Venus Rises Over Alabama Hills by Miles Morgan

"Vesuvian Bromance" - Venus Rising over Alabama Hills ~ © Miles Morgan (click to enlarge)

Our Photo of the Week was taken by Miles Morgan on a cold October morning with his friend Ryan Dyar, who had pre-scouted these unique hills near the Eastern Sierras of California. Miles used a Nikon D800E with a Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 lens @ 24mm. Exposure was 20 seconds @ f/2.8, ISO 1600.

Miles Morgan is an airline pilot out of Portland, Oregon who doubles as an amateur fine art landscape photographer. More of Miles' work can be seen on his 500px page and his website.

< Click to expand portrait, and learn more about Miles.

Yan Larsen - Alone Under the Stars

"Night-Night" - McWay Fall at Big Sur, CA ~ © Yan Larsen (click to enlarge)
Nikon D800E • Nikon 14-24mm Len • Sky exposure @ 3:30 AM:
F/2.8, 30", ISO 3200 • Foreground @ 4:30 AM: F/2.8, 180", ISO 200

When Yan Larsen was a child, she was amazed by the stars and the endless sky.  She wished she could share this with others. The latest DSLR cameras, techniques, and software has made this sharing possible. Yan started to seriously try night photography only recently, after she saw some of her friends’ night shots of the Milky Way.

"I never tire of night photography, especially the Milky Way," says Yan.  "Photographing the night sky makes me feel like a wizard. The universe is so huge, beautiful and mysterious. I am amazed by the details that modern camera can do, that I cannot see it with naked eyes. Being alone under the stars, my mind often flows into the spaces."

Yan's first Milky Way attempt, with
only a little foreground planning.

Challenges: One of her biggest challenges is finding a location with an attractive foreground, clear atmosphere, and little light pollution. "When shooting night photography, it is very easy to shoot just stars with only a black foreground, and lose sight of what could be a better image," says Yan.

Another challenge she often faces is fear.  As a female landscape photography lover, she spends a lot of time alone, hiking, admiring, and being mesmerized by the beauty of the landscape. "I try to conquer this fear by taking these words with me into the darkness: 'One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it’s worth watching.' "

The trade-off between noise and star movement. To shoot the Milky Way or stars without star trails, shutter speeds should be between 15 seconds and 30 seconds. To obtain these shorter exposures requires higher ISO's (more noise) or a fast lens (f/2.8 or faster), and sometimes both.

Milky Way over Convict Lake  ~ © Yan Larsen (click to enlarge)

Sea stack illuminated by a bonfire ~ © Yan Larsen (click to enlarge)
"I hope this is worth the $200 in parking tickets I paid." ;-)

Equipment, Tools, and Software:

• "My Nikkor 14-24mm F/2.8 has excellent optical performance, even at f2.8, making it unsurpassed as a lens for low light and night photography."
• Yan has three tripods: the Gitzo GT2541, the Feisol CT3341 and the Benro. "For night photography, a sturdy tripod is a must, and the Gitzo is my choice."
• A remote release is required for long exposure.  "I use the Nikon MC30, which is very easy to use. I bought several cheaper remote trigger releases, but my experience with them was awful. This model doesn't have a timer, so I my iPhone."
• Flashlight. "I sometimes want to light paint a dark foreground. Different colored lights can also add some fun effects."
• Photoshop is Yan's post processing tool to reduce the noise created by long exposures and high ISO's.

Bonsai Rock, Lake Tahoe ~ © Yan Larsen (click to enlarge)

Yan Larsen is a software engineer, working in beautiful Northern California. Although the outdoors and landscape photography have been a passion, she didn't by buy her first tripod in April 2010. "Being close to the nature allows me to think deeply about life, beauty, and true happiness," says Yan. More of Yan's photography can be found at her Flickr page.

Australian Night Skies by Lincoln Harrison

The Pinnacles, Phillip Island VIC ~ © Lincoln Harrison - "The best location I've ever seen."

Some purist have criticize Lincoln Harrison for being "too colorful", but he continues to do things his way. Making his starry night Australian landscapes look "accurate" is not as important to Lincoln as it is to make it "…look as good as it can." The popularity of his images would indicate that most agree with Lincoln's point of view.

Lincoln, 37, is a self-taught photographer from Bendigo, Australia. Prior to photography, he spent most of my spare time racing off-road motorcycles. He's only been doing photography for the past two and a half years, when he bought his first DSLR to take shots of some ebay items. Somewhere along the way Lincoln got hooked on landscape and night photography, star trails in particular. "I was working nightshift when I got my first camera, so on my days off there wouldn't be much daylight left by the time I got out of bed. There's not much else to photograph around here at night other than the stars."

Apart from getting a nice image to hang on his wall, Lincoln enjoys the process of taking the shots, and being at nice locations under a starry sky. "I try to come up with new ideas and techniques rather than keep churning out different versions of the same basic image."

"Forgotten" - Old barn, Mitiamo VIC ~ © Lincoln Harrison (click to see larger)

"I've done a lot of milky way shots but this was the first time under a very dark sky. I drove around all day looking for a suitable foreground. I gave up and started heading home, and then I saw this old barn."

"Noctis" - Lighthouse, Cape Schanck, VIC ~ © Lincoln Harrison (click to see larger)

"I tried to get this shot three or four times, but the seas were always too fierce to venture down to the rocks at the bottom of the cliff.  I forgot to take my torch with me, and had to climb back up in the dark. I tumbled down the cliff a few times, [but] finally made it to the top after about 2 hours, covered in cuts and bruises."

Lincoln's biggest challenges come from the weather. "Quite often I'll drive for hours with clear skies the whole way, [and] ten minutes before I arrive at my location, the clouds roll in." On the 'Pinnacle' photo,  he was very lucky with the conditions, but for every other time he's been there it has rained non-stop!

"Fusion" - Dead Tree, Ravenswood VIC ~ © Lincoln Harrison (click to see larger)

"This location is a ten minute drive from home. I shoot there a lot. I love that tree. This was a test shoot when I got the D800E. It ended up hanging on my wall 50 inches wide."

Lincoln's Cannot-Do-Without Equipment List:

• Nikon D800E (Low Pass Filter w/Anti-Aliasing Removed)
• Nikkor 14-24mm Lens (AF-S Zoom Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED AF)
• Gitzo 3532s Tripod with a Manfrotto 405 Geared Head

Lincoln's Most Valuable Tools, Apps, and Software:

• On his iPad, he plans his shots with: The Photographer's Ephermeris, Google Earth, Dark Sky, Tides AU, and OZ Weather.
• On his PC, he does all his post processing with Adobe Photoshop CS6.

"Bib Bang" - Dead Tree, Ravenswood VIC ~ © Lincoln Harrison (click to see larger)

"I was doing some light painting tests at my favorite tree when I came up with this idea. Who says primes are better than zooms?"

More of Lincoln Harrison's work can be seen at his 500px page.

Jack Fusco: Finding Darkness in New Jersey

"Night Watch" ~ Cape May, NJ ~ © Jack Fusco

Living in New Jersey is definitely the biggest challenge for starry night photographer, Jack Fusco. New Jersey is the most densely populated state in the U.S. so escaping light pollution isn’t an easy task and often feels quite impossible! Because areas near the ocean have the least light pollution, much of Jack's work takes on a bit of a nautical feel.

"When I started photography, I was very big into seascapes and have finally found myself back at the ocean, but more recently under the stars, instead of waiting for the sun to rise. 
After I took my first set of star trails I was immediately hooked on night photography. It was a lot of experimentation at first, but each night was more exciting than the night before. I found myself out shooting any time the skies were clear driving around trying to find new places to shoot or visiting places that I had shot before, but only during the day. Before I knew it I was driving further, sleeping less, and drinking much more coffee!" says Jack.

"Live Endlessly" ~ Strathmere, NJ ~ © Jack Fusco

This photo near Strathmere, NJ is a typical example of his frustrations and his ecstasy. After a few weeks of bad weather or just bad timing, clear skies were finally in the forecast. Fusco excitedly headed out to a spot he had been waiting to shoot only to notice a haze settling in. Jack decided that it had been too long since he was able to last shoot, so he was going to carry on towards his destination. "I stayed positive and continued on hoping it would clear up by the time I got there, but didn’t have such luck," laments Jack. Still determined to shoot, he decided to explore some areas other areas in Strathmere. He continued to found himself staring at nothing but hazy skies, but looking out east over the ocean he saw a sky full of stars. He was able to set up just in time to catch the Milky Way rising over the ocean and spent the next few hours relaxing out on the sand!

"Finding Sirius" ~ Ocean City, NJ ~ © Jack Fusco

After three hours of shooting star trails Jack decided to take a few extra minutes before making the drive back home, and ended up taking this shot. Aside from being one of his favorite shots, it serves as a reminder to him to keep looking beyond what his plans. It reminds him to not just plan his shots, but keep an open mind and always remember to have fun while he's shooting.

"Star Shepherd" ~ Acadia National Park, Maine ~ © Jack Fusco

Fasco sometimes travels to neighboring states for his star photography. The Bass Harbor Lighthouse is at the top of his list when he visits Acadia National Park, Maine — a 12 hour drive from his home in Toms River, NJ. He stayed out until around 3:00 am to take this panoramic, before starting the long drive home.

"Sea Isle Stars" ~ taken w/ his new D800E

Equipment and tools: Jack just recently made the big switch from Canon to Nikon. He's very excited about his new setup for shooting the stars which consists of a Nikon D800E and a Nikkor 14-24 f/2.8. Unfortunately, the weather conditions haven’t allowed him much time to really get out and push his new gear, but so far he couldn’t be happier with the results he's been able to get.

His most valuable tools have been web sites like ClearDarkSky, (light pollution maps and clear sky charts) and apps like Star Walk (astronomy guide). A lot of pre-planning goes in to his shots and both tools are integral parts of his process. Jack first uses the ClearDarkSky site to find new locations and monitor the conditions in those areas. After he as picked out a location, he then then uses Star Walk to figure out exactly when he needs to be there for what he planned on shooting. Editor's Note: Dark Sky Finder is another tool that can be used to find the darkest skies in your area.


What Drives Jack's Night Work?  "I find photographing the night sky to be rewarding on many levels. After driving for hours to get as far from light pollution as possible, there’s a huge rush of excitement when you first get out under the stars. It’s like an entirely different sky that you’re looking up at compared to what I see when I step out of my house. After running around and getting all set up to shoot, you then get to relax and take in all of the beauty of a star filled sky.

"I often have people make comments about how I must have a great deal of patience to sit out there while taking stars trails, but it really couldn’t be further from that. I find the time spent out there to be like an escape from the rest of the world. Once the shot is all finished and ready to be posted online, seeing positive or excited reactions to it is certainly a great feeling... Hearing that someone wants to go explore and get a good view of the night sky after seeing my work is a really amazing thing to hear. [It] is probably one of the best compliments I can receive."

More of Jack Fusco's work can be found on his website and his Facebook page.

Editor's Note: The day I interviewed Jack (via the Internet), Hurricane Sandy was about to make landfall. Fusco's home town of Toms River, is only about a mile inland from one of the hardest hit areas of New Jersey: Seaside Heights and Seaside Park! As I finish writing this, I can't help wonder how many residents wouldn't mind having more connected power and light pollution at this moment (See satellite view of Hurricane Sandy's mid-Atlantic blackout)! I still have not been able to make contact with Jack, but he did manage somehow to post this message on his Facebook page: "We were very fortunate and made it through the storm okay. We're still without power, but certainly lucky to have what we do. There was an incredible amount of loss that is still difficult to fully comprehend. My thoughts are with all of those that have and that still are going through this tragedy." I ditto Jack's concerns, and hope many will join me in making a contribution to a relief charity of their choice.