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The heavens themselves blaze forth...
The heavens themselves blaze forth...
DrAchoo


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Illuminative Subject (Basic Editing)
Camera: Canon EOS-5D
Lens: Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8 L USM
Location: Eugene, OR
Date: Mar 14, 2009
Aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 800
Shutter: 30
Galleries: Landscape, Astrophotography
Date Uploaded: Mar 14, 2009

 The quote is from Shakespeare. I wanted to use a quote from Kant, but it was too long: “Two things awe me most, the starry sky above me and the moral law within me.”

Caden and I took a drive about 25 minutes outside town to an area of fields which is pretty dark according to light pollution maps (blue on the map, for those who know what I'm talking about). A few people who don't think about it may think the orange is from the sunset, but it is rather the glow of Eugene in the distance. (You'd never see that many stars with a sunset so fresh) To the naked eye, the skies were pretty dark. It's amazing what the camera can pick up.

For those interesting in night photography like this, I have found that the best time to shoot is between the start and end of astronomical twilight. If you want a blue night sky like I had in the Hidden Gems shot, you want to shoot right at the beginning, if you want a blacker sky, shoot at the end. This shot was shot at 8:35PM with astronomical twilight starting at 8:15 and ending at 8:51. I'll post an outtake which was shot at about 8:15 to show the sky difference.


I'm guessing there will be a few boobirds who decide the sky is not the main light source, but I disagree. It provide the illumination for 90% of the shot (including the areas with no illumination). The secondary light source was a flashlight used to paint the road.

Processing was pretty light. I wish I could clone out the extraneous blips and objects in the black of the road.

Statistics
Place: 21 out of 178
Avg (all users): 5.9398
Avg (commenters): 5.4286
Avg (participants): 5.9403
Avg (non-participants): 5.9396
Views since voting: 1508
Views during voting: 333
Votes: 216
Comments: 10
Favorites: 1 (view)

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AuthorThread
Canon EOS-5D Mark II
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS
 03/27/2009 03:00:22 AM
Beautiful shot!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D300
Nikon AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f2.8D
 03/26/2009 12:08:58 AM
Fantastic shot. You make the skys above the millrace look lovely.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D800
Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G
 03/25/2009 12:23:47 AM
Cool shot doc, thanks for the tip about Astronomical twilight :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
Nikon D70s
Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED
 03/21/2009 07:16:53 PM
Good shot, but the highway line is distracting.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D70
Nikon AF-S DX Zoom Nikkor 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED
 03/20/2009 06:08:06 PM
wow, how many stars are there? lol, love the DOF, 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-600D/T3 Rebel
Olympus 40-150mm f/4.0-5.6 ED Zuiko Digital Zoom
 03/19/2009 09:36:18 PM
cool pic noot sure of the illuminating subject
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Sony DSC-F717
Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC for Nikon
 03/18/2009 06:23:51 PM
Didn't you read the assignment saying that sun is out as a light source?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D750
Nikon AF-S Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8D IF-ED
 03/18/2009 05:24:14 PM
Love the stars, but I'd have cropped out the bottom yellow line.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-30D
Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC for Canon
 03/18/2009 11:06:26 AM
I would be curious to know what the streak in the mid upper right side of the shot was. Airplane contrail or satellite pass? Nice shot.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-5D Mark II
Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8 L USM
 03/18/2009 05:12:14 AM
Love this image and pretty nice aswell to capture a star shoot.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
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