Night at Delicate Arch

[Aloicious]

Don't know if this question qualifies as noob-ish, but how did you not get star trails with such a long exposure, and why doesn't the light shining up the arch kind of overexpose some of the picture?

if you look at it at 100% there actually is a small amount of star trailing, I probably should have done a slightly shorter exposure on it, but part of the reason the trailing isn't as noticeable is because the shutter speed vs star trailing is directly related to the focal length that is used, as well as what part of the sky is being photographed. the longer the focal length, the less time you can leave the shutter open before trailing becomes apparent. since that shot was at ultra wide 16mm, I was able to keep the shutter open longer without having as much trailing issues.

as far as the light on the arch, part of it was sheer luck, since I had no control over the accidental light spill of the other guy's flashlight on the arch, it very well could have over exposed it, however he just had it up there for a short time (maybe 1s or less), it wasn't actually shining on the arch for the entire ~60s exposure, combined with the fact that the actual light output of small flashlights isn't very much in comparison to most other light sources, I kindof just got lucky. however I did have to separate the arch from the sky and process them separately in post due to the differences in light temperature from the flashlight vs starlight vs city lights on the horizon, so it also made PP a bit more intensive than normal, especially vs shot #1 which is lit with a speedlight, so color temp was much less of an issue.

 

[aguerra.1993]

Alright, thank you so much for the explanation, I can't wait to find a dark enough place for cool pictures like these.

 

[Aloicious]

here's a nice google map-like site that shows areas of light pollution/dark skies that might help:

Dark Sky Finder

 

[fotofinish]

Your alternative #2 is just great and #1 has a great eerie feeling about it.

 

[phogan2292]

I'm a huge fan of #2, I think the accidental flashlight worked really well! Did you focus for the arch or for the sky? I would've thought f/3.2 was a bit fast but your images came out quite sharp.

 

[Aloicious]

Your alternative #2 is just great and #1 has a great eerie feeling about it.

Thanks, the somewhat harsh side lighting can give an eerie feeling, that's for sure.

I'm a huge fan of #2, I think the accidental flashlight worked really well! Did you focus for the arch or for the sky? I would've thought f/3.2 was a bit fast but your images came out quite sharp.

Thanks, I was focused at infinity, I'm not usually too worried about shooting wide open, especially on the 14-24, it does pretty well all the way down to 2.8 in terms of sharpness, but I do usually step down just a hair for long exposure stuff like this.

 

[BlueCobalt]

great shot and thanks for the explanations, was always curious about shots like these and not getting the star trails

 

[Aloicious]

great shot and thanks for the explanations, was always curious about shots like these and not getting the star trails

thanks! yup, not too hard but takes some practice and understanding of the physics behind it all...

 

[molested_cow]

To me the stars look like it can do with less exposure. 65s is a bit too long. I use a 20mm lens on FX and 30s is the max I will go.

I never got to take night shots at the Delicate Arch. I was there at sunset but had to rush to Salt Lake City, so we had to leave. There were tons of people waiting for the night fall so I can imagine the distraction and possible frustration trying to get a long exposure shot there.

 

[Aloicious]

yeah, I mentioned I should have done it as a shorter exposure in post #16, I can get around 40-45s at 16mm, but that's even pushing it a little, I actually wasn't expecting this shot (#2) specifically to turn out, I was just getting things setup and tested on this shot, it just happened to be one that turned out decent, it was at like 2 or 3am, so by that time most of the other people had left except for one other photographer that was up there.

I really really want to rent or get a 24 1.4 and go do some star shooting with that, the 2 full stops over the 2.8 I have would be exceptional.