Sand dune and the Milky Way at night, Death Valley National Park
One night during our Death Valley workshop we went out to the sand dunes. After some searching, I found this wonderful dune with it’s rippled foreground textures. Lighting it was a group project; we all set up our cameras, and took turns lighting the dune from the left and the right, trying to find the right angles to highlight those ripples. Then we set our interval timers to record star trails – and took naps on the sand while we waited for the star-trail sequences to finish. After that the Milky Way was in the right position over the dune, so before moving our cameras we made some more exposures of pinpoint stars as well.
Recording all these exposures of the same composition gave us the option of including either star trails or pinpoint stars in the final image, and having the dune lit either from the left, the right, or both. I liked the pinpoint stars better, and chose to include lighting from both sides. The final image you see here is a composite of three exposures (assembled in Photoshop using the Lighten blending mode): one for the sky, one with the dune lit from the left (colored blue), and one with the dune lit from the right.
We had a wonderful night out in the dunes. It was utterly quiet, peaceful, and relaxing. One of the things I love about night photography is how you can experience an otherwise popular spot in a totally different way after dark. This was a night I’ll remember for a long time.
— Michael Frye
Related Post: Nice Curves
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Michael Frye is a professional photographer specializing in landscapes and nature. He is the author or principal photographer of The Photographer’s Guide to Yosemite, Yosemite Meditations, Yosemite Meditations for Women, Yosemite Meditations for Adventurers, and Digital Landscape Photography: In the Footsteps of Ansel Adams and the Great Masters. He has also written three eBooks: Light & Land: Landscapes in the Digital Darkroom, Exposure for Outdoor Photography, and Landscapes in Lightroom 5: The Essential Step-by-Step Guide. Michael has written numerous magazine articles on the art and technique of photography, and his images have been published in over thirty countries around the world. Michael has lived either in or near Yosemite National Park since 1983, currently residing just outside the park in Mariposa, California.
Good grief, Michael. This image is absolutely stunning! I would have loved to have been there learning from you and enjoying that special night.
Thanks so much Carol! Wish you could have been there too.
Wonderful. I was there in March teaching 8th Graders. So hard to find a “clean” dune.
Thanks John! We did have to hike a bit to get beyond the tracks.
Wow, that is an incredible shot ~ the lighting, shadows and those are both a far second to the incredible Milky Way above. Wow…
Thank you very much Randall!
Hi Michael,
So it sounds like you used a blue colored light from the left. Were you also using a warm colored light from the right to get that warm of a sand color for the dunes?
Wonderful shot.
Doug
Doug, the color from the right is a combination of golden sand and a tungsten bulb, plus pushing the white balance a little warmer in Lightroom before merging the images. The blue was created by coloring that layer in Photoshop. I rarely use gels in the field anymore because it’s easy to add colors later – if you make each light-painting segment a different exposure. Plus a gel typically robs you of two to three stops of light.
Thanks for the info!
Absolutely stunning image, Michael! I’m curious what kind of lights you used for your light painting.
Thanks Ron! For this image I used a Surefire light similar to these…
http://www.surefire.com/illumination/flashlights.html?feature_filterset=MjQ%3D
… but brighter (it’s a model they don’t make anymore).
I like so much The perspective, The light, and complementary colors, The geometry and The Shapes, of course The postedition.
Cordially
Federico F.Moy.
Thank Federico!
Absolutely AMAZING! I must get to CA and take one of your workshops! Thank you for sharing this along with your techniques….what a beautiful and peaceful image!
Thanks so much Claire!
Carmen and I said the same thing at the same time…
“WOW”
Congratulations to you and team for creating such a brilliant photograph!
Thank you Michael
Thank you Don – and Carmen too!
Great shot Michael! Absolutely beautiful! Blue and orange always work well together and then the Milky Way. Well, it speaks for itself. In three weeks I’ll be stepping foot into Yosemite for the first time after wanting to for more than twenty years, and I already have your guide in my back pocket. Thanks so much for sharing your work and your knowledge with the rest of us.
Thank you George, and I hope you have a great trip to Yosemite!
Your works are artistic inspiration to me as always. The lines, the curves, the light and the depth of field are ‘ wow ‘ ! May I ask what is your setting on this photograph ?
Hung H.
Thanks Hung. There are three exposures included in the final image. The sky was 15 seconds at f/2.8, 6400 ISO. The light-painting from the left was 82 seconds at f/16, 3200 ISO. The light-painting from the right was 122 seconds at f/16, 3200 ISO.
Thanks Michael
Amazing shot! Was this mesquite dunes? Any recommendations on current lights to use for light painting? I know the model you use isn’t available now.
Thanks!
Chris
Thanks Chris! Yes, this was Mesquite Dunes. I wish I had a recommendation for a good, reasonably-priced flashlight for light painting, but it’s almost impossible to find tungsten lights anymore, and most LEDs are too blue. You can search Amazon for “warm LED” and find some things.
Stunning! I will spend the upcoming New Year time in Death Valley. Hope I can see such a nice scene as well.
Thank you Ada, and I hope you enjoy your visit to Death Valley. It’s a great place.