PhotoPills App - Black Friday Sale

Get the PhotoPills App for 50% Off - ONE Day Only: 11/29

Is PhotoPills the best app for NightScapes? I think PhotoPills could be THE app for night photography, moonscapes, starscapes, time lapse, and daytime landscape photography.  At 50% the regular price of $9.99, it's worth taking a plunge. I have yet to finish my review of this app, comparing it to The Photographer's Ephemeris; however, at the moment, I think PhotoPills has the edge over TPE. Check out PhotoPills' online video tutorials and see for yourself. Here's the iTunes Preview for PhotoPills.

NOTE: I'm NOT getting a commission for posting, promoting or linking this.

Royce's 2014 Workshop, Lecture & Video Conference Schedule: NightScapeEvents.com
Featured Post: Shooting Stars eBook Review — How to Photograph the Stars and the Moon

What Color is the Universe?

What is the color of a night sky? If you said "black" you'd be wrong! Black is the lack of light —it's the space between the stars, planets, astroids, and the dust.

Back in 2002, scientist charted the perceptible colors in our universe, and they found on average our universe is somewhat of a light brown brown color. They call it "Cosmic Latte" (play the above video).

Every star has a different color. Most people think all the stars in the night sky are just white. Wrong again! One thing that amazed me when I first began to photograph the night sky was how every star had its own distinct color. You can clearly see that when you do long star trail exposures, like this 7+ hour exposure (via stacking) by the Australian photographer, Lincoln Harrison:

"650 x 40 Seconds" by Lincoln Harrison

Royce's 2014 Workshop, Lecture & Video Conference Schedule: NightScapeEvents.com
Featured Post: Shooting Stars eBook Review — How to Photograph the Stars and the Moon

What Do The Northern Lights Actually Look Like?

Northern Lights: What your eyes see versus what the camera captures ~ © Mike Taylor

What do the Northern Lights Actually Look Like? Mike Taylor, of Taylor Photography, recently shared the following information with me. It might help you better understand how our eyes and our cameras see the night sky differently, particularly the aurora borealis, or Northern Lights. (Note: Mike reminds me that the information included below applies to areas in the Northern Hemisphere around the 50 degree latitude mark or lower. As you go above that parallel, the differences between what your eyes see and what the camera records become less noticeable.)

While observing the aurora is a truly awe-inspiring and often breathtaking experience, the images that come out of modern day DSLR cameras do not match what you witness in real life. I've photographed many colors in the fantastic Northern Lights displays I've been lucky enough to observe including green, purple, yellow, orange, red, magenta and blue. But I never REALLY know what color they are unless I'm looking at my camera's LCD screen or more importantly viewing these images on my computer. Why?

The simplistic answer is because human eyes can't see the relatively “faint” colors of the aurora at night. Our eyes have cones and rods – the cones work during the day and the rods work at night.

“Humans use two different kinds of cells in their eyes to sense light. Cone cells, concentrated in the fovea in the central area of vision, are high resolution and detect color in bright light. These are the main cells we use for vision in the daytime. Rod cells, concentrated in the periphery around the outside of the fovea, can detect much fainter light at night, but only see in black and white and shades of gray. [Aurora] only appear to us in shades of gray because the light is too faint to be sensed by our color-detecting cone cells.” – Jerry Lodriguss

Thus the human eye views the Northern Lights generally in “black & white.” DSLR camera sensors don't have this limitation. Couple that fact in with long exposure times and high ISO settings of modern cameras = the camera sensor has a much higher dynamic range of vision in the dark than we do. The same thing is true regarding the Milky Way and night photography in general. Some folks claim that they can see many colors during an aurora display and that very well may be. I have definitely seen light shades of green, red, and violet/purple but I can only speak for myself and my empirical knowledge - your mileage may vary. The farther North your viewing location, the more colors you can actually see because the aurora is stronger.

I made the [above] graphic to show what I mean. These three photographs exemplify the most impressive aurora displays I've seen. The top row of images have had the skies desaturated by color (green, yellow, red, magenta, purple, blue) to show what I saw with my eyes. A bit of green has been retained on the horizons and just a bit of the color that I remember seeing above that – red, violet, and red respectively.

FYI - I generally set the white balance on my camera to Kelvin 3450 - 3570 when shooting the features of the night sky but I will also take a few frames with it set on Auto to see what colors the camera thinks it should be capturing. Most times I end up going with the Kelvin setting, which is a little bit on the cool/blue side of the spectrum. The EXIF data for these shots are K-3450, K-3570, K-3570 respectively. I process all my photos through Lightroom 4 & Photoshop CS5 and I certainly have an “artist's view” when bringing an image to life but when it comes to these strong aurora scenes, the colors have not been saturated very much because Mother Nature did that work beautifully.

Here's Mike's description of the above three images, with links to larger views of each:

Left Side Image - Pemaquid Point Lighthouse (crazy magenta curtains):
I saw “dancing lights” in the sky, spiking straight up starting around a few hundred feet off the ground. They waved a bit like curtains but stayed in basically the same area. They seemed to be kind of a blur though, the “spikes” were not very defined. There was definitely a green hue on the horizon and a bit of red color above that but I didn't see the crazy red & magenta colors that my camera recorded. I saw what appeared to be white/grey “curtains” dancing along the black sky.

Center Image - Unity Train Tracks (blue colored spikes):
I didn't see much of anything but I set up, started shooting and immediately saw green on the horizon on my camera screen. I set the camera to shoot 30 second exposures for an hour with just a few seconds in between so that I could quickly review the scenes on the LCD screen as my camera snapped away. Within 10 minutes or so, I saw sharp spikes or columns shooting up and slowly moving across the sky. To my eye they appeared to be a light violet/purple color enough that I actually posted a status update to Facebook at 2:24 AM that said “You know the aurora is cranked up when you can see the purple spikes with your naked eye.” When the display died down, I quickly looked through my images but I didn't really know the spikes were blue until I viewed them on my computer.

Right Side Image - Small Pond Outside of Unity (incredible oval & screaming spikes):
The most impressive oval I've ever seen, a perfect arc which covered the Northern sky's horizon. The tallest and most crisp “spikes” I've witnessed, reaching all the way to the stars. Again I saw definite green around the oval at the horizon but the spikes themselves were white/grey, not the intense red that my camera captured.

The intensity of the aurora always ebbs and flows, sometimes it is quite strong and other times it is mild. If you can see a simple glow or swirling lights on the horizon and/or “spikes” shooting into the sky that look like spotlights and/or “curtains” of light – pay attention and/or be patient. The display can last just a few minutes, a half hour, or longer. Most of the intense shows I have witnessed in Maine, USA have lasted right around a half hour.

Mike Taylor operates Taylor Photography and an imaging studio out of a 19th Century farmhouse in central Maine. He's been a scenic and nature photographer for over 10 years, and a studio photographer for seven years. Beside being an artist, he's also a philosopher, musician, movie buff, and a self-proclaimed connoisseur of beverages made from malted barley and hops ("We all have our bag of rocks to carry," whips Mike.) You can fine more of Mike's images on his website, Facebook, Google+, and Pinterest. His night photography workshop schedule is on his blog.

 ~ Take our NightScape Poll ~           

Royce's 2014 Workshop, Lecture & Video Conference Schedule: NightScapeEvents.com

Featured Post: Shooting Stars eBook Review — How to Photograph the Stars and the Moon

Testimonials for Royce Bair's Workshops

Unsolicited testimonials about my workshops are a treasure. It is hard to place a value on goodwill like this, but I truly appreciate my association with each photographer and their thoughtful comments! The follow comments are listed below in no particular order:

Simply amazing! Thank you so much, Royce--the workshop was absolutely fantastic. I learned so much and came away with some incredible photos. I appreciated your patience and energy as well as your generosity in sharing your knowledge with us. And yes, what an excellent group of people! I couldn't have asked for better companions for this adventure. I had so much dang FUN it's ridiculous. I appreciated how willing everyone was to help each other--I learned quite a bit from each of you as well, so thank you. And keep in touch please! — Nicole Fernley

This was my third workshop with Royce Bair. I learn more each trip from his knowledge and mentoring - he is a master of Night Sky Photography. The experience was terrific and the I really enjoyed the group. I look forward to the next workshop with Royce! — George Manlove

© George Manlove • Canon 6D • Canon 16-35mm f/2.8 @ 33mm • f/2.8, 15 sec, ISO 800 (click to enlarge)

It was an informative and fun workshop. We had a wonderful group and I learned so much. — Denise Waterman

Milky Way over John Moulton Barn, Mormon Row, GTNP ~ © Denise Waterman
Nikon D600, Rokinon 24mm • f/1.4 • 15 seconds • ISO 6400 (click to enlarge)

Excellent workshop! Received way more than I expected. Thank you so much for the wonderful workshop in the Tetons. I learned everything I hoped for and more! Your instruction in the field was right on and your post-processing savvy brings the raw images to life exquisitely.  I enjoyed photographing the sights from vantage points only someone intimately familiar with the area could have shown me, saw the stars and Milky Way like I have never seen them before and shared it all with some entertaining and talented folks that made up our little group. — Steve Slinger

Fun, informative, and we had great luck with the weather overall. — David Hoelscher

Royce’s Zion National Park Milky Way Workshop was my first exposure to the art and science of astrophotography. I was thoroughly impressed with Royce’s classroom post-production lecture and hands-on field photography workshop. He revealed a lot of tips and techniques that make for stunning nighttime photography. Every aspect of trip was handled with professionalism—from pre-workshop communications that included useful eBooks on astrophotography to detailed trip itinerary, in-class and in-field instruction to post-trip follow up. Our May Zion participants made for a fun and compatible group. Thanks, Royce for making this workshop so much fun and a great educational experience! I look forward to participating in another workshop in the near future.
— Christopher Wray

"Watchman under the Milky Way" - Zion Canyon, Zion N.P. ~ © Christopher Wray (click to enlarge)

Awesome! Wunnerful, wunnerful, wunnerful! Thanks, Royce and all the other photographers, I had a great time! — Steven Sharp

I am a naturalist. I chose to work with you to find out for myself to see if the sky and milkyway could be captured w/o photoshop. many of my fellow photos tried t tell me it was all done in photoshop. I am happy to prove them wrong. Royce you are one intelligent photographer. Hats off to you! — Rita Nielsen

Excellent! — Brian Drake

The Best! Royce is an excellent instructor. He is very thorough, yet makes the technical details easy to understand. He covers each of the camera settings and why they are important. Reviews astronomical information, so you know where and what to look for so you will know when you are on your own. He covers information that is important as the night progresses. He was there visiting with each person to make sure they understood the instructions and were getting good pictures. Then he follows up the class with additional information and resources. If you are thinking about taking one of his classes - do it! Opportunities to learn from such a master are rare. — Doug Lawrence

Thank you, Royce! An incredible experience! I learned so much and look forward to doing additional workshops in the future. — Jerry Holman

Milky Way over Delicate Arch, Arches National Park ~ © Jerry Holman

The was such a great workshop!! Royce is very helpful and explains details in an understandable way. Can't wait to take another workshop! — Pat Wimpee

This was a fabulous experience. Very well planned for the spots to take photos at the right times, excellent teaching and a great time. I am more amazed at the expert skill Royce demonstrated in putting together an excellent group of attendees who were all wonderful - even the Cannot users were great people who provided valuable information. We need to have a reunion shoot together when our post-processing skills create signature images. — Steve Waterman

Milky Way stars over "The Mask" at Bryce Canyon National Park ~ © Steve Waterman

The work shop was beyond belief-- the information imparted was so much I am not sure I took it all in--the group company was absolutely enjoyable,fun and helpful--would love to photograph with any of you again--hope our lives cross in the future--Royce, I cannot say Thank You enough. I enjoyed you personally and as a teacher--your energy level was outstanding. Hope to do another workshop in the future. — Sara A. Smith

Royce did a wonderful and professional job! He was very knowledgeable and more than willing to share his expertise and time answering questions and working with any individual on their particular questions/concerns. I really enjoyed all the other workshop participants - great bunch of fellow photographers who were very talented in their own photographic skills. I am pleased to announce that the rash I developed from standing too close to the Nikon (Nylon) shooters is almost cleared up. The Dr. said it was pixelated skin or noise from high ISO Nikon deficits.  — C.Y. Roby

Hope I can make another one soon. Still amazed at how you were able to get us around to the best spots and just the right time. — Jean Thomas

Excellent, Royce, thank you so much! — A.M. Ruttle

Royce, it was a fabulous time, I learned lots and enjoyed everyone's company. Despite being sleep deprived, everyone was great and wonderful company. — Joyce Harman

I learned a lot and am excited to go use what I've learned. — Alex Greenfield

Thanks, Royce. I thought that this was a great workshop and was an excellent value. Learned lots, got some great shots, met some neat people...what else could I ask for? — Paul Titus

Thanks for putting on such a great workshop and adapting to the weather conditions. Looking forward to doing it again in Zion. — Benjamin Johnson

Just wanted to thank you again for the outstanding workshop!  I am going back and re-editing some of my older photos with some of your suggestions and it is making a big difference.  I have learned so much from you and greatly appreciate your willingness to share your knowledge. — Mike Darter

Milky Way over Alabama Hills pinnacles ~ © J. Michael Darter (click to see video)

Thanks Royce. Your personal attention and great knowledge added immensely to the success of this workshop. I had never been to Zion before, seeing it and photographing it under your guidance was an awe inspiring experience. Hope I'm able to do another meet-up workshop with you in the near future. I'm recommending your workshops to every serious photographer I know. — Larry Goldman

I learned a lot. The experience was great. — Stan Kaules

Thanks for the fun and educational workshop! Royce, your knowledge, experience, planning and intellect made this trip very fruitful in my quest to be a better photographer. — Robin Perkins

Milky Way over Zion National Park's most famous lone pine tree ~ © Robin Perkins
Canon 5D Mk III • Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 lens • f/2.8, 30 sec, ISO 6400

The workshop was excellent. I had a blast. Thank you for your excellent teaching and guidance. I am very satisfied with my images and I am looking forward to the next workshop at the Grand Tetons. Thanks again. — Iqbal Mohamed

The workshop exceeded my expectations. Night shooting was of course super, but I also learned other things about photography as well. — Michael Braunstein

Royce's 2014 Workshop, Lecture & Video Conference Schedule: NightScapeEvents.com
Featured Post: Shooting Stars eBook Review — How to Photograph the Stars and the Moon

"Shooting Stars" eBook Review

If you are looking for a solid foundation on how to photograph the night sky, Phil Hart's "Shooting Stars" eBook is an excellent resource.

Shooting Stars - How to Photograph the Moon and Stars with your DSLR is an eBook written and published by Phil Hart, (129 pages, version 1.2, © 2012), and sold through e-Junkie.com for $19.95.

Although I was hoping to find more images to inspire me in my astro-landscape photography, what I found instead was a well designed ebook that contained good how-to information, with lots of informative charts, illustrations, and photo examples. In my opinion, this ebook is positioned for the beginning and intermediate night photographer, but even the experienced nightscape shooter is going to find a few ideas and techniques that will improve their nocturnal work. As for the inspiration, I suggest you follow my Night Photography Favorites on 500px!

Two image examples from the ebook, Shooting Stars, that did inspire me.

Contents: Shooting Stars is divided into four main sections: The Sky at Night, Night Sky Photography, Image Processing, and Wonders of the Night Sky. Here are few page examples:

Sample page layouts from Shooting Stars.

The Sky at Night section has 18 pages of basic charts and illustrations that show the starry night sky through the seasons, as well as phases of the moon. Three pages on light pollution and weather provide useful hot links to additional online charts, maps, and current conditions in your geographic area of interest.

Night Sky Photography section has 50 how-to pages. 23 pages are devoted to using your camera at night: how to choose the best lenses, how focus at night, what shutter speeds to use for various night situations, what ISO to use, and how to reduce noise. Tripods, remote releases, batteries, flashlights, clothing, and dew heaters are among the many equipment accessories that are discussed. Four pages cover twilight (or "blue hour) photography techniques, and 15 pages are devoted starry night photography. These sections provide photographers with an excellent foundation. They are nicely illustrated and explained in an easy-to-understand way methods that some find a little overwhelming. The four pages covering moon photography was the weakest section, and light painting was only given a casual mention on page 60.

Image Processing section has 19 pages of examples on basic night sky post processing via Photoshop, Lightroom, Aperture, and ACDSee Pro software. There is also a short subsection on star trail stacking and time-lapse video processing. The first four pages give examples of how your brightness levels and histogram should appear when you first review your images on camera, as well as discussing white balance.

Wonders of the Night Sky covers 33 pages about how to recognize, find, and photograph the Milky Way, meteors, comets, satellite flares, Zodiacal light, planetary conjunctions, noctilucent clouds, the Aurora Borealis, and even bioluminescence in our oceans.

There is also a Field Guide in the back of the book that provides a camera settings cheat sheet for shooting various night sky situations, including useful information on how to use your camera in the manual mode for Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Olympus, and Sony shooters.

Conclusion: Until I read Phil's book, I hadn't stopped to realize what a broad subject this book covers! He has done an excellent job in covering the subject in only 129 pages. Each subtopic is clearly explained and illustrated. Although he gives sufficient coverage for the average photographer, some areas could use further development. Advanced night photographers will be left wanting more technical information on some topics.

Although have been fairly critical of this ebook, I would still strongly recommend it to anyone who plans on taking one of my workshops. If they study it before coming, they will be better prepared and have a more enjoyable experience. Those who have already experienced one of my lectures or workshops will not only find this a good refresher, but will be given a taste of other nocturnal adventures they might wish to pursue.

$5.00 OFF Discount Code: I asked Phil if he would give my readers a special discount. If you order this ebook, use the discount code: ROYCE and receive $5.00 off the regular price. (When you order the ebook, be sure to press the "Update Cart" button to refresh the page, after entering the discount code —in order to get your $5 discount to appear. THEN press the PayPal checkout button.)

UPDATE (May 2014): I reviewed another night photography ebook, "NIGHTSCAPE - A Complete Guide to Photographing Under the Night Sky" by David Kingham. Although I highly recommend both books, I think photographers wanting to do my style of astro-landscape night photography will find a greater depth of information in Kingham's book.

Other Reviews: I ask some of my previous NighScape workshop participants to also review Phil's ebook. (Disclosure: I paid for their copy of the ebook.) Here are some of the thoughts and opinions I received (I've edited only to shorten some of their reviews, where it might be a repeat of information already given):

"Shooting Stars is a valuable gift and a must have for any photographer interested in Nightscape Photography.  A steal for the money, with or without discounts applied. The book far exceeded my expectations. I have many books on photography and found Shooting Stars a much easier read. Far more interesting than anticipated; even with all the Astronomic's and math equations involved. Shooting Stars is filled with many useful links and helpful videos. Incredible photography and simplified 'how to' tips. Lessons that, along with the knowledge I received in your course, has definitely given me a better understanding and more confidence to go out on my own and navigate the sky and shoot the stars. I learn best with a hands on approach. With my experience, if you would have recommended that I read the book first I would have been a bit lost. Thanks to you, Nightscape was my first successful shoot in low light and a night sky. I would recommend Shooting Stars for anyone who wants a great book to compliment a NightScape workshop."   — Rita Nielsen

- - -

"[This] book covers basic knowledge of the night sky and camera equipment needed to capture its beauty, to more advanced techniques and settings to produce great night photos, including Milky Way and star trails photos. 

"There is a ...good amount of detail about the different equipment used in night time photography...On the camera side, it describes shutter speed, ISO, noise reduction, and other camera settings...on the lens side, it shows the importance of having the right lens in terms of aperture and focal distance, and how to focus the lens in the dark, which can be problematic if  you don’t know of ways to do it...

 "In later chapters, the book gets a little more in-depth, and I found several of the chapters on some advanced techniques very interesting.  Star trails, and star trail image stacking is something that I have wanted to do for some time, but haven’t yet. 

"The best thing that I walked away with from this book was a comprehensive list of camera settings for the different types of photo shoots. …if you’re interested in shooting night photography of any kind, I would recommend looking at this eBook, especially if you are new to photography."  — J.M. Darter (See Mike's complete review, with his own night photos and some great advice, here.)

- - -

"…a good price point. I think it has an excellent overview of all aspects from the basics of astronomy to photographing the night sky (both moon and stars, as well as twilight) and simple post-processing.  This would be a very good overview for someone without prior night sky photography experience.  Its overall generalist view provides good background but certainly does not reach the details (as you know post-processing is deserving of a very long book).  Some of the information seems incomplete, for example, the description of cropped sensors.  It provides excellent samples of variations in outcomes with different lenses, ISO settings, and time.  (He does not seem to push the ISO to the capabilities of the newest sensors.)  I think the description of noise was great (best description I have read and very helpful).  In light of it being a ebook, I would think that it could and would be updated frequently.  It seemed a [bit] dated with respect to the DSLR information (wish he had put in [the] D600 and D800 since I don't know [how] they compare with the other Nikons on his help pages)."  — Steven and Denise Waterman

- - -

"Shooting Stars is a valuable and very reasonably price e-book that offers a comprehensive guide for night sky photography; there is something for every level of photographer here.  The illustrations are graphic and well thought out, so even a first casual glance through the book is productive. 

"If you are a beginning star shooter who is into the quick-start method, begin on page 31 and read about focusing; also take a look at/print out the “Camera Settings Cheat Sheet” on page 131.  Then get out there and start shooting.   

"If you are an intermediate night photographer, you might want to review the author’s Image Processing Steps starting on page 79; ... You will find there are many different approaches to processing star shots, so this is just one experienced photographer’s approach; consider it as a starting point on an interesting journey.

"For advanced night photographers, this will whet your appetite to be under the stars capturing the glory of the night sky, and will get your creative juices flowing.  If you are having issues with star timelapse sequences, you might be interested in some of Phil’s advice in this area. 

"Phil Hart’s Shooting Stars is a comprehensive, well organized, and easy to navigate resource for night photographers, and will be a welcome addition in anyone’s e-book library. 

"This book would be a helpful starting point for folks attending your workshops; the question is: would they actually open it and read it before arriving! Personally, I think it would be worth offering to your clients —even if they just skimmed it."   — Ann Ruttle

- - -

Featured Post: Royce Bair's 2014 Workshop Schedule — Learn how to photograph Milky Way NightScapes and more!

Milky Way Over Zion's Lone Pine Tree

Milky Way over Zion National Park's most famous lone pine tree ~ © Robin Perkins
Canon 5D Mk III • Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 lens • f/2.8, 30 sec, ISO 6400

Robin Perkins

Robin Perkins photographed this famous lone tree last week, in Zion National Park, after the rest of our workshop group had left for their warm hotel rooms. Phill Monson, C.Y. Roby, and I did the light painting with a couple of Roby's Calumet LED Light Panels, and Phill's Brinkmann Dual Xenon spotlight. Although Phill and I both photographed the this scene, Robin's lower perspective peaked my interest.

Robin was born and raised in the Salt Lake City area, where he played varsity football at Cyprus High School and was a Sterling Scholar in industrial arts. He attended Weber State College and the University of Utah. He worked in the electrical construction industry for 36 years as a project engineer and electrician. Robin was able to retire last year at 62 and and start on one of his retirement goals to become a better photographer. He and his wife, Penny, have two sons, Shane and Travis.


Royce's 2014 Workshop, Lecture & Video Conference Schedule: NightScapeEvents.com
Featured Post: Shooting Stars eBook Review — How to Photograph the Stars and the Moon

Blue Hour Light Painting in Grafton, Utah

Grafton Schoolhouse in Grafton, Utah ~ © Royce Bair (click to enlarge)
Canon 5D MkIII • EF24-70mm f/2.8 lens @ 34mm • f/5.6, 25 sec, ISO 200 • 5 lights

Last week, Phill Monson assisted me in a "NightScape" workshop in Zion National Park. The weather for the third night was overcast, so we scheduled a "blue hour" light painting session in the ghost town of Grafton, Utah.

Location and History: Grafton began as a pioneer farming community that was first settled in 1859. Continued flooding of the nearby Virgin River caused most of the families to resettle in locations on the other side of the river, and by 1944 Grafton became a ghost town. The nearest inhabited town is Rockville, and Zion National Park is only about eight miles to the northeast. The adobe schoolhouse, in the above photo, was built in 1886. It was also used as a church and a public meeting place.

Light Painting: I set up a main light about 100 feet to the right. This was an 85-watt Westcott circular fluorescent bulb (5500º K, producing an equivalent of 300 watts). It was placed in an old, 18" Smith-Victor reflector (that had been spray painted with metallic gold paint to warm the color balance), and powered by a Vagabond Mini Lithium power source. The fill lights, on the left side, were a Calumet LED Light Panel (with a warming filter) and a Coleman-style LED lantern (the GE Chromalit 3D). All of these lights were stationary, and placed on light stands, except the lantern, which was on the ground next to the light panel. Phill provided the handheld backlight to the bell tower with a Black and Decker lithium halogen spotlight. I lighted the inside of the school through a back window, by painting the ceiling with a handheld Brinkmann Max Million III Rechargeable Spotlight (Q-Beam). Both of us were standing behind the schoolhouse. The stationary lights remained on for the full 25-seconds camera exposure, but the handheld lights were on for only eight seconds.

Faux HDR: Almost everyone knows that a high dynamic range (HDR) image can be created by blending three or more exposure value (EV) images within Photoshop or software, i.e. Photomatix Pro. This is difficult to do when you are shooting a light-painted scene. An alternative to three or more different camera exposures is to produce those from the camera's RAW file, in post production. Some call this "faux-HDR". Others may call it "false" or "fake" HDR, but the results are very close to regular HDR imaging.

To produce the above image, I made three different exposure value images from the camera raw image: the unadjusted image (0 EV), another that one-stop underexposed (-1 EV), and the third one-stop overexposed (+1 EV). I could have gone 2-stops either way, but one stop was sufficient for this image.

Three exposure values from the same camera raw image (cropped for this demo).

Additional Blending: The three exposures were then combined in Photomatix Pro to produce a natural HDR image ("Natural Fusion"). As you can see (below), this greatly increase the shadow detail without blowing out the highlights. Wanting to show more of the texture and warmth of the adobe brick, and increase the separation between the roof and the dark blue sky, I choose to produce the more garish, tone-mapped "Painterly 5" version as well. By layering (blending at 50% opacity) the "Painterly 5" version over top of the "Natural Fusion" version, I was able to produce an image that combines the best of both versions, and still retain a more natural look. The building perspective of the final, blended image was then corrected in Photoshop using Edit > Transform > Distort.

The Natural HDR has much more shadow detail than the original exposure.
The tone-mapped HDR ("Painterly 5") has great texture and warmth, but is too garish.
Blending these two HDR versions in Photoshop combines the best of both, and the final result is the top image.

Royce's 2014 Workshop, Lecture & Video Conference Schedule: NightScapeEvents.com
Featured Post: Shooting Stars eBook Review — How to Photograph the Stars and the Moon

Featuring Your Photo On This Blog

You have been directed to this page because I would like to include your photograph as an upcoming "Photo of the Day" (POTD). I feature some of the best night photographers in the world in my "Into the Night Photography" blog. Examples: Mark Gee, Mike Darter, and Rick Parchen.

Questions. If you are agreeable, here are a few questions to help me write my blog feature about you and your photo (Take your time. You do not have to complete this immediately. I have several articles in the queue. However, I would appreciate completion within the next 15 days, and a quick note letting me know if you are interested.) When you respond, please use this Subject Title: "POTD for ITNP Blog - Your Name":

1. Please supply me with your full name, and the city and country where you live, unless you want to keep that private.

2. Please give me location information about this image (i.e. national park, state, country) and the name of the feature (if it has a name), unless you want to keep that information a secret.

3. Please give me camera, lens, and exposure information (EXIF) about this image, unless you don't like to give out that kind of data.

4. Please describe how you did any light painting enhancements to the image, and what equipment you used, unless you want to keep that information a secret.

5. Describe the biggest challenge(s) you had in taking this photo, and how you overcame the obstacle(s). If you like writing, you can even supply an interesting background story like Mikes Morgan did in this POTD.

6. Please tell me about any tools, software, or special equipment you used to make this shot.

7. Explain what satisfaction you realized after completing this photo, or what goal(s) you hoped to obtain by doing this or similar photos.

8. Optional: A short bio about yourself (no more than 250 words).

9. Optional: A portrait of yourself (formal or on-location candid). You may attach the image, or include a link.

You may ignore some of these questions, if you don't have the time to answer them — I can write something from the data that is already on your Flickr, 500px, or other websites (that's what "editiors" do). However, you do have to respond if you wish to be featured.

Send this information directly to my email address: royce.bair [AT] gmail [DOT] com
(Please replace the [AT] with the "@" symbol, and the [DOT] with the "." character —and don't forget the dot between my first and last name. Displaying my email address in this manner helps prevent spam.)

Featuring your photo: Our blog version of your photo will be about 450 pixels (for horizontals) to 600 pixels (for verticals). This blog image will link to a larger version of your image. Please supply me with that URL (on your website, Flickr, 500px or Google+ page).

Link(s) to You: Thanks for your help in highlighting your work. I can give you up to two (2) links in this article: any website page you want linked from your name or company name. Please give me the URL's and any hypertext words or description you'd like to use for those links.

Follow-up: Although I was impressed with your work, I do not keep a record of this request to you. The next step is your responsibility. Once you reply with information on the above questions, I will respond with an approximate publishing date. Once it is published, I'll notify you immediately with the specific URL for that post.

Royce Bair
Editor of "Into the Night Photography" blog

Bit.ly link to this page: http://bit.ly/1bc9VVn

Featuring You On This Blog

You have been direct to this page because I would like to do a feature on you and your night photography. I feature some of the best night photographers in the world in my "Into the Night Photography" blog. Here's an example. If you are interested, please answer the following questions, to help me write about you.

(Note: Take your time. You do not have to complete this immediately. I have several articles in the queue. However, I would appreciate completion within the next 30 days, and a quick note letting me know if you are interested.) When you respond, please use this Subject Title: "Featured Photographer for ITNP Blog - Your Name".

Questions To Photographers Being Featured On My Blog:

1. How would you describe your style of night photography?

2. How did you get started, or what prompted you to try this type of photography?

3. Why do you like to do night photography (e.g., what brings you the most satisfaction)?

4. What are your biggest challenges to doing your style of night photography?

5. What is your most valuable or favorite piece of photography equipment for doing night photography (choosing several is okay)?

6. What tools, apps, or software do you find valuable in your night work?

7. Point me to 5 or 6 of your favorite night images (these can also include time lapse videos), and tell me why they are significant to you. EXIF information is also helpful, if you are willing to share this. (Note: you can email me attached files, or give me the URL's to another website where you would these images featured. If you send me attached files, please keep them between 900 and 1600 pixels on the longest side. You may watermark these images with your name and copyright. I typically show a 400 to 600 pixels image on this blog and redirect the viewer to a larger version on your website.)

8. Please include a portrait of yourself (formal or on-location candid). You may attach the image, or include a link.

9. A short bio about you and where you live (your exact location is not necessary, if you'd like to keep that private).

Thanks for your help in highlighting your work. I can give you up to two (2) links in this feature article. Please give me the URL's and any hyper-text words or description you'd like to use for those links.

You may send this directly to my email address: royce.bair [AT] gmail [DOT] com
(Please replace the [AT] with the "@" symbol, and the [DOT] with the "." character —and don't forget the dot between my first and last name. Displaying my email address in this manner helps prevent spam.)

Once I receive this information, I will acknowledge and give you an approximate publish date. When I publish the feature, I will immediately send you the URL so that you may notify me if there are any errors to correct. — Royce Bair

Bit.ly link to this page: http://bit.ly/18wLO8Z

Royce Bair's 2016 Photography Workshop Schedule

Photographers at our 2013 Bryce "NightScape" Workshop
shooting a midnight moonrise next to the light painted "Fortress" formation. 

Milky Way above the Grand Canyon (this workshop location is offered in Sept. 2016).

2016 NightScape Photography Workshop Schedule  is available here.

2015 Lecture and Seminar Tour: My free NightScape lectures (12 cities) and half-day advanced seminars (3 cities) can be found on Meetup.com.

2015 Workshop Schedule: All of my workshops are being produced and co-sponsored by IMAGE10 Photography Workshops. Some of my workshop attendees have returned multiple times and their testimonials speak for themselves. Click on the dates for more details about each workshop:

• Arches National Park: April 21-24  SOLD OUT and Aug 11-14 SOLD OUT
• Escalante: May 19-22 (Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument) SOLD OUT
• Grand Teton National Park: July 14-17 SOLD OUT and July 20-23 SOLD OUT
• Bryce Canyon National Park: Aug 17-21 SOLD OUT

NEW eBook: You can review and purchase a copy of my new Milky Way NightScapes ebook, "A Guide to Photographing Starry Night Skies".

Podcast interview with Royce Bair: You can listen to a podcast interview with Royce and BlackRapid founder, Ron Henry, starting February 27th.


2014 Workshop History: My NightScape workshops will teach you how to photograph the starry night sky with stunning landscape features. Click on each workshop title for more information:

 Milky Way over 3 Sisters and Moonrise between the Mittens in Monument Valley ~ © Royce Bair

Starry Nights in Monument Valley Workshop

Produced by IMAGE10 - Instructed/Directed by Royce Bair
4 Day Workshop ~ March 26-29, 2014 ~ $1,195 COMPLETED

FREE NightScape Technical Workshop - hosted by the
Wasatch Camera Club - Register HERE
2-Hour Workshop ~ April 8, 2014 ~ FREE COMPLETED

Light painting Cyclops Arch with the Milky Way - Alabama Hills ~ © Royce Bair

Milky Way Over Alabama Hills and Eastern Sierras Workshop
3 Day Workshop ~ April 22-25, 2014 ~ $899 COMPLETED

Milky Way over The Watchman - Zion N.P. ~ © Royce Bair

Milky Way Zion Workshop (Zion National Park)
2 Day Workshop ~ May 27-29, 2014 ~ $599 COMPLETED

Milky Way over the light-painted John Moulton homestead - Grand Teton N.P.  ~ © Royce Bair

Milky Way Tetons Workshop #1 (Grand Teton National Park)
NOTE: All four Teton workshops have a similar venue of locations and instruction.
3 Day Workshop ~ June 24-27, 2014 ~ $899 COMPLETED

Milky Way over Teton Range from Cascade Canyon Overlook ~ © Royce Bair

Milky Way Tetons Workshop #2 (Grand Teton National Park)
3 Day Workshop ~ July 22-25, 2014 ~ $899 COMPLETED

 Milky Way views over Teton Range, Jenny Lake and String Lake ~ © Royce Bair

Milky Way Tetons Workshop #3 (Grand Teton National Park)
3 Day Workshop ~ July 28-31, 2014 ~ $899 COMPLETED

Milky Way over "Wall Street" in Bryce Canyon N.P. ~ © Royce Bair

Milky Way Bryce Workshop #1 (Bryce Canyon National Park)
3 Day Workshop ~ August 19-22, 2014 ~ $899 COMPLETED

Stars over light painted Thor's Hammer - Bryce Canyon N.P. ~ © Royce Bair

Milky Way Bryce Workshop #2 (Bryce Canyon National Park)
3 Day Workshop ~ August 25-28, 2014 ~ $899 COMPLETED

Milky Way behind light painted Delicate Arch - Arches N.P. ~ © Royce Bair

Milky Way Arches Workshop (Arches National Park)
3 Day Workshop ~ September 16-19, 2014 ~ $899 1 SPOT LEFT

Sparkling Eiffel Tower, Paris, from opposite bank of Seine River ~ © Moyan Brenn

Two Nights in Paris (France)
Produced by Italy Workshops - Instructed by Drake Busath & Royce Bair
2 Day Workshop ~ September 25-27, 2014 ~ $675 SOLD OUT

Château de Chambord, Chambord, Loir-et-Cher, France

Loire Valley (France)
Produced by Italy Workshops - Instructed by Drake Busath & Royce Bair
7 Days, 6 Nights Workshop ~ September 28 - October 3, 2014 ~ $3250 SOLD OUT

The Italian Lakes Como, Lugano, Orta S.Giulio

The Italian Lakes (Italy)
Produced by Italy Workshops - Instructed by Drake Busath & Royce Bair
7 Days, 6 Nights Workshop ~ October 5-11, 2014 ~ $3250 SOLD OUT

Join my NightScape Photography Meetup Group and you'll automatically be notified of all my NightScape events, i.e. free lectures, free photo walks, video conferences, ebooks, and new workshops.

Photographers from our 2013 Arches Workshop,
waiting for the moon to set and the Milky Way to be revealed.

Photographers from the July 2013 Teton Workshop gathered at the John Moulton homestead outhouse.

Questions? Email Royce: orida70 [AT] gmail [DOT] com