Creative Night: Digital Photography Tips & Techniques

Chapter 3. Lonely spaces of the night

Figure 3.1. Pages 142-143: Against the back drop of pounding surf and a light mist on the ocean, I photographed star trails between Point Reyes Lighthouse. I think of this image as a port rait of "the edge of night." The star trails are shorter and less curved than you might expect for an exposure of this duration because I was facing south (rather than north). You can see the separation in the star trails between the ten-minute exposure and the stacked composite (the longer segments of each star trail). This kind of "gap" in the path of the individual stars is not approved of by star trail "purists," but I like the effect in this image. There's an explanation of stacking, oneof the techniques I used to make this image, starting on page 194.: 10.5mm digital fisheye, composite of foreground (10 minutes at f/2.8 and ISO 100) and sky (l3 stacked exposures, each exposure at 4 minutes, f/4, and ISO 100), tripod mounted, total exposure time 62 minutes

Freedom of the Night

Becoming comfortable with photographing the night has many advantages. When darkness is familiar, you can photograph at the "golden hour" and beyond in remote locations without worries about getting back safely. Most people never see the world of darkness, and this world is revealed to you as a night photographer. You get the chance to explore a world that appears dark but is actually ...