drink milk

afoto · Aug 12, 2012

this was one of the most amazing experiences of my life!
i had the opportunity this last two weeks to travel to the atacama desert in chile to photograph some core samples and mines.

last night i headed out to the inca gold mine. 1000 feet elevation, 100km from the nearest town and lights. i have never seen the milky way like this before...

c&c welcome!
this was a 30 second exposure at F/4 iso 3200.
i am trying to decide if i should brighten up the foreground at all, or if that will just make it look unrealistic... thoughts?

chimbaros by abbye dahl, on Flickr

timor · Aug 12, 2012

Great source of supply ! Neat.

Rick58 · Aug 12, 2012

Very nice. I'd leave the foreground as is

broca · Aug 12, 2012

Wow, nice work. I started out with DSLR photography by doing astrophotography. Amazing that in this image you are looking to the center of our galaxy. You can also see the Large Magellanic Cloud creeping above the horizon. Well done!!

Bo4key · Aug 12, 2012

I'd leave the foreground the way it is. But, is it just me, or does the horizon need a little straightening? It looks a little like it tilts frame right.

Really nice shot though

cgipson1 · Aug 12, 2012

Very nice shot! Amazing what you can see when you get away from other light sources, and have lovely clear unpolluted atmosphere!

sapper6fd · Aug 12, 2012

Stunning Shot! Don’t change a thing!

It really places things into perspective. We are so small in the grand scheme of things. I should have been born an astronaught. :lmao:

Which body and lens did you use?

Derrel · Aug 12, 2012

Thoughts?

Yeah. Freaking AMAZING.

afoto · Aug 12, 2012

thank you all!

sapper6fd said:
Which body and lens did you use?

Nikon D700
16-35mm (at 16mm)
30 seconds
f/4
iso 3200

RxForB3 · Aug 12, 2012

What sort of post processing, if any, did you do?

imagesliveon · Aug 12, 2012

Stunning!!

afoto · Aug 13, 2012

RxForB3 said:
What sort of post processing, if any, did you do?

just added a little extra contrast in curves, thats it!

paigew · Aug 13, 2012

gorgeous shot!

TheDeeDouble · Aug 13, 2012

that is very very cool.

LizardKing · Aug 13, 2012

Superb! Simply amazing!
I should go soon to the Atacama dessert, considering it's relatively close to where I live. But this definitely makes me wanna go!

Silly question though, where do you focus for a shot like this at f/4 ?