Moonlight at Natural Dam

I went out to Natural Dam last Friday night with a fellow photographer to try out several night photography techniques.

The first image was shot with my 5D Mark II at ISO 1000 for 32 seconds at F2.8. The moon was to my back and casting some light. I added just a touch of light to the center with my flashlight.

My friend has a pretty neat portable strobe that can put serious light on a scene. In the second shot we set up our cameras at ISO 400 at F8 for 20 seconds and he moved about firing the strobe several times at different areas of the scene. This technique is interesting but I would appreciate your thoughts. Does it work?

Here is the image shot with a portable strobe.

Hey Tom I like the first image better myself but I am more of a this is what I saw and felt when I was there kind of guy. The stars and blue sky are beautiful in the first one. The second one looks just like what it is a flash light image, nothing wrong with that I just like the natural light better. Man you went to alot of trouble to place your boat in it also. It's funny I was thinking about heading to natural damn.

I too prefer the first one for the same reasons. I really enjoy the first one though. Maybe a little to much added light, but overall the image still works well. Night shots using moonlight and retaining the stars as points are a favorite style of mine.

It's good that you got both, but I like the long exposure waterfall and the stars showing up. Nice camera huh?

I prefer the first one also, but I wanted to get some feedback on the second technique. It is always nice to get your comments. I think I will stick to the natural light but it is always fun to try something new. Thanks for the feedback.

Natural light always looks more . . . natural. When it comes to adding light, less is usually more. Nice shot.

These are great Tom. I would have to say I prefer the second one. I love the light on the foreground, spread out on the dam face and especially on the trees above the dam. Along with the dark sky it looks really cool. Nice job.

Both of these are cool shots. I bet you had fun shooting them Tom. The bottom photo has a "staged" feel to it. The top photo with a red canoe in there would really be neat.

Hey Tom, I like the first one best here for its more natural appeal. I would burn in the trees above the main fall to match the darkness of the surrounding trees and maybe dodge the right side of the falls to lighten it up. The vigenetting keeps your eyes in the frame nicely. Thanks for sharing.

I like the softness of the water flow in the first, along with the blue sky, stars, and the water's reflection of light from the bright part of the image. I might think about cropping the half tree along the left edge of the frame. Nice work Tom.

Pretty cool set of shots, Tom - I like both of them but maybe the first one seems a little more natural. Though an hour of star trails would have made it even more interesting!

I like the more natural look of he first one. Night photography is a lot of fun and digital has made it more fun since you can tweak on the run. Plus the high ISO options make it possible to do more images.

Let's see more.

Great stuff. I think most of us have shot waterfalls and naturally react to the frozen water.I'm not sure non photographers would feel the same. I think you had the right idea with the flashlight.I would like to have seen it done with one of those 2 million candlepower lights you get at Lowes. I've even thought about using one through an umbrella.

For more inspiration, surely everyone has been to www.lostamerica.com