Moonlit scene Photo

Photographer’s Note

Hi all.
This photo was taken at 1130 last night. I was camping in the Kaimanawa Forest adjacent to the Tongariro National park. I had a clear night and full moon and the only illumination for this shot was moonlight and starlight.
An exposure of about 10 minutes and aperture of F6.3 gave me enough light to work with. It took a lot of work in PSP to clone out all the “hot pixels”. If anybody knows a better way I’m open to suggestions. I ran the digital noise filter also.
Converted from RAW.
Happy Easter.
Enjoy, Paul.

Floydian, fabio_ts, ribeiroantonio, delic, evanrizo, josepmarin, AROBN54, plimrn, dareco, riclopes, edal, Giorgos_P, Photo65Net, feather, trekks, Matthew-Watt, Docarmo, AiresSantos, edytungkal, scobert, giorgimer, robertosalguero, jafadabret, Henryk_Bilor, Tue, ktanska, danos, jaywalker has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

ribeiroantonio (21885) 2008-03-20 22:23

Great. I did not know, or I never thought about it, that 10 minutes exposure would give all those star lines on the sky. It is a very interesting sense of earth movement. It is also amazing how the long exposure creates a image that looks like has been taken in late afternoon, before sunset. Well done.
Antonio

kschanna (2634) 2008-03-20 23:00

Hello Paul,

I am astonished, the long exposure looks amazing, the starlines look amazing. Antonio is spot on with the image looking like its been taken in late afternoon.

Very good and genuine idea.

TFS
Kamran

evanrizo (456) 2008-03-21 0:51

Hi Paul,
wwooo the result is stunning, bravo, it looks really fantastic and the long work to take away the noise brought you a very very good result.
The sky looks fantastic.
I do not know any way to take away the noise, this is also my problem.
Have a nice day.
Evangelos

delic (6735) 2008-03-21 1:04

Paul,
Been there, done that for as long as 26 min. The better way is to use film in such long exposures. Surely, color shift will occur, though to a lesser degree with Provia 100F. But it's still a lot less hassle to correct color on PS than to take care of hot pixels, noise, etc. Having said that, you have done a commendable job here. May want to try 30+ min exposures for longer trails next time; problem is batteries run out pretty fast. Regards,
Hakan

toto (18699) 2008-03-21 1:15

Bonjour,
belle photo de ce coin qui semble étoilé,jolies couleurs et bonne netteté.
Couleurs chaudes et agréable a regarder.
Bel effet ces petittes étoiles en cercle.

Amitiés Thomas,
Je reviens

fabio_ts (13674) 2008-03-21 1:31

A really fine work Paul, the long exposure time creates a fantastic effect, really well done!!

have a nice day,
Fabio.

Floydian (30970) 2008-03-21 2:04

Hallo Paul,
Every digital cam has problems with hot pixels when it comes to very long exposures. There are some software tricks, but have to admit that they don't work perfect. Shooting with a special camera (the Canon 20Da is build for that) will give you the freedom to shoot astrophotography.
But....what i see here is something i like. On the small size i don't see the flawss and the 10 min gave you an excellent balance in startrails, blue sky and red trees....i like it.
Regards, Henk

josepmarin (33785) 2008-03-21 9:49

Hi Paul,
The long exposure offers us a beautiful effect of rotation of the stars in the sky, which in spite of the night hour, has an appearance of light in the daytime.
The graphical result is very interesting and attractive, you have done a creative work and with good skill.
Nice work.
Best regards,
Josep

AROBN54 (10725) 2008-03-21 16:48

Hi, Paul,
what a wonderful shot. It looks like day time with stars whirling around. The light and color are beautiful and I like the tree framing the right side. You did a great job on the capture AND the PP. I love the way the stars in the center are more round than the ones whirling around. Just amazing! Many thanks and warm wishes,
Shelly

plimrn (19600) 2008-03-21 17:36

Hi Paul,
It's just lovely, I think I'll try it tonight or early tomorrow morning. Thanks also for describing your PP work and asking for help. I learned a lot as well.
HLJ, Pat

dareco (17104) 2008-03-21 18:39

I'm amazed that this was taken at night! I think you've done a fantastic job!! The sky is beautiful! TFS and wishing you a Happy Easter.

Budapestman (41618) 2008-03-22 3:24

Hi Paul,
Fantastic impression with impressive composition, the sky is amazing. Great realization and spectacle, Congratulations. Happy Easter!
George

riclopes (32969) 2008-03-22 9:56

Olá Paul, impressive work, excellent result. I like the low POV and the (L) framing, showing well details of the place. I specially like the inclusion of the branches at the right side of the image. Beautiful.
Happy Easter,
ricardo

edal (6567) 2008-03-22 13:33

Hello Paul!
There's something magic in this star rotation - it makes us feel the clockwork of the Universe.
Greetings!
Anton

gracious (20017) 2008-03-22 21:28

Hello Paul,
very impressive achievement for a 10mins exposure and I loved the effect very much!
many thanks for your effort and tried that sharing with us
Happy Easter, Paul!
best regards
Tony

Giorgio (8680) 2008-03-22 23:38

- Ho, yes, I had already seen that elsewhere but I admit that this one is superb too, it's really spectacular, in any case it's successful, well done!
Have a good Easter weekend, Paul.
giorgio

Giorgos_P (133) 2008-03-23 2:02

Hi Paul.
Nice photogparh and I guess interest tecnique. I'd like to try something like that sometime!
TFS
Regards from Greece,
George.

Photo65Net (43084) 2008-03-23 3:05

Paul,
Wow, superb effect !
Colors are just wonderful, and of course stars moves are so pleasant.
Nice job,
Regards,
JB.

feather (49858) 2008-03-23 8:30

The long exposure has created a wonderful effect on the stars as the earth moves. The long exposure also gave you plenty of light on the trees. It must have been a very still night as there is no motion blur on the trees. Very good work
Kath

trekks (14262) 2008-03-23 16:16

hi Paul

This is a good technique for effective exposure, the photo looks as if taken during the day. Good work.

TFS, bill

danyy (68572) 2008-03-23 16:52

Bonour Paul,
de la technique pure ici et un résultat intersssant sur cette pose de 10 minutes. J'aime beaucoup le cadrage, des éléménts qui ont peu bougé ou tremblé et qui sont demeurés net, créant même une sorte de relief d'avant plan.
Jolies couleurs aussi.
Regards.
Daniel

Matthew-Watt (4463) 2008-03-23 16:57

Hello Paul,

This is nothing short of sensational, there is so much here to entertain the eye. I particularly like the way the foliage is quite still over this 10 minute exposure, I would expect a lot more movement so it must have been a very still night. The moonlight gives the impression of a dusky 7pm, when actually it is taken much later. I love the way long exposures can make the time of day appear so different. This view, towards the South Celestial Pole is classic, I am guessing that some of the brighter stars in this arrangement are indeed the Southern Cross and Pointers. Very well taken, your experimental settings have provided a very interesting final result.

Matt

capthaddock (28640) 2008-03-23 17:54

Hi Paul - the mega long expo makes it appear as if daylight, the motion of stars makes interesting circular patterns. I never tried such a long exposure.

Docarmo (8820) 2008-03-23 19:58

Hi Paul,
Very impressive picture, great colours and light from this long exposure shot.
Congratulations,
MCV

AiresSantos (41920) 2008-03-23 23:57

Hi Paul
Magnificent use of the exposure time in this amazing picture.
I like the graphic effect and how you framed it
Have a nice week
Aires

edytungkal (4519) 2008-03-24 0:16

Its really creates an interesting effect, i never see it before. Nice shot Paul maybe i will try it sometime. Happy easter too...

daniel

jurek1951 (25900) 2008-03-24 1:24

Hi Paul,
This is beautiful capture with vibrant colours,Amazing lightness. Great effect. Well done,
Georg

skippy007 (6967) 2008-03-24 3:12

Hi Paul,I've just had a look at this shot of yours and thought wow, i went outside to look at the moon and it looks big, bright and fantastic so I'm going to have a crack at it.
The pattern the stars has formed is amazing, it's lit up like it was taken during the day,
Well done.
Santo

pablominto (40488) 2008-03-24 7:31

Hello paul,
As always interesting to see the star trails on a really long nighttime exposure!
Except for the stars the effect is practically daytime...
And you took the effort of thinking of the composition, nice work!
Greetings,
Pablo -

scobert (5333) 2008-03-24 9:45

Hello Paul,
The big disadvantage of using digital cameras is dealing with all of the noise created from the ccd or chmos chips for long exposures. I have found that the best software to use to reduce the hot pixels and noise is Neatimage. Photoshop is not very good software for reducing noise. Neatimage will automatically interpolate the noise reduction for us, and we can adjust the automatic settings (manually) and sharpen the photo at the same time. I still believe that film is better for long (unguided) exposures, in spite of reciprocity failure. Fujichrome 400F is an excellent film for this type of photography. I like your star trails photograph! Excellent image! (You are lucky to live in the Southern hemishpere. Your nightime skies are the envy of us astronomers who live above the equator).
Stan

giorgimer (21034) 2008-03-24 15:17

Hi Paul,

an extraordinary shot, great result, really stunning! I've read some days ago a way to skip this problem, it was in an italian book of Nikon, furnished with D70 camera. Unfortunately it's not so easy to be explained. I just recall it suggested to take a second shot with the same exposure time and with the cover over the lenses. Then second shot should be subtracted by the first with a PP program. I hope this helps.

Best regards

Gio

crckt (7072) 2008-03-24 16:36

Hi Paul,
Very cool! Love the trails of the stars. Fantastic composition as well keeping the the tree in as well.
Good work,
SHaeri

robertosalguero (2763) 2008-03-24 21:46

Hello Paul,

The image look nice and the long exposure gave the image an excellent effect. The stars look more like shooting stars going in circles. The light is excellent and allow us to see good details. I think the noise filter helped a lot this image and still look clear. Nice job Paul.

Roberto

jafadabret (39441) 2008-03-25 3:01

Paul, la ronde des étoiles donne le vertige. En 10 minutes elles ont parcouru assez de chemin pour donner l'impression de mouvement. Belle réalisation et bon travail en PP.
Jacques

yeti1975 (1270) 2008-03-25 6:41

Hi Paul,

Excellent night photography. You got the North Star nicely in the frame.

Can you please post the original unprocessed file in the workshop. I have never tried long exposure with my digital camera. I have been using film all this time. The noise level is very less on film. I will be taking long exposures during my forthcoming expedition so I just want to get an idea of the image quality on digital. If it is not too god then i will have to take my film body and lens just for night photography.

Thanks

Rajib

Henryk_Bilor (20365) 2008-03-25 12:20

Hi Paul
Nice long exposure at the south celestial pole. Lovely colours and lines of stars movement.
Regards

Tue (25608) 2008-03-25 16:27

Hi Paul,
Wow, this is a very impressive technique and the result is stunning. A kind of daylight photo during the night. Fantastic that you can see the movement of the star during those 10 minutes. Good inclusion of the trees on the right hand side. Thanks for sharing this great piece of work!
Regards,
Lars

Clementi (43757) 2008-03-26 0:25

Ciao Paul ,
beautiful experiment , amazing sky and stars ,
compliments for your long exposure ,
very good job
Giorgio

ktanska (16524) 2008-03-26 4:58

Hi Paul,
A succesful long exposure showing stars spinning on the Southern hemisphere PoV. Light of the moon gives surprisingly warm glow, very relaxing ambience. Well framed with nature on the bottom and right.
Kari

danos (32250) 2008-03-27 10:02

Hello Paul,
the result of the of the 10 min exposure is extraordinary.I like the circuit of the stars,that create these lighted tracks.Great work.

Regards,Danos

jaywalker (12190) 2008-03-27 13:43

Hi Paul, An amazing photo with great exposure, the effect of the stars as they move across the sky looks so beautiful, the blue of the sky itself is perfect for the scene, wonderfully composed with the bushes & trees fabulously used, TFS, kind regards Wilson.

Stepan (27175) 2008-03-30 1:55

Makes it totally unreal, makes it really interesting. As if it was an eclipse (the light on the forest)... Beautiful stars effect... Mysterious...
Stéphane

Bluejeans (32053) 2008-04-02 11:30

Ola Paul ,
A tua foto ficou magnifica , gostei muito do movimento das estrelas ,gostei muito das cores bons detalhes , fizeste um bom trabalho de PSP, parabéns!!
Um abraço Gonçalo

alvaraalto (5231) 2008-04-03 14:31

Hi Paul,

An impressive and intriguing picture. Despite the long exposure time the trees are very sharp. It must have been no wind at all. The movement of the starts Is fascinating.

Groet Rob

Angshu (33585) 2008-04-09 0:37

Hello Paul
Fantastic! 10 minute exposure gives all the concentric lines of the stars & Venus (?). And who can say this was a night shot? and great PP work as well. I have no words really!
Regards
Angshu

mikele_pl (2304) 2008-06-14 2:51

Hi Paul,
this is a great image. Excellent control over light and time, interesting composition and extraordinary final effect.
Thanks for sharing
Michal