Volcanic Twilight +Update

Gallery: LandscapePosted May 21, 2012857 views40 comments

This is Oregon's Mount Hood under a starry twilight sky, reflected in Trillium Lake. New reprocess available at the bottom of the comments below.

Knowing this location had been seen/done a thousand times by northwesterners, I made an attempt to do it differently than those before me. I've always been in love with twilight, but I never had any idea how to effectively capture it until reading Floris Van Breugel's excellent twilight/star tutorial here on NPN last year. I used those techniques, and a few of my own, to capture this scene (although my own touches probably aren't visible in a 720px or 900px web version.)

Thanks for all the great feedback on my last image - I just posted a reply on that thread, which includes a link to a new, updated version of that shot.

Sky/landscape exposure: 20 minutes after sunset, 30 seconds, f/11, ISO 200, 2-stop soft GND handheld over top half
Star exposure: 1 hour after sunset, 30 seconds, f/3.5, ISO 1600
Nikon D300, 16-85mm Nikkor @ 16mm

Comments

40 comments

Comment posted by Yiming Hu on May 21, 2012 at 11:26 PM

Alex, this is beautiful. It feels strange to see red clouds and stars together

, but nevertheless this is a nice one.

Registered on April 28, 2011, 38 Posts, 733 Comments

Comment posted by Alex Noriega on May 21, 2012 at 11:32 PM

Thanks Yiming. I actually have an exposure from later in the evening that has red clouds and stars naturally in one exposure - you can push the WB warmer to bring out the clouds' reds, while still maintaining the blue of the sky. This day in particular, the air was extremely clear all the way to the western horizon, so the color stayed a lot longer than usual. The reason I did the blend is because the stars were only barely visible when the light was still good on the landscape - I wanted the best of both worlds. :)

I didn't push the red in the clouds at all here - in fact, I had to pull it back - the color of the landscape/sky/clouds is natural. I went a little magenta overall, to accentuate the twilight feel of the image.

Registered on May 19, 2012, 80 Posts, 195 Comments

Comment posted by Yiming Hu on May 22, 2012 at 12:06 AM

You are right. I now recall that you can see some stars with naked eyes around this time.

Registered on April 28, 2011, 38 Posts, 733 Comments

Comment posted by Tonia Graves on May 22, 2012 at 12:10 AM

Beautiful work!

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

Comment posted by Koveh Tavakkol on May 22, 2012 at 12:52 AM

Love this one.

Registered on September 1, 2009, 41 Posts, 608 Comments

Comment posted by Alex Mody on May 22, 2012 at 3:02 AM

Sweet, Alex! I have seen the rare pink clouds lasting long after sunset a few times too.

Nice work.

Registered on December 25, 2007, 163 Posts, 1896 Comments

Comment posted by Youssef Ismail on May 22, 2012 at 3:17 AM

Seriously awesome photograph.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 474 Posts, 5555 Comments

Comment posted by Jorne de Bruin on May 22, 2012 at 5:13 AM

Superb work, love the cool tones combined with the clouds & stars!

Registered on June 26, 2008, 178 Posts, 2136 Comments

Comment posted by John Fan on May 22, 2012 at 8:04 AM

Incredible shot. Red cloud contrasts the blue tone.

Registered on August 24, 2010, 135 Posts, 489 Comments

Comment posted by Luke Austin on May 22, 2012 at 8:36 AM

Really pleasing image. You succeeded in presenting an image that is different to the swarms of Trillium Lake shots. At least from what i've seen. Well done

Registered on November 30, 2011, 5 Posts, 43 Comments

Comment posted by Scott Smorra on May 22, 2012 at 10:45 AM

Very cool image Alex. Everything works together here to create a compelling image. I really like the mix of sunset color and stars. The foreground ice completes the scene. Well done.

Registered on November 2, 2009, 161 Posts, 2143 Comments

Comment posted by Aaron Feinberg on May 22, 2012 at 12:02 PM

The blending of the sky and stars at such different time frames is beyond my tech ability right now...but damn this is a sick sick shot. Kudos

aF

Registered on October 26, 2009, 399 Posts, 2789 Comments

Comment posted by Jeremy Cram on May 22, 2012 at 1:02 PM

Too awesome dude!

Registered on June 4, 2006, 204 Posts, 818 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Langton on May 22, 2012 at 2:45 PM

VERY Nice! Love the subtle colors...

Registered on February 26, 2005, 8 Posts, 26 Comments

Comment posted by Andreas Resch on May 22, 2012 at 2:56 PM

Wonderful shot and nice blending, Alex.

Registered on November 14, 2007, 322 Posts, 6101 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on May 22, 2012 at 3:09 PM

Beautiful! Really an awesome looking scene. Nice work Alex!

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

Registered on February 1, 2004, 752 Posts, 14140 Comments

Comment posted by Wick Smith on May 22, 2012 at 4:41 PM

Very well executed & superb scene. I love the star reflections in the lake.

Registered on June 12, 2009, 91 Posts, 379 Comments

Comment posted by Gary McGhee on May 22, 2012 at 5:20 PM

Gorgeous shot Alex, beautiful twilight photo.

Gary.

Registered on April 15, 2010, 142 Posts, 2416 Comments

Comment posted by Cristina Strudthof on May 22, 2012 at 7:09 PM

Wow! Absolutely beautiful. Love it.

Registered on January 14, 2011, 53 Posts, 363 Comments

Comment posted by Jean Day on May 22, 2012 at 7:42 PM

Sharpness and clarity are stunning. Gorgeous comp and great work on the processing.

Registered on April 10, 2011, 36 Posts, 306 Comments

Comment posted by Rick Dunn on May 22, 2012 at 9:18 PM

Coming away from here with something unique is a challenge, for sure. Coming away with something unique and very compelling is quite impressive. Nicely done!

Registered on February 22, 2004, 35 Posts, 1311 Comments

Comment posted by Tony Kuyper on May 22, 2012 at 10:04 PM

This is lovely. The stars almost seem to twinkle.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 364 Posts, 22328 Comments

Comment posted by David Edwards on May 22, 2012 at 10:18 PM

Magical work Alex. The soft pinks/purples look fabulous and the stars really look like they are twinkling. Nicely framed.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 142 Posts, 2623 Comments

Comment posted by Robert Dayton on May 22, 2012 at 10:38 PM

Beautiful, Alex! The lighting is superb! Well composed with Mt. Hood off center.
The small snowbound FG adds some appropriate texture and complements the
snow on top of Mt. Hood. The resolution on the sky and the reflection seems
to be right on. The larger version blows me away. And finally,
as Tony K. mentioned, the stars are very special. What a grand large print this will make.

Registered on November 11, 2008, 281 Posts, 3958 Comments

Comment posted by Vance Gese on May 22, 2012 at 10:56 PM

Incredible, Alex. The touch of pink in the clouds plays so nicely against the canvas of blue. Exquisite composition and the stars are stunning. A unique and beautiful image.

Registered on November 13, 2008, 298 Posts, 6629 Comments

Comment posted by Michael J Greene, on May 22, 2012 at 11:45 PM

The luminosity is amazing and certainly a tribute to your processing work. The color and light of the reflection looks technically very accurate. The only thing I could see for improvement are the traces of sharpening artifacts around the top of mount hood and some of the ice in the foreground. Gosh, this really is a stunner Alex.

Registered on June 18, 2009, 86 Posts, 2317 Comments

Comment posted by Alex Noriega on May 23, 2012 at 12:05 AM

Thanks for the feedback, everyone! Tony and David, looks like you picked up on a bit of my own personal touch to the stars. The twinkle/glow is much more evident in the full version.

Michael, I noticed those artifacts after I uploaded - I saved these particular jpegs just for NPN (because of their archaic filesize limits), and I forgot to mask out those edges during the web sizing/sharpening. I would hope the reflection looked accurate, it's real and part of the same exposure as everything else (except the stars).

Registered on May 19, 2012, 80 Posts, 195 Comments

Comment posted by Rick Lundh on May 23, 2012 at 12:26 AM

Perfect framing Alex...a nice and unique image of Trillium...well done!

Registered on April 28, 2004, 774 Posts, 4351 Comments

Comment posted by Kris Johnson on May 23, 2012 at 2:47 AM

Beautiful work

Registered on March 6, 2010, 26 Posts, 299 Comments

Comment posted by Zack Clothier on May 23, 2012 at 11:47 AM

Killer shot man, this is one of the best images I've seen from here. This will look great printed large! Great job on the processing as well.

Registered on January 28, 2010, 343 Posts, 2257 Comments

Comment posted by Joseph Campisi on May 24, 2012 at 12:48 AM

Beautiful capture Alex, one of my favorite shots from here! I like that the stars are pinpoint sharp. This will look great hanging on your wall!

Registered on November 24, 2008, 304 Posts, 3211 Comments

Comment posted by Abdulla Bin Touq on May 24, 2012 at 1:19 AM

Beautiful capture and nicely composed. I was there a month ago and couldn't really get the image I want due to the lake being completely frozen.

Abdulla

Registered on January 2, 2011, 10 Posts, 68 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Metternich on May 24, 2012 at 9:17 PM

Magical

Registered on June 19, 2009, 276 Posts, 6240 Comments

Comment posted by Doug Koepsel on May 30, 2012 at 8:30 PM

Alex, this is the type of star shot that I can really enjoy- the best of both times as you mention. Congrats on the WP!

Registered on April 1, 2010, 196 Posts, 1592 Comments

Comment posted by Alex Noriega on May 30, 2012 at 8:33 PM

Thanks everyone! Zack and Joe, I'm waiting for my first print of it to arrive - it's the image I've chosen to donate to a charity auction here in Portland - I suspect you guys may be right, should make a good print. Doug, thanks for letting me know - I had no idea about WPs or that I had been selected.

Registered on May 19, 2012, 80 Posts, 195 Comments

Comment posted by Rick Diffley on May 30, 2012 at 10:30 PM

Accolades for trying something different with this shot! WP choice!!

Registered on April 8, 2012, 52 Posts, 279 Comments

Comment posted by Shantikara Valuska on May 31, 2012 at 4:13 PM

Great image! Very peaceful. You were lucky with the perfectly stilll water.

Registered on July 25, 2011, 38 Posts, 451 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on June 5, 2012 at 1:35 AM

I have a million shots from this spot - but nothing as marvelous as this.
Congrats on a superb WP of this icon!
Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Sulaiman Alriyami on July 27, 2012 at 5:09 PM

Exellent work.. welldone

Registered on February 6, 2012, 1 Posts, 1 Comments

Comment posted by Alex Noriega on January 31, 2013 at 9:55 AM

Reprocessed this recently, so here it is for anyone looking.

Registered on May 19, 2012, 80 Posts, 195 Comments