Sleep is for sheep: More night photography!

July 3, 2008 | Category: Nocturnal Photography, Photography

UPDATE: The vertical panorama is available for purchase as a giclée print on Etsy. See my Etsy store.

I’ve had some pretty heavy bags under my eyes for the past few days as a result of my late night habit of staying out until 3am doing night photography. Last night a buddy and I drove up to Virginia City, NV—a preserved 1800s mining town— and shot an old church.

On Monday night I joined a small group of friends for some late night shooting at Lake Tahoe. Our original plan was to try and locate Banzai Rock (in which we failed miserably), so we decided to shoot near sand harbor instead.

The 180 degree panorama on the left is the result of five photos stitched vertically. My D300 was set to ISO 3200 to pull off 30 sec exposures at f/2.8. The lens was a Tokina 11-16mm 2.8.

The very bright ball of light rising above the trees, on the left is Jupiter.

The final photo (below) is yet another star streak photo over Tahoe, taken at the same time as the panorama. I stacked for an hour using 30 second exposures with the 10.5mm fisheye (which I am on the verge of using too much) at f/2.8. The foreground exposure was taken in RAW for 10 mins at f4 (for more depth of field) with noise reduction turned on. The exposures were later combined in Photoshop. Later on, I may post a rectalinear corrected version (meaning the fisheye effect is removed using software) just for fun. The photo isn’t finished, if you look closely you can see plane streaks and I’m not too sure about the color.

Well, thats all for now, comments welcome…

Tags: Dan Newton, fisheye, Lake tahoe, Milky Way, nevada, Night photography, Nv, Panorama, Photo, photographer, Photography, Reno, star, stars, streaks, vertical pano, Virginia City

20 Comments

Asa
on July 3rd, 2008
1
DAMN, but that vertical pano is FINE!
Randy Jones
on July 9th, 2008
2
Excellent images, very creative.
noart
on July 12th, 2008
3
I’m not a big fan of curved straight lines (a-la fish-eye), but combined with the curved star-trails they look fine! I like the last image very much, congrats!
wolfy
on September 12th, 2008
4
that vertical shot is rad.

-M
Dennis
on September 20th, 2008
5
Yoy take some really great photos. I will return often to check out your work. Keep up the good work.
sfr3e
on November 11th, 2008
6
Will an interval timer shooting mode help if there is no cable release available for star trails photography?
Dan Newton
on November 11th, 2008
7
Yes, you can use your camera’s interval mode (if it has one). I’ve done it in a pinch, but a remote release or remote invervalometer is easier.
tamsyn
on June 2nd, 2009
8
O man, i just got back to new zealand from tahoe, its the perfect spot for taking pics, u seriously did an amazing job with these!!!
Jon
on August 12th, 2009
9
Hey, just stumbled across this site – really great stuff. I’m curious about “stacking” those 30 sec exposures. Does the D300 have a built in intervalometer? It sounds like you’re using an external intervalometer – what one do you use? For taking 10 min. exposures, I’ve had issues with my D80 gettting severe purple corners anywhere over about a minute. Is this true with the D200?
Cheers
Leanne Morrison
on November 5th, 2009
10
Amazing! Very talented.
How can I get a copy of that beauty!

Cheers, Leanne
Julie
on July 5th, 2010
11
These photos are amazing, I particuarly like the fish eye. I’m thinking about getting a fish eye lense and was just looking up some photos, you sold me on it, going to order it tonight .
sandy
on November 29th, 2010
12
Awesome photos… you’ve inspired me to get back to it!
28 Stunning Examples of Night Photography | Wbcom Designs | VAPDI
on April 7th, 2011
13
[...] More night photography! The night sky over Tahoe, California. [...]
28 Stunning Examples of Night Photography | Bitmag
on April 7th, 2011
14
[...] More night photography! The night sky over Tahoe, California. [...]
Laura
on April 8th, 2011
15
Amazing! It seems that the D300 does a really good job with high ISO shoots. It’s noiseless! I tried shooting some night photos with my Canon 350D (a lower degree camera) at 1600 ISO, and the color noise was really notorious.
Photoshop3D.org » Fotografía nocturna, luz y contraste
on April 9th, 2011
16
[...] More night photography! [...]
Cara
on September 6th, 2011
17
I would like to buy a copy of the vertical Milky Way photo. If you are interested in selling it, please email me with a price. Thank you.
Andy Pips
on September 11th, 2011
18
Very nice work indeed. The vertical panorama is stunning
Dan Newton
on September 11th, 2011
19
Email sent, thanks!
Aris
on October 8th, 2011
20
Stunning photo (Vertical) I love it!