skypointer2000
Canyon to the Stars
This image was taken at Bright Angel Point on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.
The paved trail to Bright Angel Point (0.25 mile/0.4 km) provides one of the North Rim’s most spectacular views. It starts directly behind Grand Canyon Lodge. Bright Angel Point is by far the most popular viewpoint at the North Rim.
It was therefore to be expected, that the place was quite crowded in the afternoon, but when I returned after nightfall, I was pleasantly surprised that no one else was there. Of course, while the starry skies are brilliant, there is not much of the canyon to be seen at night. The area really is pitch-dark and from the edge of the railing, where I set up my camera, I felt like floating in a starship in empty space.
I tried several ISO/exposure combinations, but every time I got a discernable canyon, the sky and the lights at the South Rim were totally blown out.
Finally I decided to shoot at a relatively low ISO 1600 with my 24mm f/1.4 lens fully open to get as much starlight as possible while avoiding blown out lights. I took 5 images at 15 seconds @ ISO 1600.
To make the canyon visible, I had to shoot at ISO to 6400 and I knew I would have to raise the shadows of my exposures to the limit in post processing. That’s when stacking helps a lot, to reduce the inevitable noise. So I took another 5 images of 15 seconds length @ ISO 6400.
In post processing I first stacked the foreground and sky series and then merged the two resulting images into one, before I applied several contrast and color enhancements on the different layers. The whole process is quite time consuming, but assures an adequately exposed Milky Way without blown out lights on the South Rim and a naturally looking canyon below, without too much noise.
Frankly I am quite happy with the result. I hope you like it as much as I do.
- Astro modified Canon EOS 6D
- Samyang 24mm f/1.4
- 5 x 15s @ ISO 1600
- 5 x 15s @ ISO 6400
Thanks for all your faves and comments. They are highly appreciated.
Canyon to the Stars
This image was taken at Bright Angel Point on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.
The paved trail to Bright Angel Point (0.25 mile/0.4 km) provides one of the North Rim’s most spectacular views. It starts directly behind Grand Canyon Lodge. Bright Angel Point is by far the most popular viewpoint at the North Rim.
It was therefore to be expected, that the place was quite crowded in the afternoon, but when I returned after nightfall, I was pleasantly surprised that no one else was there. Of course, while the starry skies are brilliant, there is not much of the canyon to be seen at night. The area really is pitch-dark and from the edge of the railing, where I set up my camera, I felt like floating in a starship in empty space.
I tried several ISO/exposure combinations, but every time I got a discernable canyon, the sky and the lights at the South Rim were totally blown out.
Finally I decided to shoot at a relatively low ISO 1600 with my 24mm f/1.4 lens fully open to get as much starlight as possible while avoiding blown out lights. I took 5 images at 15 seconds @ ISO 1600.
To make the canyon visible, I had to shoot at ISO to 6400 and I knew I would have to raise the shadows of my exposures to the limit in post processing. That’s when stacking helps a lot, to reduce the inevitable noise. So I took another 5 images of 15 seconds length @ ISO 6400.
In post processing I first stacked the foreground and sky series and then merged the two resulting images into one, before I applied several contrast and color enhancements on the different layers. The whole process is quite time consuming, but assures an adequately exposed Milky Way without blown out lights on the South Rim and a naturally looking canyon below, without too much noise.
Frankly I am quite happy with the result. I hope you like it as much as I do.
- Astro modified Canon EOS 6D
- Samyang 24mm f/1.4
- 5 x 15s @ ISO 1600
- 5 x 15s @ ISO 6400
Thanks for all your faves and comments. They are highly appreciated.