Reflections By Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website, Instagram, Facebook Reflections: The Greater And Lesser

Dunes by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website Instagram Facebook Located near Monument Valley. We were introduced to this very remote place by out guide, Quanah Parker from Majestic Monument Valley tours. We (Eric Gail and myself) would never have know that this place existed without his excellent guiding. Single Exposure, Nikon 810A, 24 mm, f 2.0, ISO 10,000, 15 sec. 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. Cheers, Wayne

Questions and Answers

About Panoramas

Question: Do you use a panorama head for your pano shots, or single frame ultra-wide angle?

Answer: When I call it a panorama I have taken multiple images and stitched them together, usually vertical images. 

I use an Acratech Ballhead that I like a lot. I also use an Acratech Leveling Head which I love. The leveling head makes panoramas much, much easier to get all the images in a horizontal plane. There are lots of leveling heads out there, and this is the one piece of equipment that I would strongly suggest. As long as it works the brand does not matter. At first I only used it for panos, but then I started using it for every night photo and life got a lot easier. Once you level the camera and take that first long exposure photo, it is so much easier to recompose the shot. If the camera is level then you can just swivel it from side to side, or up/down (a little trickier) and the camera remains level. I can usually get the composition right in 2 shots rather than taking multiple shots. Sometimes it takes more, but it is a lot faster to get the composition right with the leveling head. Also you can switch from Hor to vert and not have to change much. I also use an Acratech “L” Bracket almost always when mounting the camera vertically and it helps a lot with panos. It’s much better to help preventing parallax. 

I just wing it on overlap, and overlap a lot. I also use a Acratech Nodal Rail to position the focal plane over the point of rotation. This prevents parallax and the computer can reconstruct it better. In reality though, I only use the nodal rail when there is something  in the foreground that is close, and parallax might be an issue. If everything is far away then I just use the L bracket and it all works out just fine. 

I am learning double row panos, and using special software for that like PTGui pano software. If you want double rows think about this software. For the really high MWs I use the widest lens I have and do them vertically. I have had decent luck with my 15 mm Sigma fisheye lens vertically. I do some lens correction on each image in Lightroom or Adobe RAW and then stitch them together and it works out OK. Just do lots of overlap.

Cheers, Wayne

The Elephant Walks at Night by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website Instagram Facebook This is a panorama of Elephant Rock in The Valley of Fire State Park, in Nevada, USA. The light on the horizon is the rising moon. Las Vegas is nearby, but somewhat behind me and off to my right. There are approx. 8 vertical images taken at 14mm, f/2.8, 20 sec., and ISO 8000. Taken with a Nikon 14-24 mm lens. Happy New Year! Here's wishing you all beautiful skies for shooting in 2017! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family for all the support and encouragement! Cheers, Wayne Thank you for all the kind comments I have received today!

Questions and Answers

What are some good places to shoot the Milky Way in the SW United States?

Question: I was wondering if you could offer up your recommendation on a getaway spot for Milky Way photography? Any issues at the national parks in Utah? I would travel either in June or September to avoid crowds....and hopefully a bunch of workshop photographers too. I loved wondering the beaches of the Pacific coast...I feel like I had them all to myself and access was relatively easy...and I'm trying to scope out locations for future trips that are the same....I don't want to be hiking 3 days into some crazy remote area for a milky way shot. Looking at your badlands shots and Joshua tree pics has me bouncing around with different options for sure. Any advice you could offer would be greatly appreciated. 

Answer: Overall Utah and the area has limitless possibilities for dark night skies and astrophotography. I'll tell you good spots for good foregrounds. All of the areas I mention are good for dark night skies.  Just as a generalization, when I go there to do astrophotography I literally chase the clear skies to maximize the number of clear shooting nights. I rent a car and drive to wherever the clearest skies are predicted for the next few days.  The rental companies probably hate me. I usually fly into Salt Lake City or Las Vegas. I have found that the eastern part of California (Sierra Nevada Mtns), Utah, the North Rim of the Grand Canyon(really,really dark), and the NW corner on New Mexico (N.M. Badlands) can have very different weather, so if one area gets a bad weather front there is a good chance that one of the others will have clear skies. The longest drive is to Eastern California, but it is doable if you are going to be there a few days.

Anyway, if one spot clouds up, like Utah, you can go off to California or New Mexico (or vice versa) and have lots to photograph there.

Here are some ideas:

Utah:

 Arches National Park has wonderful iconic landmarks to photograph, and the good part is that there are lots of good spots that are relatively close together. May and June are best. Arches NP is getting crowded at night, but the only really "zoo" like scene is at Delicate Arch. I went there last summer and almost witnessed a fight. The other iconic places like Double Arch, Broken Arch, Balanced Rock, Landscape Arch, etc., do not get as much night traffic. Sometimes I see one other person there. Sometimes there are workshops, but you just go to another location to avoid them. There are lots of less well known arches that you will have to yourself.

My favorite park at night is Bryce Canyon NP. Occasionally you will see someone else out at night near the trailheads but you usually have the area to yourself. The trails are easy, and you can make endless photo ops. Shoot one spot and walk 200 meters and shoot another. Great place.

Zion NP is also excellent at night.

False Kiva in Canyonlands NP is a good spot, but it is about a 2 km hike in.

Goblin Valley State Park is a fun spot to photograph for a night. 

 In SE area of Utah is a place called the Valley of the Gods, a little visited area that has excellent buttes and mesas to film at night. Just south of the Valley of the Gods is Monument Valley, a classic spot. You have to get permission from the Navajo Indians to go out at night there.

Escalante Grand Staircase National Monument has really good stuff to photograph at night but it is really spread out. There is lots of driving involved there. Good spots: Sunset Arch, Chimney Rock, The Devils Garden, Metate Arch, The Toadstools, Dance Hall Rock, etc. The Wave is good if you can get a permit.

Northern Arizona: 

 North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Try Imperial Point and Bright Angel Point and Cape Royal. They face in the right direction to see the Milky Way. Monument Valley is excellent.

Northwest New Mexico: 

I love the New Mexico Badlands. The chance you will see someone else there at night is pretty close to zero. You may have to hike up to about 3 km or 2 miles or so in one direction at most, usually less. There are no trails so you need a GPS device to avoid getting lost, or maybe just less lost. I just use an app on my phone. The Bisti Badlands, about 30 miles or 50 km or so south of Farmington are great. There are many photo ops in a small place. Also good are the Valley of Dreams (with a hoodoo called the Alien Throne), the Valley of Dreams East, an area with a hoodoo called the King of Wings, and a nearby area called Ah-shi-sie-pah. All of these areas are in the same general vicinity, within a 1 hour drive. In the Badlands, once you get into the good ares there are numerous good photo ops. I get the GPS coordinates of the specific spots I want to visit ahead of time. Here are some links:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=zJCKjjljTPpw.kTu66ZH6E1zQ&hl=en_US

http://www.thewave.info/AhShiSlePah/index.html

http://www.thewave.info/BistiBadlandsCode/Map.html

Eastern California:

 In Eastern California there is a long valley that extends from North to South with the Sierra Nevada range to the West and the White Mountains to the East. There are a lot of great places to do night photography there.

 Near the Northern End of this area is Lake Mono, a very "otherworldly" place with lots of large spires called Tuffas rising up from the lake bed. 

Going south you get to the area of Bishop, Ca. where you can go to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, a great place at night.

Still going south you get to Lone Pine, Ca., and the Alabama Hills, with a number of iconic spots, like Mobius Arch and Cyclops Arch. Lots of movies were shot here.

Still going south you come to Ridgecrest, Ca, and the nearby Trona Pinnacles. This is another place with an unusual otherworldly landscape. A number of movies were shot here also.

Still going south you get to Joshua Tree NP. There is some light pollution there but I have come away with decent photos.

Still going south you come to Borrego Springs, Ca. Outside the town there are 140+ life sized metal statues or works of art scattered through the desert, like dinosaurs, mammoths, dragons, and many other ancient and current animals. These are fun to photograph at night with the MW in the background. You can create an interesting atmosphere. Check this link for sn ides of what you might see:

https://www.google.com/search?q=borrego+springs+statues+night&client=safari&rls=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi2g4mm5oHKAhVEzGMKHfOdAaQQ_AUIBygB&biw=1398&bih=1285

Also, just east of the Alabama Hills is Death Valley NP with very dark skies.

Cheers, Wayne Pinkston,  2015

Aztec Priestess by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website Instagram Facebook Single Exposure, Aztec, New Mexico. 24 mm, f 1.6, ISO 6400, 15 sec. 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. Cheers, Wayne

Winged Hoodoo in the Bisti Badlands by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Winged Hoodoo in the Bisti Badlands, New Mexico. There is a marvelous variety of hoodoos in the badlands. Over millennia sedimentary rocks of different hardness were laid down, and the softer lower layers erode faster than the harder upper layers, resulting in unusual shapes. I accidentally left a light on in the back canyon, and did not realize it until the photo came up on the display, but I think it added to the appearance. This is a single exposure. Thanks for taking the time to look. Hope you enjoy! Big thanks to the wonderful Flickr family out there. Please join me at: Website Facebook Instagram Blog

Morning Twilight at the Trona Pinnacles by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: This one is a bit different. I overstayed my welcome, trying to get as many photos around the Pinnacles as possible before the sun rose, but despite my best efforts, the sun rose anyway. I was still shooting when the morning twilight started. As I took this photo the sun's glow was starting to be seen on the horizon, and with light pollution created a yellow glow. There were clouds near the horizon which were illuminated also. The sky was becoming noticeably lighter, but you could still see the Milky Way surprisingly well. There are 2 static lights helping to light the spires, one downhill to my right, and one downhill from my feet. There is also a fair amount of ambient light present from the twilight hour. It was a kind of "golden hour" before sunrise. Canon 1Dx Camera, Nikon 14-24 mm lens at 20 mm, f 2.8, 30 sec, and ISO 6400. Hope you enjoy!

Delicate Light by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: This is the iconic Delicate Arch in Arches National Park, in Utah, USA. I had wanted to try my hand at this for a while, but the site had become so popular that I had major reservations about competing with others over "territory" for filming. Fellow photographer Eric Gail and I made the hike and found 20-25 people there including 2 people who said they were from the BBC making a time lapse. Two of the parities did indeed get into a hostile shouting match and the location "heated up". After everyone calmed down we were able to take turns and everything worked out just fine. Thanks to everyone there for such good co-operation. We did set up this lighting scheme which most found acceptable. A few people preferred the blue light of LEDs, and they had their turn. The time lapse people just filmed it all. There is smoke near the horizon from the fires in California. This obscures the stars near the horizon. You can see a layer of smoke above the light pollution. Thanks for taking the time to look. Hope you enjoy! Your time, faves, and comments are much appreciated! Please join me at: Website Facebook Instagram Blog

The Totem Pole, Monument Valley by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website Instagram Facebook The Totem Pole, Monument Valley, Utah. I am planning to lead a Landscape Astrophotography workshop in Monument Valley in June 2018, a 3 day workshop on June 7, 8, and 9 (Thursday through Saturday), and potentially a 4 day workshop June 11 through 14 inclusive. Sunday, June 10 (the in-between day) will be a "bonus day" for any participant who wants another night of shooting. So you can get in 4 nights of shooting in the first workshop and 5 nights in the second. I am trying to judge interest to determine whether to add the second workshop. Max of 6 participants in each workshop. Let me know you if you are interested in the comments below. Comments are non-binding, lol. This workshop will be run by Worldpix, a charity organization, and all profits will go to charity, so your participation will be helping a good cause. I will be donating my time in leading the workshop. The idea is to have fun doing photography and aide a good cause at the same time. We will cover planning night shoots, photographing the Milky Way (and landscape at night), Low Level Lighting, and processing Milky Way photos, with emphasis on single exposure acquisitions. Cheers, Wayne 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.

Where's Waldo? (aka Where's Wally?) by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: This is Double Arch in Arches National Park, Utah. Do remember the picture game "Where's Waldo"? You had to find Waldo in a crowded photo. Anyway, in this photo it's "Where's Eric" (sorry Eric, you volunteered!). There is a figure in the photo with a headlamp, posed to give some scale to the photo. The arch is huge. Since Eric is in front of the arch and closer to the camera, he is actually magnified a bit, and the arch minimized a bit. Nikon 810A Camera, Nikon 14-24 mm lens, 20 mm, f 2.8, 30 sec., ISO 8000. I just discovered it's Where's Wally in most of the world, and Where's Waldo in the USA and Canada. Thanks Oscar for the info! The figure in the photo is Eric Gail you can see his excellent gallery here: www.flickr.com/photos/dot21studios Eric kindly volunteered to pose in the photo. Thanks Eric. BTW, I need another Model Release! LOL Thanks for taking the time to look. Hope you enjoy! Big thanks to the wonderful Flickr family out there. Please join me at: Website Facebook Instagram Blog