Predawn glow in the Garden of Eden, Arches National Park, UT.
I stayed up most of the night attempting to get starry sky photos, and finally parked in the Garden of Eden lot and caught some zzzzz's. (Illegal camping? Oh my!) Awoke in time to catch this ethereal sky.
This is really cool...love those silhouetted formations!
I would never have known where this was taken had you not mentioned it.
Only thing that could make it better is a starry sky. How did that go?
I remember looking at this area last time I was there wondering how I could make use of the unusal collection of shapes -- this would obviously be the way to go. The color is beautiful.
Clearly, the original 5D and the crappy little 50mm f1.8-II are not up to the task, but I had fun playing with the concept. Thank goodness for car headlights at midnight.
I think you would have gotten better results if you would have stopped that lens down just a hair -- from what I remember it was terrible wide open. I've never had luck with these shots myself, so I can't offer anything in the way of meaningful advise.
Love the silhouette and I think the web version of Balanced Rock with the stars looks pretty darned cool. I assume it doesn't hold up well at full resolution judging by your comments.
Both are cool, but I really like the balanced rock shot. You are indeed being critical. Yes, it has a little bit of banding and chroma noise, but it hardly appears to have any luminance noise. A little correcting in PS or Noise Ninja could take care of it. The added illumination from the headlights seems to have definitely added to the appeal.
Nice stuff here, Todd. I like the 2nd, but I love the first one! I might be tempted to crop a little from the right side. On #2, did you use your own headlights, or was this a happy accident? Either way, cool shot.
I can definitely see the banding in the sky in the second shot. It's a great concept, but as you said, the original 5D is not up to the task. Unfortunately I think it's beyond a simple correction with a noise reduction application. Time for a 5D Mark II, or big film.
I like them both a lot! The first has such great pastel colors, and I really like that you kept the silouhettes dark. The second is exceptionally cool. I think a little noise work and it will be outstanding. I really like the headlight work in the context of the starry skies. Very creative.
Nice silouhette, Todd. Love that sky in the 1st. The middle rock almost looks like a woman kneeling, facing toward the left. Love the starry sky in the 2nd.
Discussion
18 repliesI stayed up most of the night attempting to get starry sky photos, and finally parked in the Garden of Eden lot and caught some zzzzz's. (Illegal camping? Oh my!) Awoke in time to catch this ethereal sky.
I would never have known where this was taken had you not mentioned it.
Only thing that could make it better is a starry sky. How did that go?
10-sec. @ f1.8, iso 800
John K.
I think you're being too critical on the second, Todd.
Thanks for posting.
"I'll sleep when I'm dead" Warren Zevon
I can definitely see the banding in the sky in the second shot. It's a great concept, but as you said, the original 5D is not up to the task. Unfortunately I think it's beyond a simple correction with a noise reduction application. Time for a 5D Mark II, or big film.