Watchman under the Milky Way by Christopher Wray

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

Christopher Wray, of Southern Colorado, created our Photo of the Day using a Canon 5D Mark III and a Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 Ultra Wide Angle lens. Chris combined two exposures, one of the sky for 30 seconds and another of the sandstone cliffs for 60 seconds. Both exposures were at ISO 4000, using an f/2.8 aperture. He did post processing in Photoshop to blend the two exposures.

"Our spiral galaxy’s bulge, of tightly packed central stars, is prominently visible [at certain times of the year] above The Watchman," says Chris. "Zion National Park is home to astonishing natural beauty by day. By night, the faint city lights of Springdale delicately illuminate the massive sandstone cliffs, while the Milky Way and surrounding heavens shimmer like exquisite jewels."

Challenges: "Unwanted stray light was the biggest challenge I faced while capturing this photo," reports Chris. "Despite the fact I was in a remote location, the occasional headlight of a passing car, headlamp from a fellow photographer or even blinking lights from a fixed wing aircraft was erroneously added to my exposure. It took a couple of takes to get a clean night sky, once I locked down the camera settings and composition."

Technique and tools: Chris is continually amazed at the ability of today’s DSLR camera sensor to capture latent hue, form and detail that reside in the dark sky. "By using basic Photoshop Curves controls and commonly available plug-in Nik Software, I was able to pull out the structure and color in the Milky Way without the need to introduce artificial color or saturation," say Chris. "I intentionally chose 3200º K as my white balance to create a cool midnight blue appearance."

Christopher Wray is a marketing communication consultant and avid digital photographer. He loves travel, landscape, portrait photography and most recently astrophotography. He is influenced by Ansel Adam’s guiding principle, “You don't take a photograph, you make it.” More of Chris’ work is viewable at his website and on 500px.

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

Fire Tree by Prajit Ravindran

"Fire Tree" - Star Trails around North Star, and a tree lighted by a campfire ~ © Prajit Ravindran

Prajit Ravindran shot our Photo of the Day in the Little Sahara Recreation Area, Juab County, Utah. Prajit used something we don't often see here at this blog: film. He used an old Mamiya RB67 Film camera, with a Mamiya Sekor 37mm fisheye lens, and exposed onto an ISO 100 film, using an exposure of f/8 for 35 minutes. The Star Walker iPhone app was used to figure out the location of the North Star.

Prefers film and mechanical cameras for star trails: Prajit prefer his Mamiya film camera over digital for shots of star trails for a couple of reasons. First, there is very little noise when using film vs. digital. Secondly, he doesn't have to worry about running out of battery power since the Mamiya RB67 is completely mechanical. In fact, Prajit purchased his used Mamiya mainly to take multi-hour shots of star trails, even though this photographed was exposed for less than an hour.

Prajit's biggest concern was that the details in the tree would be blown out due to excess light from his nearby campfire. He ended up taking a 35 minute exposure rather than the 1-hour exposure he would have preferred, to prevent over exposure of the tree.

Prajit Ravindran is a software engineer, who lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. Photography is his passion, with emphasis on landscapes, urban and long exposure photography. He loves the diverse landscapes of Utah. Prajit recently traveled around the state, logging 8300 miles in 8 months. He shoots mainly with a Nikon D7000. In addition to his recent purchase of the Mamiya RB-67 film camera, he has also converted his old Nikon D80 into an IR camera. More of Prajit's work can be seen at his website, and at his 500px page.