Finding Diamonds In The Puddles

Title

Finding Diamonds In The Puddles

Artist

Mike Berenson

Medium

Photograph

Description

It may be easy to get discouraged when ugly weather interrupts plans for starry night sky shooting, but I've learned to look for the silver lining. In this case, I knew the rain would give students in my night photography workshop a great opportunity to catch a Milky Way reflection near Balanced Rock in Arches National Park, Utah.

With cloudy skies to the south just breaking up to reveal the Milky Way skies above, I made way for my favorite place for a big puddle. And while we had just done a bunch of light painting on Balanced Rock, this spot seemed to work especially well in the dark.

It was interesting seeing how it was so difficult to see any beauty in the area before you could see the reflections. And when people first approached the area with headlamps on, it was especially difficult to see past the brown mud of the foreground. It wasn't until people got into position, turned their lights off, and let their eyes adjust that they could see why I bothered bringing them to a big puddle.

How I Got The Shot
In looking around at the pond/puddle with lights on, I decided that the features of the foreground made for more of a distraction than any kind of positive contribution. And since the scene beyond the pond was so grand, I didn't want to do anything to detract from it - so I figured I'd just go dark to make the most of the shapes beyond the foreground.

This approach really simplified the needs of the image from a focus and exposure perspective - it's just a single exposure photograph. It was just a matter of making the most of our great timing and location. I played with a few different compositions and picked one I was happy with. I wanted to be fairly quick about it so I could give students a chance to get into position for the shot without having me in their way. :-)

Photo Gear
• Camera Body - Nikon D800 Digital SLR Camera
• Camera Lens - Bower 35mm f/1.4 Lens for Nikon
• Tripod Head - Acratech GV2 Ball Head / Gimbal Head with Lever Clamp 
• Tripod Legs - FEISOL Elite CT-3472 Rapid Tripod Legs
• Remote Trigger - Vello Shutterboss Version II Timer Remote Switch for Nikon with 10-Pin Connection

Exposure Settings - Single Exposure
• ISO: 6400
• Aperture: f/2.8
• Shutter Speed: 30 seconds

Uploaded

August 15th, 2014

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Viewed 431 Times  -  Last Visitor from Ottawa, ON - Canada on 04/19/2024 at 6:57 PM

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