. This looks pretty warm for a night sky. Also I agree with Nancy's suggestion about exposing so the cacti and fg are in silhouette. Overall, a strong effort IMO.

Registered on January 14, 2010, 276 Posts, 2212 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Baumbach on December 16, 2011 at 8:01 PM

You hardly notice the meteor trail, but the sky looks beautiful anyway, especially in the large version. I like the fact that you have a little detail in the Suguaros. Nice work.

- Dan

Registered on November 1, 2003, 473 Posts, 7980 Comments

Comment posted by Stan Rose on December 16, 2011 at 11:31 PM

I think there's a ton of potential with this shot, just needs some refining. I think the main thing is to darken the dark portion of the sky--it looks washed out here--you can accomplish that in curves or with luminosity masks. try to maintain the detail in the fg if possible. A darker sky will take care of the noise issue. Cool shot!

Registered on September 15, 2005, 836 Posts, 17099 Comments

Comment posted by Tonia Graves on December 19, 2011 at 10:31 AM

Thank you everyone for your feedback! I'm really thinking I need to take a Photoshop class & learn the fine are of photo processing! Elements can only do so much...

Registered on October 29, 2011, 92 Posts, 1035 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on December 20, 2011 at 6:17 PM

I've tried this myself Tonia but had dismal results..I think you did a great job here with the star filled sky, accented with the meteor left corner. Also like the wisps of cloud RT and the one large cacti reachin' up for the stars

Merry Christmas

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments