Posted by John Mumaw on April 22, 2012 at 11:21 PM
The western slope of the Lukachukai (Chuska) Mountains on the Navajo Nation along the Arizona/New Mexico line ends in very high and scenic sheer sandstone cliffs that run nearly 100 miles from north to south. World class scenery that is almost unknown even though a paved highway parallels it's length. I've been fortunate to work in this area quite extensively with plenty of time to scout locations. This weekend I visited some interesting sandstone pinnacles with the intent of shooting star trails while simultaneously capturing the Lyrid meteor shower. Unfortunately, I bungled the settings on my el cheapo intervalometer so that proved fruitless. Cleopatra's Needle is 275' tall and sittin' in a cow pasture. I'll return to these places again in the future, though!
Posted by John Mumaw on April 22, 2012 at 11:22 PM
'Cleopatra's Needle at 10:30 PM'
Posted by John Mumaw on April 22, 2012 at 11:22 PM
'Cleopatra's Needle at 4:00 AM'
Posted by John Mumaw on April 22, 2012 at 11:23 PM
Nice John - liked #2, is there a shadow on the foreground of #2 ?
Posted by Peter Coskun on April 23, 2012 at 12:17 AM
Very nice set. Although #1 and #2 are very similar its the shooting star in #1 and the defined milky way in #2 that make them equally impressive. I've always wanted to venture out that way.
Posted by Bob Falcone on April 23, 2012 at 1:27 AM
Very impressive, John...really like the milky way with spire...what lens were you using here...I just got a 14mm Rokinar which I tried out the same night as you shot with much less success as your effort..we have a great dark sky area near my hometown..maybe my future efforts will be better.
Joe Rogers
I really like the first two. For 4:00 AM on a moonless night I would have thought that the sky would have been darker. Were you shooting against the glow of city lights? BTW, now I have to google "intervalometer". I have no idea what that is. Thanks for showing these.
Posted by Doug Koepsel on April 23, 2012 at 11:09 AM
John, I like the second with the MW best. Suggestions might be to crop a little night sky to around halfway down to the bright star so the needle extends into more into the image, and to lose the fence posts and small bush which is atop the butte to the left of Cleopatra's Needle. Looks like a nice location you have found. The red glow from the rock ist sehr gut.
Posted by John Mumaw on April 23, 2012 at 12:21 PM
Thanks, folks!
Soubhik, I'm not see the shadow you're referring to.
Michael, I noticed that 'glow' and can only assume that it comes from the impending dawn(?). This is actually one of the darkest sky environments that can be found.
I use the Aputure intervalometer which costs a fraction of what Canon charges and it works very well. Human error was at work on this evening.
Doug,
Danke. As always, I'll look into the those things. I left the fence posts for a sense of scale, but they can easily vanish.
I don't think I would crop the sky in #2. I think the "star" of the show is the immensity of the universe, and even though the Needle is huge, it shrinks in comparison to the great beyond. Just one man's opinion. All 3 work very well as stand alone images. Excellent work!
Posted by Doug Koepsel on April 23, 2012 at 1:35 PM
Morris and John- I like the bright star also, so maybe I should clarify/reword my crop suggestion as to "halfway between the top and the bright star"
Posted by Grant Collier on April 23, 2012 at 5:59 PM
I guess I wasn't the only crazy person pulling an all-nighter on Saturday. Nice job waiting for the Milky Way. That definitely adds to the shot.
You can also find some very cheap knock-off intervalometers for Canon on eBay for around $12. Mine froze and split in half during the -20 degree weather in Alaska and the other got a little wet and died. But I've heard the really expensive Canon ones aren't very durable either.
Heh heh...'all nighter' ? Not me! I slept for six hours while the camera went to work. If I had just programmed in 'one minute' exposures instead of 'one second', I would have done well (and been well rested!).
Right from the start I liked #2 ALOT but right from the start I noticed Soubhik's mentioned foreground shadow. On my monitor, it looks like a shadow or just a couple of blury areas. Maybe it's just weird lighting I don't know. I used a 1pixel width pencil to keep the transition from brighter, more clean foreground to a muted blurry foreground. Hope this helps explain what we are seeing John.
The darn NPN wouldn't let me repost your shot. Here it is...I had to attatch it to a private gallery on my site i will delete in one day. Sorry
#2 is the winner, John, but theyre all nice and the pp is on target.
i have the same cheapo intervalometer and what a PITA it is
Posted by Kurt Bowman on April 26, 2012 at 10:43 AM
John, the series is excellent. I like all of them, but #2 is the standout for me also. i just like the gradient shy and Milky Way in it, which makes it better than number 1 for me. Just curious, but are you part Navajo yourself?
Discussion
19 repliesJoe Rogers
Soubhik, I'm not see the shadow you're referring to.
Michael, I noticed that 'glow' and can only assume that it comes from the impending dawn(?). This is actually one of the darkest sky environments that can be found.
I use the Aputure intervalometer which costs a fraction of what Canon charges and it works very well. Human error was at work on this evening.
Doug,
Danke. As always, I'll look into the those things. I left the fence posts for a sense of scale, but they can easily vanish.
I don't think I would crop the sky in #2. I think the "star" of the show is the immensity of the universe, and even though the Needle is huge, it shrinks in comparison to the great beyond. Just one man's opinion. All 3 work very well as stand alone images. Excellent work!
You can also find some very cheap knock-off intervalometers for Canon on eBay for around $12. Mine froze and split in half during the -20 degree weather in Alaska and the other got a little wet and died. But I've heard the really expensive Canon ones aren't very durable either.
The darn NPN wouldn't let me repost your shot. Here it is...I had to attatch it to a private gallery on my site i will delete in one day. Sorry
http://www.kaephotography.com/photo/gg
BTW the image is fantastic!
Kane
i have the same cheapo intervalometer and what a PITA it is