Nightscape Images
  • Home
  • Fine Art Prints (Laminate)
  • Large Canvas Prints
  • About - Youtube
  • Workshops
  • Workshops - Online
  • Night Landscapes
  • Zoom Online with Richard
  • Blog
  • Videos
  • Featured Nightscape Video
  • Automotive
  • Client Testimonials
  • Contact

Black and Blue ....

19/2/2015

2 Comments

 
Picture
Axedale Catholic Church       Nikon D610    20 seconds  F2.8   iso 2000


It seems obvious I suppose but whenever we look up at the night sky all we initially see are two colours .... black and blue. Most people don't even bother to look up at all and especially for those who live in large cities and populated areas, light pollution all but ruins those opportunities.


Most of us don't spend enough time letting our eyes adjust to the dark conditions to realize what colour the night sky actually is. I say this a little tongue in cheek actually because I'm very well aware that the human eye cannot possibly see as much detail as a long exposure photograph can deliver.
Picture
Reach for the Stars   Nikon D610  14mm  F2.8  20 seconds    iso 3200
The image on the left was taken very early one morning as the majestic Milky Way began to rise in the eastern sky. It highlights my suggestion that the long exposure enables the camera sensor to see a lot more than is possible with the naked eye.


Yes, this image has been edited to bring out the beautiful blue colour, and if I remember correctly the camera was set on a cool white balance setting ... nevertheless the black and blue nature of this image seems right somehow. It's somehow the way I imagine it should look.


Maybe that's the key to this whole thing ..... imagination. Lets face it, what we want to see and what we actually see can be quite different .. have a think about that ...!!!

The image at the top of this page was taken on the same night and being closer into town didn't really have the same colour balance due to street lighting etc .... so the solution to creating some magic, what every photographer turns to when all else fails ... make the image black and white.

Actually one of my projects this year will be to create a series of black and white Nightscape images. This isn't my normal practice as I love to explore the colour spectrum on offer in the night sky, but I see it as a challenge to see what de-saturated art can be produced under the cover of darkness.


My opinion is that any form of photography is art and the expression of that art needs to originate in the imagination of the artist. There's that word again ... imagination. Funny how that concept keeps coming back into this photography conversation. Imagine away I say and see what we can create ... when we begin to do that nothing is beyond us.
Picture




Queen Elizabeth Oval Bendigo



Nikon D610   14mm   F2.8
15 seconds  iso 400

Picture
Home Alone      Nikon D610    14mm    F2.8    iso 1600


Another beautiful example of the lovely blue tones that contrast beautifully with the browns and yellows of the old brickwork of the building and the long grass in the foreground.

I'm sure you're wondering how the camera is able to see any colour at all in the dark ... well that's the subject of another post later on. For the moment I think I'll leave it there. 
Just remember one thing ... next time you look up into the night sky, linger that little bit longer and you'll be sure to see at least a little bit of black and blue.
2 Comments

Star Trails over Summer 2015

18/2/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
This summer I took some time to revisit an old pastime of mine .. Star Trails. I guess this was largely influenced by my recent "Nightscape Journey" DVD which was produced as part of The Land and Sky Art of the Night Exhibition.
During production of the DVD I spent time going through some really old archives from when I first started nightscape photography, and of course just like most people, my first foray into nightscapes were star trails.


My first star trails were taken with film cameras and were done the old fashioned way ... open the shutter for the whole duration of the shot ... sometimes up to 3 hours or more.


The image below was possibly my very first star trail shot. It's the planet Jupiter setting in the western sky. As you can see there are not too many other stars showing. This shot was taken on 620 black & white film on a box brownie.

Picture
I guess you could say it's a fair contrast to the image at the top of the page which was taken with a modern full frame DSLR camera. I wouldn't even dream of trying an exposure that long now.

My method of capturing star trails now entails stacking a series of shorter exposures and blending each one into a single image. This is a reasonably straight forward exercise given the abundance of software and computer power available to us today.

But I can't help but think that because things are easier now, we can so quickly forget the basics of capturing a beautiful image.  Composition and content are still the most important aspects of any image, and that includes those taken at night. In fact for any of you who may have tried capturing nightscape images, composition becomes a very big challenge. It's just so hard to see anything in the dark.

But just as with any image taken during the day, we need to be mindful of including foreground objects as focal points in our picture. The stars become a glorious backdrop for our photographic canvas, and as I have often noticed, it doesn't really matter what we use in the foreground ... it seems to complete the image. I suppose it's a bit like putting a canvas into a frame .. it makes sense.

When capturing star trails I like to point my camera towards the southern sky (I live in Australia) because I love to see the graceful circular patterns generated by the rotation of the earth as time passes by. I love the night sky and it's always my intention when capturing images to reveal an aspect that somehow showcases just how majestic it actually is.


Here are a couple more of my 2015 Star Trails .... I hope you are enjoying the view on these lovely summer nights.

Picture
Old Shed Trails:  38 x 1 minute exposures       Nikon D610   14mm   f2.8   iso 800



Picture
Spinning Church:     18 x 2 minute exposures            Nikon D610   14mm  f2.8   iso 400
0 Comments

    To Inspire

    My intent is to inspire you to look up and see the beauty of the night sky.

    Archives

    March 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    September 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    February 2015

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

  • Home
  • Fine Art Prints (Laminate)
  • Large Canvas Prints
  • About - Youtube
  • Workshops
  • Workshops - Online
  • Night Landscapes
  • Zoom Online with Richard
  • Blog
  • Videos
  • Featured Nightscape Video
  • Automotive
  • Client Testimonials
  • Contact