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Still Earth
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Still Earth

by Steve Sieren

Gallery: LandscapePosted June 12, 20081,995 views31 comments
This was supposed to be a sunset shot but I got to the location a little too late. Finding the car at the end of the night was the hard part even with a GPS. I'm kind of glad I went with the night light painting because of the lack of clouds on the way in. Maybe a little bit longer star trails might of helped out the scene.

Comments

31 comments
Comment posted by Marc Adamus on June 12, 2008 at 6:45 PM
Fantastic image. Very otherworldly indeed.
Registered on September 17, 2005, 780 Posts, 8091 Comments
Comment posted by Peter Carroll on June 12, 2008 at 6:51 PM
Superb Steve. Don't nit yourself on the trails. It's like seeing a gorgeous woman and saying "too bad about the shoes". I think it can be overlooked. Beautiful image.
Registered on August 19, 2005, 132 Posts, 983 Comments
Comment posted by Bill Chambers on June 12, 2008 at 7:09 PM
What a beautiful contrast of colors in this Steve. A real beauty.
Registered on April 10, 2005, 753 Posts, 21216 Comments
Comment posted by William Vrolyk on June 12, 2008 at 7:14 PM
A remarkable photo, Steve. Almost surreal.

Will
Edmonton, Alberta
Canada
Registered on November 1, 2003, 278 Posts, 3524 Comments
Comment posted by John Mumaw on June 12, 2008 at 7:30 PM
'Surreal' is an apt word.
You did an outstanding job with the light painting, creating a unique and fresh image.
Did you use a regular ol' flashlight? Did you also 'paint' the background?
Registered on September 9, 2005, 62 Posts, 2289 Comments
Comment posted by Laurent Baig on June 12, 2008 at 8:25 PM
This is cool
Registered on January 12, 2005, 206 Posts, 6784 Comments
Comment posted by Mark Pelton on June 12, 2008 at 9:07 PM
Way cool, Steve, and oddly beautiful. How was this illuminated ? Remarkable image, I love the star trails.
Registered on November 25, 2003, 380 Posts, 4647 Comments
Comment posted by Richard Wong on June 12, 2008 at 9:10 PM
great exposure, and otherworldly yes yes.
Registered on February 2, 2006, 79 Posts, 2629 Comments
Comment posted by Elisabeth Czwikla on June 12, 2008 at 9:44 PM
beautiful image,dramatic contrasts.
Registered on December 9, 2007, 145 Posts, 852 Comments
Comment posted by Paul Wegemann on June 12, 2008 at 9:46 PM
The bottom half of this image is fantastic! I'm not a fan of the short star trails. I think they need to be much longer or not there at all. But, your light painting is fantastic and that just makes this sing.
:toast:
Registered on December 14, 2006, 58 Posts, 1888 Comments
Comment posted by Nick Moore on June 12, 2008 at 9:58 PM
Amazing light painting, really nice contrast against the sky!. Longer star trials may of been nice, but this alone is a stunner!.
Registered on May 23, 2006, 93 Posts, 2228 Comments
Comment posted by David Cobb on June 12, 2008 at 10:12 PM
And you hooked up your camera to the Mars Lander too! Really nice capture Steve, this all has a sense of alien mystery.

David M. Cobb
Registered on December 14, 2007, 312 Posts, 3243 Comments
Comment posted by Arnab Banerjee on June 12, 2008 at 11:37 PM
Great light painting - how did you do it? Looks like a pretty big area to paint
Registered on January 3, 2007, 313 Posts, 2270 Comments
Comment posted by Dan Baumbach on June 13, 2008 at 12:03 AM
This looks unreal. Good job.

- Dan.
Registered on November 1, 2003, 473 Posts, 7980 Comments
Comment posted by Steve Sieren on June 13, 2008 at 12:07 AM
John & Arnab;

I used a regular old $6 flashlight from walmart(superlight). The kind w/ the square battery in it. I kept the light in constant motion to avoid burn outs. Then stood behind the first hoodoo on the left and beamed the background. It's not all from my flashlight, you can see more ambient light in the background. A lot of trial and error and changing compostion of course. Hopefully that shines some light on your questions(corny).
:confused: :biggrin: Thanks for your comments!!
Registered on January 2, 2008, 360 Posts, 5321 Comments
Comment posted by Brad Mangas on June 13, 2008 at 12:32 AM
Very neat image Steve. Reminds me of things I have seen watching Star Trek. Very nice and well done.

Brad
Registered on November 9, 2007, 94 Posts, 568 Comments
Comment posted by Harold Ankney on June 13, 2008 at 12:46 AM
This is Fantastic! It looks like landscape from another planet. The short star trails doesn't hurt this at all.

Harold
Registered on April 22, 2004, 5 Posts, 28 Comments
Comment posted by Kent Mearig on June 13, 2008 at 1:06 AM
This is fun and beautiful; that's a great combination. Longer star trails might make it even more fun, but I like this closer to literal sky.
Registered on September 4, 2006, 237 Posts, 4748 Comments
Comment posted by Dietrich Gloger on June 13, 2008 at 1:07 AM
I like the great light the most. What the long exposure did to the formation in the foreground is amazing. Excellent shot Steve!
Registered on January 26, 2007, 360 Posts, 9876 Comments
Comment posted by Andreas Resch on June 13, 2008 at 5:45 AM
Very surreal indeed. I like it.
Registered on November 14, 2007, 322 Posts, 6101 Comments
Comment posted by scott lanz on June 13, 2008 at 3:04 PM
The tones, light, comp, scene, etc are all great. Excellent work.
Registered on November 14, 2003, 840 Posts, 12902 Comments
Comment posted by Philip Kuglin on June 13, 2008 at 4:29 PM
Very nice Steve - very creative and otherworldly.
Registered on April 19, 2004, 68 Posts, 389 Comments
Comment posted by Ian Cameron on June 13, 2008 at 5:52 PM
OOh really very nice I love these star trail pics. A very surreal looking landscape. I think your right just slightly longer trails helps to emphasise that the star trails were deliberate intent not accidental oversight. (I know that wasn't the case by the way). Good imaginative stuff.
Registered on August 6, 2004, 1125 Posts, 3318 Comments
Comment posted by Greg Cope on June 13, 2008 at 10:46 PM
Steve, this is simply outstanding! Incredible combination of the foreground and startrails. Surreal, artistic, and beautiful :toast:
Registered on January 22, 2007, 212 Posts, 2737 Comments
Comment posted by fernando brito on June 14, 2008 at 7:45 PM
Great work, fantastic image!!!
:toast:
Fernando Brito
Registered on December 21, 2003, 124 Posts, 486 Comments
Comment posted by Mike Dawson on June 15, 2008 at 10:57 PM
Superb work Steve, may be the best eample of lightpaiting I have seen
Registered on February 4, 2006, 364 Posts, 8872 Comments
Comment posted by Eric Good on June 16, 2008 at 5:01 AM
Beautiful example of controlled use of light. Too often hand painted images are illuminated from a position close to the camera's perspective resulting in an image too flat for my tastes. Your lighting from a relatively strong angle really helps give a sense of shape and dimension. Personally I would favor either longer star trails or virtually none. Merging two different exposures here might yield an interesting result as well. That said, this is pretty darn spectacular as presented though. Great stuff!
Registered on March 17, 2007, 116 Posts, 4764 Comments
Comment posted by Kah Kit Yoong on June 16, 2008 at 8:58 AM
The light painting is so well done I could believe it to be moonlight. Excellent work.
Registered on September 27, 2006, 636 Posts, 10682 Comments
Comment posted by Vincent FAVRE on June 16, 2008 at 9:48 AM
Very nice night shot. I regret that the star trails are a little bit short. But it's superb.

Vincent
Registered on September 2, 2007, 37 Posts, 213 Comments
Comment posted by Vincent Grafhorst on June 17, 2008 at 11:07 AM
Unreal! :eek: Great job on the painting. IMO longer star trails would have perfected this. :toast:
Registered on February 24, 2006, 504 Posts, 7203 Comments
Comment posted by Matt Blaisdell on June 29, 2008 at 4:58 AM
Hey Steve Glad to see your on here also. Great Shot! :toast:
Registered on April 14, 2007, 0 Posts, 1 Comments