A Night With The Goblins By Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website Instagram Facebook Hoodoos In Goblin Valley,

White Mesa Arch by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website, Instagram, Facebook White Mesa Arch in Arizona. This is in the Navajo Nation and you should have a local guide to go there. This spot was completely off my radar until it was introduced to me by Quanah Parker who is with Majestic Monument Valley Tours. This trip caused me some embarrassment, lol. You have to climb a sandy hill to get to the arch. We parked down below, and I grabbed my gear and tripod and headed up. I set up the lights (Low Level Lighting) and tripod and reached for the camera, which wasn't there, sigh. It was still in the backseat of the car. You would think that you could at least remember the camera on a photo trip, sigh again... Anyway it was down the hill and back up the hill. The night was a success anyway. The arch is huge, and the view through the arch is wonderful. There is some light pollution form homesteads in the area. Many thanks to the model, Jacinda Wileto! For more images like this please take a look at Wayne Pinkston Photography . Thanks for all the kind support over the last year, it is much appreciated! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family!

The Forgotten Arm, Part 1: by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website Instagram Facebook Painted Hand Ancestral Puebloan Ruins “The Forgotten Arm” is actually a boxing term describing “a move in which one arm is used to hit the opponent, causing him to "forget" about the other arm, which is then used to deliver a harsher blow” (Wikipedia). I am going to borrow this phrase to describe the Northern Arm of the Milky Way, or arm of the Milky Way we see extending North in the Northern Hemisphere. Our sun actually lies in the Orion Arm or Orion Spur, a minor arm of the Milky Way between the Sagittarius Arm and the Perseus Arm. Since we are looking from within the Milky Way, we see it as a disk-like structure edge on, rather than a spiral. A large part of what we see when we look away from the Galactic Core is the Perseus Arm. I call this northern portion the “Forgotten Arm” because we go to so much trouble to shoot away from it, and work to include the Galactic Core in our photos instead. We even have “Milky Way Season”, implying the season is over after the core moves below the horizon in our Northern Hemisphere winter. The “Northern Arm” is still up there, and has lots of interesting structures to see, and is photogenic in itself. Among structures in this region are the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), other Galaxies including Mirach’s Ghost Galaxy (NGC404), the Triangulum Galaxy (M33), and others, as well as star clusters including the Double Cluster (DC), Spiral Cluster (M34), Open Cluster (C28), Dragonfly Cluster (DF) and others, as well as Nebula including the Heart Nebula (IC1805), and Soul Nebula (IC1848). I will try and label some of these structures. There will be 2 photos, one with landscape, and one magnified and labeled. More to come, Cheers Wayne

Questions and Answers:

What color is the night sky?

Question: (more like a comment) Great composition and exposure, but the Milky Way is not blue, the color balance is not correct. 

http://www.clarkvision.com/articles/color.of.the.night.sky/

Answer: Thanks for looking, and thanks for the comment. Much appreciated. 

What color is the night sky? Excellent article you mentioned:

www.clarkvision.com/articles/color.of.the.night.sky/

I have been thinking about writing about this for a while, so thanks for stimulating me. Please bear with me for a few minutes.I have had this conversation multiple times, actually being on both sides of the argument. It took me a long time to come to a conclusion on how I wanted to present the night sky. 

I actually agree with you entirely, the darkest night sky is a warmer color physically, but...

There is a difference between:

1) What color the night sky really is optically (we cannot see the real colors because our night vision is mostly B&W). 

2) What we perceive the night sky color to be (our eyes are poor receptors at night), and what our eyes actually perceive is not what we may remember or what the colors really are. By the way, different people have somewhat differing ability to see color at night.

3) and what we remember the color of the night sky to be. 

For events that we see repeatedly, like looking at the night sky (or going to the beach, etc.), it has been shown that we do not remember every detail in every instance of looking at the night sky. We may remember the meteor we saw that night, but our memory fills in the background details, like the color of the night sky, the smell of night air or desert air, the feel of chill on your skin, etc., with a combined memory of conglomeration of all the night skies we have seen. When you replay the memory in your mind you remember the unique details, and the background is filled in from averaged memories. 

So... if you think about it, most people see most night skies in light polluted places or with a moon in the sky, all of which makes the sky lighter and bluer. The moon is above us more often than not, and lightens the sky, and that is what we mostly remember, a bluish sky.When I started out I thought the night sky was black. 

When I got out there in the really dark places, it was not black. I look at photos with black skies and that is not what I see out there. Never. The sky also never looks brown to me, unless there is smoke on the horizon. It never looks brown. As I stand out there for hours and hours, it looks to me to be a deep blue tending towards back. It mostly looks "dark" in away that is hard to explain.

I have processed them every way you can think of, including like in the article you quoted. It's actually a lot easier that way. When you make the Milky Way warmer and yellow brown (forget about airglow for now), the background sky, especially near the horizon frequently turns brownish. It has never looked that way to me in person, in weeks and weeks of being out at night. It just looks unnatural to me. 

So what do you do? Well, the answer in photo circles seems to be you do just about anything you want.

Once I got in a discussion with a very famous and respected photographer about the color of the sky. At that time I was arguing the point from the view you take. I finally asked what color is the night sky?His answer was "any color I want it to be". It bothered me at first, but less over time. 

So, do you want to make a photo that is true to physics, but is not what anyone can ever see (and at times may be ugly), or make an idealized view of the sky, or simply try to make a work of art, or something people can identify with?

It is a question each person has to answer for themselves, and the answer will be different each time. 

For me, I decided, for now, to try to make a work of art that people can identify with. Next year my choice may be different.

Cheers, and thanks for stimulating me to finally write this down!

Wayne Pinkston

Questions and Answers

Airglow

 People have asked me a number of questions about equipment, issues, and technique in Nightscape or Landscape Astrophotography. Since many of these questions are recurring, I am going to post the questions and answers here. I’ll answer your questions to the best of my ability!

Q: Why is the sky green?

A: You asked where the green was coming from in the Milky Way photo. The green color is from "airglow" that the camera can image, but you cannot see with the naked eye. In photographs it looks very much like very faint Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis, but occurs anywhere on earth, is best seen when it is very dark, and best seen toward the horizon. It looks odd and so a lot of photographers just try to get rid of it. I like the "otherworldly" look so I enhance it instead. Here is what Wikipedia says: Airglow is caused by various processes in the upper atmosphere, such as the recombination of atoms, which were photo ionized by the sun during the day, luminescence caused by cosmic rays striking the upper atmosphere and chemiluminescence caused mainly by oxygen and nitrogen reacting with hydroxyl ions at heights of a few hundred kilometers. It is not noticeable during the daytime because of the scattered light from the sun.

What are you using as light sources? These are amazing photos.

Hi and thanks for looking. Yes, I am using light sources for many of these photos. The lights are turned down really low to match the intensity of the stars, and them the scenes are captured as a single exposure. The lights are so low that they are hard to see in person, but show up well on a 30 second exposure. I have an earlier post on Tumblr that talks about the brands of lights I use. Most are dimmable Video LED light panels with warming filters of Halogen hand held spotlights that I reflect off of nearby objects (reflected light). I describe the types of lights I use here:   

http://lightcrafter.smugmug.com/About-Nightscapes

Scroll down until you see “About Equipment”

Cheers, Wayne

Lost in a Dream... by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Hoodoo in the Valley of Dreams East, in the Badlands region of NW New Mexico.

Lighting

People have asked me a number of questions about equipment, issues, and technique in Nightscape or Landscape Astrophotography. Since many of these questions are recurring, I am going to post the questions and answers here. I’ll answer your questions to the best of my ability!

Question: I took a chance visit to Joshua Tree this past weekend and took shots until I heard coyotes calling and got scared. My question for you is what wide aspect illumination do you use to get general cover during night shots? I've been using flashlights and as you'll see from the below photo the coverage is not uniform. I got some great results with light from the side (not posted on flickr) but I need something wide angle and low key.Fyi I used to work in theatre lighting so I'm pretty good with types of lighting, I just don't know the best options for close-to-dark photography lighting.

Answer:   For small to moderately large areas I used reflected light. I have had no luck with shining a light directly on areas of interest. I use a halogen hand held spotlight, and try to find something off to the side to bounce it off, like another hoodoo or ridge. If you can find something about 45 degrees off to the side you can get some nice shadows, and a feeling of depth. This is what I used mostly in Bisti. You need only 6-10 seconds of light in a 30 sec exposure. Bouncing the light makes it much more even. The halogen lights (not LED) give a nice warm color. This is the one I use:

www.amazon.com/Rechargeable-Cordless-Spotlight-Integrated-Cigarette/dp/B00HES8JI6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1436649113&sr=8-1&keywords=luminar+worktm

The charge lasts about 15 min total, but if you use it 10 sec at a time that is up to 90 exposures. I do take test shots and get everything set up before I use it. There is a small learning curve. Sometimes I just bounce it off the ground. I use a "snoot" on the end of the light to prevent or diminish scatter. That is just a rolled up tube or cylinder of flexible material I place over the end of the light.

 www.flickr.com/photos/udijw/2862636559/in/set-72157602232660459/

For bigger areas I use constant on or "static" video lights. They are dimmable LED lights. I place them on a small tripod about 30 - 60 yards away. I use this small tripod:

www.amazon.com/dp/B004W4BAUO/ref=sr_ph_1?m=A2LM6ZPY06LT1N&ie=UTF8&qid=1436649689&sr=1&keywords=small+tripod

It is 42" high and weighs 1 lb, and fits in my luggage and pack easily. If I did not have to take airline flights I would use something taller or bigger. You need to get these lights up off the ground to decrease shadows. The LED lights are to blue, so they come with a warming filter and a diffusion filter. I use both all the time. I tape around the sides to prevent light leaks around sides of the filters. When you see one of these you will see want I mean.The one light I use the most is the F&V Z96 light:

www.amazon.com/HDV-Z96-96-LED-Light-Kit/dp/B003UCGDSS/ref=pd_sim_sbs_421_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=02WSRH8S48KXA07J6GEP

I turn it on low and leave it on and take a photo and adjust accordingly. It is best to place it about 45 degrees off to the side. Here are some others I have tried:

Neewer 160 LED:www.amazon.com/NEEWER®-Dimmable-Digital-Camcorder-Panasonic/dp/B004TJ6JH6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1436650355&sr=8-2&keywords=video+light+neewer

This one is usually too bright even at low settings.Ones I have tried recently and like:

Neewer 56 LED:www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008B3SISO?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00

It's dimmable, light, and pretty powerful, and costs $20. I like it a lot.

Newer 36 LED:

www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009YQP3TE?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00

It's small, dimmable, and pretty powerful, about $19. I place it inside arches and small spaces. If it is still too bright I place a cloth napkin, or handkerchief, or lens cloth, or even paper napkins over the front to damp the light.Since you are exposing for the stars, it does not take much light. I usually use the on the lower settings and leave them on. You can barely see them in person until your eyes adapt.

Here are more photos from Bisti. For the panoramas I used the video lights. For the individual hoodoos I used bounce light from the halogen spotlight.

lightcrafter.smugmug.com/Nightscapes/Bisti-Badlands-New-Mexico/

Hope this helps! Cheers, Wayne

A Walk in an Alien Land by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: This is the most delightfully "otherworldly" place I have experienced at night. This is the "Egg Hatchery" or "Alien Hatchery" of the Bisti Badlands of New Mexico. They are appropriate names. This is a small flat plane between the hills, maybe the size of 1 or 2 football fields (whichever kind of football you prefer). Scattered around the surface are rock formations that look like giagantic petrified eggs and broken eggs. Many look like they are setting on egg cups or holders. At night the erie shapes and shadows let the imagination run wild. This is a panorama, and it may not show the detail well, but I wanted to show the feel of the landscape. I still need to process the closer version of the "eggs". It's a wonderful place to visit but take a GPS device. There are no trails and you find the areas of interest by GPS co-ordinates. Otherwise you wander around forever. This is a panorama of 210-240 degrees, created by 12 vertical images combined in Lightroom. All are single exposures (the sky is not added). Canon 6D camera, Nikon 14-24 mm lens at 14 mm, f 2.8, 30 sec, ISO 6400. Hope you enjoy! All comments are welcomed. Thanks! Please join me at: Website Facebook Blog

Just a Big Rock that Ought to Fall Over by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website Instagram Faceb ook Just a really big rock that should probably fall over, . It looks so asymmetric that it is hard to imagine that it can remain this way. I came upon this 'balanced rock' on a scouting trip looking for good spots to shoot the Colorado River in Canyonlands National Park. It lies just out of the park near Moab, and the light is from an small utility building about 400 m away that is part of the Potash Plant in the area. This rock looks so precarious that it was a little creepy getting down under it to shoot upwards. Single exposure, 14 mm, f2.8, 15 sec., ISO 8000. For more images like this please take a look at Wayne Pinkston Photography . Thanks for all the kind support! Hope you enjoy! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family. It's a pleasure to post here.

Abandoned Cathedral by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website, Instagram, Facebook Abandoned Cathedral in Madagascar. This is the shell of an old abandoned cathedral in Madagascar. This was adjacent to a girls school and the priest was very nice to let us shoot there at night. There was no electricity in this region and the red glow on the horizon originates from multiple fires. The local people burn the fields to clear them and there are always multiple fires in the distance. Also bandits steal the cattle and set the villages on fire to keep the people from chasing them. 😳😬 This is a panorama of multiple vertical images. There is a Goal Zero lantern in the bell tower and a single light panel off to the right to provide Low Level Lighting on the outside. BTW, we had 3 armed guards at all times. Thanks to WorldPix and Ryan for setting up this trip! Thanks for looking! Wayne