Posted by Joshua Hardin on November 18, 2009 at 4:06 PM
"Busy Sky"
I spent a long morning yesterday in RMNP and the Big Thompson Canyon starting with this starry, pre-dawn, manual blend of two images at Moraine Park. I wanted to see if I could catch anything from the peak of the Leonid meteor shower at the time. While in the park, I saw three or four spectacular large meteors that lasted for several seconds. Unfortunately those didn't happen to be in the frame of this shot. However, There are two faint streaks in the middle of the sky here that I think are meteors. The darker more consistent streak on the right side is likely a satellite since it reappeared with the same strength, along the same path, in a shot I took directly following this one. The cluster of stars on the lower left of the sky is in the constellation Orion and the star cluster on the right is the Pleiades in the constellation Taurus (thank you Google Sky). More shooting information below:
Nikon D300, Sigma 17-35mm at 17mm.
Star Image: f/2.8, 30s, ISO 1000, ~1 hour before sunrise
Mountain and Foreground Image: f/11, 1/1.6s, ISO 200, ~15 minutes before sunrise.
Posted by Joshua Hardin on November 18, 2009 at 4:12 PM
"In Winter's Shadow"
While it's technically not winter yet, these images all definitely have a winter theme to them. This one is from the Big Thompson Canyon between Loveland and Estes Park in an area that had been in the shadow of the canyon since the weekend snowstorm. The snow still clinging to the trees and rocks as well as the ice along the Big Thompson River definitely gives it a chilly feeling, but in the upper half of the image there is some subtle pink light on the snow that is reflecting from the other, sunny side of the canyon. I purposefully kept the contrast a little lower and the color balance a little cooler while processing this one.
Posted by bill meikle on November 18, 2009 at 4:14 PM
Probably the nicest Moraine Park shot I've seen in a long time, good work Joshua. After some time watching outside I only saw one meteor.
Posted by Joshua Hardin on November 18, 2009 at 4:16 PM
"Breakfast"
I was lucky enough to spot this bull elk while driving in the Horseshoe Park area of RMNP. I was able to pull the car to the shoulder, turn off the engine, lower the window and get a few shots of him enjoying a morning meal before he disappeared into the busy background you see here.
Posted by Doug Andrews on November 18, 2009 at 4:17 PM
The Moraine Park shot is really cool looking. And I don't just mean cold.
Posted by Joshua Hardin on November 18, 2009 at 4:19 PM
"Alluvial Fan Ice"
And a final image of an icy scene in the Alluvial Fan area of RMNP. This was an HDR blend in Photoshop for the dynamic range and I worked with layers to warm up the whites in the snow slightly while keeping the icy areas bluish. Thanks for looking.
Posted by Chris Rice on November 18, 2009 at 4:19 PM
Dude! The combination of the starry sky (and the celestial features) and the foreground elements is striking! Man, good for you to get out there for this - I always say I'm getting up for the meteor showers, yeah right! Back to the image - you did a great job with the blend here; there are no deep dark areas that you would expect from a single image. I want to see this blown up BIG!
Posted by Grant Collier on November 18, 2009 at 5:02 PM
The first two are great! I'll have to try start trying two-exposure blends on night shots, as I've seen several cool ones. I might clone out the satellite, as I find it a bit distracting. I happened to catch the most incredible meteor I've ever seen in one of my shots last month. It started on the western side of the sky and went all the way across the sky, ending up in the far eastern side. Unfortunately, since it went all the way across the frame of my shot, it really just looked like a big old scratch in my image.
Posted by Brian Jackson on November 18, 2009 at 5:13 PM
Great shot. You can definitely see Orion's belt and Pleiades very well. I watched the meteor shower from my bedroom windows for about a hour or so and saw a few good ones, but I'm sure being out where you were you saw some really good views.
Great work.
Posted by Dean Sauskojus on November 18, 2009 at 5:52 PM
I like the fine detail of the second image. The placement of the sage in the foreground and the matching colors in the background cliffs all works well together. First one is also a great night shot. Nice work.
Posted by Nick Moore on November 18, 2009 at 6:41 PM
What a great collection of images Joshua!. I particularly like the Star image from Moraine Park, and #2 from Thompson Canyon. Very productive trip I'd say, great work!.
Posted by Momo Vuyisich on November 18, 2009 at 7:39 PM
Great collection of images, but the first one is outstanding. Thanks for posting.
Posted by Bill Pelzmann on November 18, 2009 at 7:46 PM
Posted by John Mumaw on November 18, 2009 at 10:06 PM
My favorites are the night shot and the bull elk portrait.
My favorite style of night photography is the blended image, and you did such an outstanding job with this one. It looks perfect!!
Posted by Bert Fukuda on November 18, 2009 at 10:42 PM
That first one is absolutely killer...
Posted by Bryan Maltais on November 19, 2009 at 12:56 AM
Nice, but #1 rocks!
Posted by Paul Wegemann on November 19, 2009 at 7:40 AM
Nice stuff! I love #1 like everyone else. I also really like "Alluvial Fan Ice". The comp is really appealing.
Posted by Kurt Bowman on November 19, 2009 at 10:56 AM
The first shot at Morraine Park is awesome!
Posted by Joshua Hardin on November 19, 2009 at 10:20 PM
Thanks for all your comments everyone!
Posted by D J Kuklinski on November 20, 2009 at 12:42 AM
All are great , but # 1 gets my vote as well.
Posted by Jeremy Kessler on November 22, 2009 at 3:15 PM
fantastic series, that first one is my favorite as well.
Posted by Dan Walters on November 22, 2009 at 6:53 PM
Great images! Especially love that first image. The ice image is very nice as well.
Discussion
22 repliesI spent a long morning yesterday in RMNP and the Big Thompson Canyon starting with this starry, pre-dawn, manual blend of two images at Moraine Park. I wanted to see if I could catch anything from the peak of the Leonid meteor shower at the time. While in the park, I saw three or four spectacular large meteors that lasted for several seconds. Unfortunately those didn't happen to be in the frame of this shot. However, There are two faint streaks in the middle of the sky here that I think are meteors. The darker more consistent streak on the right side is likely a satellite since it reappeared with the same strength, along the same path, in a shot I took directly following this one. The cluster of stars on the lower left of the sky is in the constellation Orion and the star cluster on the right is the Pleiades in the constellation Taurus (thank you Google Sky). More shooting information below:
Nikon D300, Sigma 17-35mm at 17mm.
Star Image: f/2.8, 30s, ISO 1000, ~1 hour before sunrise
Mountain and Foreground Image: f/11, 1/1.6s, ISO 200, ~15 minutes before sunrise.
While it's technically not winter yet, these images all definitely have a winter theme to them. This one is from the Big Thompson Canyon between Loveland and Estes Park in an area that had been in the shadow of the canyon since the weekend snowstorm. The snow still clinging to the trees and rocks as well as the ice along the Big Thompson River definitely gives it a chilly feeling, but in the upper half of the image there is some subtle pink light on the snow that is reflecting from the other, sunny side of the canyon. I purposefully kept the contrast a little lower and the color balance a little cooler while processing this one.
I was lucky enough to spot this bull elk while driving in the Horseshoe Park area of RMNP. I was able to pull the car to the shoulder, turn off the engine, lower the window and get a few shots of him enjoying a morning meal before he disappeared into the busy background you see here.
And a final image of an icy scene in the Alluvial Fan area of RMNP. This was an HDR blend in Photoshop for the dynamic range and I worked with layers to warm up the whites in the snow slightly while keeping the icy areas bluish. Thanks for looking.
Great work.
My favorite style of night photography is the blended image, and you did such an outstanding job with this one. It looks perfect!!