CraigGoodwin2
Bifrost Bridge
UPDATE 2: I wasn't crazy about my original name for this, Arches of Light, but there is so much going on it's hard to settle on something. Then it dawned on my that this reminds me of the Bifrost Bridge from the Thor movie/Norse mythology. The vertical pole is reminiscent of Heimdall's staff.
UPDATE: Thanks Flickr community for faving and commenting this onto Explore. This is a stitch of 6 images - f2.8, 20 seconds (I accidentally clicked it down from 25 which is what it probably should have been), 14mm Rokinon, ISO 400, Nikon D600.
I arrived at this bridge hoping for a nice shot of the bright part of the Milky Way reflected on the water. After an unnerving nighttime hike I finally arrived at the bridge, an old train thoroughfare converted to the Trail of the Couer d'Alenes bike trail. (I've had some scary encounters in the past with glowing eyeballs haunting me during night hikes and I never seem to have my bear spray when I need it.) When I got to the bridge I realized it would be too windy. I noticed a lot of apparent light pollution to the north. It looked like Auroras but I didn't think it would be possible to see it so brightly that far south. When I confirmed the green glow of the Aurora on my camera screen I set up my D7000 and Tokina 11-16mm for a timelapse and went to work trying to compose this bridge feature with my D600 and Rokinon 14mm. After an hour the Milky Way finally rose high enough to get this shot. I wasn't sure how the stitch would go but it was fairly easy. Instead of painting the bridge structure with my flashlight, which would have created shadows and a distracting brightness I relied on the dim glow of the surrounding lights to subtly light it up.
When it comes to the Aurora I find the challenge always is to find a compelling foreground object that invites the viewer to place themselves at the scene. The Lights are so bright and colorful and big that when they are isolated they are beautiful but not very compelling (to me). It's hard to grasp the scale and mystery without an earthbound feature of some kind. I feel the same way about the Milky Way and the night sky in general.
ORIGINAL NOTE: Trail of the Couer d'Alenes Bridge at the center, Northern Lights hovering over Coeur d'Alene Lake to the left, the brightest part of the Milky Way rising over the lights of St. Maries and Heyburn State Park to the right - This is one crazy composition, but the centered bridge somehow seems to hold it together.
Bifrost Bridge
UPDATE 2: I wasn't crazy about my original name for this, Arches of Light, but there is so much going on it's hard to settle on something. Then it dawned on my that this reminds me of the Bifrost Bridge from the Thor movie/Norse mythology. The vertical pole is reminiscent of Heimdall's staff.
UPDATE: Thanks Flickr community for faving and commenting this onto Explore. This is a stitch of 6 images - f2.8, 20 seconds (I accidentally clicked it down from 25 which is what it probably should have been), 14mm Rokinon, ISO 400, Nikon D600.
I arrived at this bridge hoping for a nice shot of the bright part of the Milky Way reflected on the water. After an unnerving nighttime hike I finally arrived at the bridge, an old train thoroughfare converted to the Trail of the Couer d'Alenes bike trail. (I've had some scary encounters in the past with glowing eyeballs haunting me during night hikes and I never seem to have my bear spray when I need it.) When I got to the bridge I realized it would be too windy. I noticed a lot of apparent light pollution to the north. It looked like Auroras but I didn't think it would be possible to see it so brightly that far south. When I confirmed the green glow of the Aurora on my camera screen I set up my D7000 and Tokina 11-16mm for a timelapse and went to work trying to compose this bridge feature with my D600 and Rokinon 14mm. After an hour the Milky Way finally rose high enough to get this shot. I wasn't sure how the stitch would go but it was fairly easy. Instead of painting the bridge structure with my flashlight, which would have created shadows and a distracting brightness I relied on the dim glow of the surrounding lights to subtly light it up.
When it comes to the Aurora I find the challenge always is to find a compelling foreground object that invites the viewer to place themselves at the scene. The Lights are so bright and colorful and big that when they are isolated they are beautiful but not very compelling (to me). It's hard to grasp the scale and mystery without an earthbound feature of some kind. I feel the same way about the Milky Way and the night sky in general.
ORIGINAL NOTE: Trail of the Couer d'Alenes Bridge at the center, Northern Lights hovering over Coeur d'Alene Lake to the left, the brightest part of the Milky Way rising over the lights of St. Maries and Heyburn State Park to the right - This is one crazy composition, but the centered bridge somehow seems to hold it together.