St. Mary Lake Stars

Gallery: LandscapePosted October 17, 2012405 views20 comments

This iconic spot in Glacier NP does not lose it's luster even in the dark. I was out late, attempting to get the Milky Way over St. Mary. It wasn't fully in the frame until after 11 pm & I'll work on those versions soon. I had been taking shots from just after sunset until then with the same composition.

This is a 2 shot blend. The foreground/mountains was taken about 1 hour after sunset. The sky is all one shot taken about 2 hours after sunset. The clouds were evident in the distance, and the long exposure picked up the remaining orange glow in those clouds. I was intrigued with the high cirrus that were still glowing pink. This is the bottom 40% of a vertical shot. Please view large for more detail

5DIII, Nikkor 14/24
Foreground: ISO 400, 6/10 second, F4
Sky: ISO 3200, 25 seconds, F4

Comments

20 comments

Comment posted by Tom Hilton on October 17, 2012 at 9:22 AM

Beautiful...
Perfect...

Registered on September 19, 2011, 68 Posts, 668 Comments

Comment posted by Ed Lowe on October 17, 2012 at 9:44 AM

Sweet image, Wick. I really like the mood here along with the touch of warm color in the clouds.

Ed

Registered on February 7, 2004, 414 Posts, 7115 Comments

Comment posted by Harley Goldman on October 17, 2012 at 10:03 AM

Great sky and beautiful scene. Excellent.

Registered on November 19, 2003, 586 Posts, 11271 Comments

Comment posted by Daniel Rappaport on October 17, 2012 at 10:53 AM

Compelling image. Really nice blend.

Registered on September 9, 2009, 294 Posts, 2006 Comments

Comment posted by Allen Brooks on October 17, 2012 at 11:27 AM

This is a beautiful shot. I really like the pink clouds and the stars. It's a bit hard to put into words, but for me this scene with the mountains and stars, captures a sense of time-astronomical time, that the earth and the universe is old. Well done. This is inspiring and I'm going to flag it to remind to try something like this someday. Looking forward to the other version you mentioned.

Registered on July 27, 2011, 262 Posts, 2597 Comments

Comment posted by Charlie Baugh on October 17, 2012 at 12:30 PM

Exquisite image. The utter cool beauty of this scene gives the feeling of being all alone in this world.

Registered on April 18, 2011, 329 Posts, 1985 Comments

Comment posted by Wayne Jones on October 17, 2012 at 1:29 PM

This one makes my day! I'll be thinking of it for a long time. PERFECTION!

Registered on April 18, 2007, 953 Posts, 6435 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Chambers on October 17, 2012 at 2:16 PM

Beautiful shot Wick. I like that the woods/mountain appear somewhat dark. So many star shots today appear much too bright. This is very nice.

Registered on April 10, 2005, 753 Posts, 21216 Comments

Comment posted by Brad Strong on October 17, 2012 at 4:05 PM

Pretty scene. There are very thin halos between the sky and mountain tops. Probably artifacts from the blending. It is most prominent on the mountain on the right, but there are a couple of spots on the left as well.

Registered on October 1, 2012, 43 Posts, 302 Comments

Comment posted by Catherine Reilly on October 17, 2012 at 5:14 PM

Wick!! Oh, so grand!! Perfectly executed/processed image. Just such an impressive interpretation of the "twilight to night" transition time. Very

Registered on August 16, 2006, 603 Posts, 9192 Comments

Comment posted by Eva McDermott on October 17, 2012 at 7:01 PM

The night light is well balanced and looks real to me Wick. Fantastic image and effort to capture it.

Registered on January 4, 2009, 1015 Posts, 13229 Comments

Comment posted by Harry Lichtman on October 17, 2012 at 7:28 PM

I'm enjoying this new view on the old standard. Your blend looks pretty good and natural. Were you at all worried about the bears hanging around there in the dark?

I think I would have been! The montain edges almost look too sharp, thereby giving me the impression that the FG was pasted on the sky layer. Maybe a slightly softer transition would help?

Registered on September 17, 2010, 304 Posts, 3507 Comments

Comment posted by Paul Gasior on October 17, 2012 at 8:58 PM

WOW!
Great shot , beautiful sky

Registered on March 7, 2010, 99 Posts, 502 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on October 17, 2012 at 9:38 PM

This looks great! I feel like I'm standing right there. I love the glow on the water and that beautiful sky. Fantastic Mood!

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

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

Comment posted by Youssef Ismail on October 17, 2012 at 11:00 PM

Very nice work, composed very thoughtfully. Are the clouds from the 2-hour after sunset frame or from the 1-hour after sunset image? Looking forward to more from that night.

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

Comment posted by Wick Smith on October 18, 2012 at 8:12 AM

Youssef,
The entire sky, including the clouds was part of the image that was taken two hours after sunset. The color was very faint with the naked eye, but the long exposure picked up the color nicely.
Thanks, Wick

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

Comment posted by Gary Reed on October 18, 2012 at 8:52 AM

A great example of dedication to a shot.... hours put in shooting and probably a good chunk of time processing....but I will say.. totally worth the effort.

Registered on September 19, 2009, 198 Posts, 1074 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Bernabe on October 18, 2012 at 12:54 PM

This is wicked good, Wick!

Registered on November 24, 2004, 180 Posts, 1545 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Overacker on October 18, 2012 at 1:58 PM

Wick,

There have been a fair number of images from Glacier, and specifically this lake. And this may be my favorite! Nick said exactly what my thoughts are, this image brings me right there! Very few images make the viewer feel like they are standing there viewing a scene, and this one does that. I image this would look exactly like how you've presented it if I were there; even down to the amount of light and shadow that might be present - especially if there was quarter moon over your back shoulder...

Love this! Congrats.

Lon

Registered on November 24, 2006, 521 Posts, 19147 Comments

Comment posted by Jeff Hackett on October 18, 2012 at 3:42 PM

Very, very nice, I really dig this. I like the texture of the water surface, I can hear the wind right now. Be proud of this one!

Registered on March 13, 2006, 65 Posts, 1119 Comments