Emerging From The Fog

[CapturingTheNight]

Hi all,
Still not sure whether images like this belong in Deep Space or Terrestrial Photography, but it seems to be the place that most of them end up.
Wanted to share one of my latest images taken with my new camera. Picked up a secondhand Canon 5D Mk II a little while ago from a fellow IIS member and could not be happier. Of course by going full frame I now need to build up the lens arsenal again. This was shot with my first purchase a Canon EF 20mm F/2.8 lens. Coming from a 60D and a 10-24mm (canon crop factor equivalent to 16-38.4mm) lens for all my previous landscape astrophotos I am only missing 4mm of focal length. I think I can live with that until I can save up more for something even wider.

Canon 5D Mk II
Canon 20mm F/2.8 lens wide open
ISO 5000
Single 2 minute fixed tripod exposure using the "Magic Glove" technique to mask out the stars after 25 seconds so they did not trail too much. Missed the blend point fractionally as you can see that the stars just above the clouds have trailed a lot more than those above. Of course if I wanted to, I could take the easy option on images like this and do a two exposure blend in post processing, but I love the challenge of doing images in-camera and my post processing is then limited to small adjustments like levels, colour balance and framing. The two small patches of light pollution I normally do not "see" from my house but because of the layer of cloud the light is reflecting back down off them. Fog is lit entirely by star light.

Cheers
Greg
113814

[iceman]

Beautiful image as usual Greg.



What's the magic glove technique?

Do you put your hand over part of the lens to block out the stars while still exposing the foreground?

[iceman]

Sounds like some people call it the 'magic cloth' technique too:
http://www.ephotozine.com/article/technique-and-tips-on-producing-great-landscapes-14858

[CapturingTheNight]

Thank you very much Mike :D Yeah pretty much. Just use a black cloth or glove to block the part of the lens that you want after the required time. Takes practice and you need to keep it moving slightly up and down to blend the transition or you end up with a line in your image. Make sure it is black or you get colour cast.

[DavidTrap]

Very impressive Greg - I like the technique.

DT

[gregbradley]

A great image and a clever technique.

Greg.

[CapturingTheNight]

Thank you very much David and Greg :D It has opened my eyes to a whole new world of taking photos at night.

[tilbrook@rbe.ne]

Hi Greg,

What a beautiful image.

You sure have a gift, just outstanding !!!

Cheers,

Justin.

[TheDecepticon]

Very, very nice! What a great shot!:eyepop:

[Martin Pugh]

Very well done.

cheers
Martin

[CapturingTheNight]

Thank you so much Martin, Graham and Justin :D I really appreciate the great feedback on my work.

[StephenM]

Great shot Greg, and an interesting technique! Will have to try that one of these days!

Cheers,
Stephen

[lacad01]

Stunning shot! :thumbsup:

[CapturingTheNight]

Thank you very much Adam and Stephen :D

[naskies]

Beautiful image - and great idea with the magic glove technique too. I actually had the very same issue to deal with last weekend... next time I'll know how :)

[CapturingTheNight]

Thank you very much Dave :D Without doing exposure blends it is the only way to do it in camera. Graduated ND's still let in light, producing trails.

[Deeno]

Wow, beautiful!
You are good at this..

[multiweb]

That's a cracker shot. Love the composition and colors. Superb! :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[hotspur]

Whoa-that's dam good image,never heard of magic glove before,sound too tricky for me,lots of voodoo in photography these days-well done.

[CapturingTheNight]

Thank you so much Deeno, Marc and Chris for the great feedback :D I'm really glad you all like it. Heading off for a few days again this week so hopefully I will be able to capture some more landscape astro shots. Weather permitting.