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Desert Nightlife
Desert Nightlife
jdannels


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Night Shot III (Basic Editing III)
Camera: Nikon D50
Lens: Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 ED
Location: Ruth Bancroft Garden, Walnut Creek CA
Date: May 8, 2006
Aperture: 6.3
ISO: 200
Shutter: 20 min 41 sec
Galleries: Nature, Astrophotography
Date Uploaded: May 9, 2006

 ok not actually the desert, but I liked the title.I went out almost everynight this week to try to find a shot that I had in my head, this one is almost exactly how I saw it and I very happy with it.
20 minutes exposure and did alot of work with the raw file as when it started it came out with a red pink sky so I changed the temp way down and played with curves and used the sharpening tool in raw. Also desaturated green and changed hue of the red.
After raw rotated and cropped. USM, Channel Mixer. Hue Saturation and adjusted almost all channels abit especially magenta hue to blue to give the shot a more even sky. Resized to 640 and ran through NI and USM, save for the web.

Statistics
Place: 20 out of 287
Avg (all users): 6.7000
Avg (commenters): 7.5313
Avg (participants): 6.3667
Avg (non-participants): 6.8429
Views since voting: 1893
Views during voting: 419
Votes: 300
Comments: 33
Favorites: 6 (view)

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AuthorThread
 05/20/2006 12:33:40 AM
*Critique Club*

"Desert Nightlife" is an amazing entry into the Night Shot III challenge. Top seven percent and 20th place, very well deserved. Congratulations.

The first thing that grabbed my attention was the colors, they are very beautiful for a night shot. The clarity is very excellent especially with a long exposure shot. The composition is prefect. You have done wonderful work here.

After reading your comments I am surprised this is not the desert. The image defiantly looks like a prefect desert card. I would be curious to see the original since you mentioned adjusting the temperature, but I am sure the blue/purple was much more of a night color.

Again congrats and I look forward to your future entries.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
05/16/2006 08:19:54 PM
this is excellent! crystal clear and quite dramatic!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/16/2006 12:40:14 PM
Wow! How long have you been exposing???
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/16/2006 03:12:10 AM
A 30 minute 'bulb' shot? Just a guess, but I like the effect. Well done!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/16/2006 12:45:19 AM
A really great image! 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/15/2006 08:02:21 PM
Beautiful photo. Great lines, colors and star action.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/14/2006 11:13:29 PM
Sweet star-trail shot. As always, the foreground makes or breaks this type of image, and, luckily, your does the former...well. Great work.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/14/2006 11:10:35 PM
I like the editing, the surreal look of the cactus matches the stunning star backdrop.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/14/2006 06:54:52 PM
A very intesting photo, but it seems a little too bright for a "nightlife" photo IMO.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/14/2006 06:16:01 PM
Great Shot, I like the composition......
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/14/2006 02:26:45 AM
Looks like star tracks. But exposure should be very long then...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/14/2006 12:27:10 AM
Nice shot. Good color for such a long exposure. I like the star trails.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/13/2006 07:30:40 PM
Beautifully exposed.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/13/2006 11:59:18 AM
Well done, but overshparpened. And a cactus at night?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/13/2006 01:53:07 AM
Well chosen POV :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/12/2006 12:48:06 PM
cool shot. Nice contrast between the sky and the cactus.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/12/2006 12:42:55 PM
Gotta love those star trails!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/12/2006 12:35:07 PM
Very nice!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/12/2006 11:08:33 AM
Great Shot! I like the use of the looooong shutter speed to capture the streaking starts. How are the cactii lit? Is there a light source nearby?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/12/2006 05:13:42 AM
Cool shot.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/12/2006 02:42:16 AM
This is a good photograph, but I have seen things like this before. Good clarity a little too much glow on the sharpening at the needles of the cactus. Overall not too bad, nice work.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/11/2006 10:42:05 PM
Absolutely one of the "BEST" in the challenge.....I love it, and yes, it gets a "10" from me and also a favorite.....
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/11/2006 02:24:36 PM
Awesome... this will make a cool print.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/11/2006 10:31:55 AM
Nice colors and sharpness, good picture.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/11/2006 07:06:39 AM
Nice but I would really have dug this shot if the star trails were longer, this is about 10-15 minutes right? 6 from me.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/11/2006 02:42:55 AM
Cool - 9
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/10/2006 09:55:43 PM
Great colors! Love the stars swirling above. A bit oversharpened for my taste. I'd love to see the original version.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/10/2006 08:07:54 PM
Simple but effective.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/10/2006 01:18:53 PM
Wonderful! What a clarity.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/10/2006 11:48:42 AM
I love nighttime desert shots. :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/10/2006 08:05:56 AM
I hope you ribbon with this...excellent...a tad oversharpened, but that suits this shot
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/10/2006 05:08:50 AM
a good long exposure shot
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/10/2006 03:20:40 AM
Sharp night shot....7
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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