Milky Way Gold From Sand Dunes Colorado
I've been meaning to get back to the Sand Dunes and improve on one of my favorite early night-time captures. Before I really knew much about what I was doing (with night photography), I found myself chasing a vision of the milky way south into the San Luis river valley and finally caught the image shown below. I captured the same golden light pollution glow over the little town of Alamosa, Colorado with the Milky Way above.
Yes, this is a composite image, but I did the work to get it. My wife and I did a scouting trip into the park in the afternoon where I recorded the gps track. Then that night in complete darkness (without even any moonlight), I ventured out following my recorded track. And here, my friends is where this took some real nerve (at least for me).
As I left the parking lot to head out onto the dunes, I entered a zone where the darkness became a bit freaky. I'm used to hiking in the dark, but this was really dark. And I realized that I'm used to having my headlamp light up most everything I need to see - trees up close or forest a little further away. In this case, it was much more wide open with at least a mile of visibility - to those who could see it. I could only see about 100 feet (if that). Add to that the herd of mule deer running around as I left the parking lot and I got a good reminder that I'd entered the domain of the wild.
So thanks to the gps track, I got to explore most everywhere I wanted to get to - while scouting earlier in the day. And I decided that gps track was so important that I don't think I would have been able to reach a spot anywhere near as cool without it. Route finding was still a pretty good challenge because of the limited visibility, but I thought the reward seemed well worth it. I got another shot of Milky Way Gold - only this time it wasn't just close to the dunes, it was from the dunes! :-)
Comments and faves
Zach Dischner, nicksparksphotography, Kristal Kraft ~ DenverDwellings, berkeleyhomes-dot-com, and 479 other people added this photo to their favorites.
Mike Berenson - Colorado Captures (11 months ago | reply)
Milky Way Gold - April 18, 2010
Zach Dischner (11 months ago | reply)
Total stunner Mike! This has always been one of my favorite shots of yours, and I think the new one is even better. This is my favorite place for a reason! But yeah, the dark is scary dark sometimes! Camping alone in the dunes I often feel that crush of nothingness. Its great!
Kristal Kraft ~ DenverDwellings (11 months ago | reply)
Totally awesome!
berkeleyhomes-dot-com (11 months ago | reply)
Amazing! What kind of exposure was it? Do you have a special mount which keeps a long exposure in sync?
Ira Serkes
Mike Berenson - Colorado Captures (11 months ago | reply)
Thank you for the terrific comments Zach, Kristal, & Ira!
Here's a little more info on how I took it...
I use a tripod with a wired remote timer. This allows me to handle the long exposures (beyond 30 seconds) and the multiple exposures. On the lens side, I've started using a Rokinon 24mm f/1.4 lens for my night shooting and have been pleased so far.
I shot one 2 minute exposure at ISO 800, f/3.5 while light painting the foreground. I did this with a small flashlight showing not at the sand, but only at the diffuser. Doing this at a low angle seemed to give some good visibility on the lines in the sand. Then, I shot 10 exposures at ISO 3200 f/1.8 for 10 seconds.to get the stars good & sharp. After stacking the starry skies, I just blended the result with the longer exposure.
I hope that helps and thanks again!
jondblake (11 months ago | reply)
Wonderful Mike! You're upping your game. Love the light painted foreground sand with matching glow from the clouds being lit from the light pollution. It's perfect under the Milky Way.
gemini*jen (11 months ago | reply)
Stunning! Amazing work....Congrats on Explore!
.Mike.Photo (11 months ago | reply)
Awesome shot. Love the city lights in the background also. This photo has it all!
Charlotte90T (11 months ago | reply)
oh-my-God... this is spectacular!! awesome shot! =D
pocttopus (11 months ago | reply)
amazing!!!
PhotoTerco (11 months ago | reply)
That's f*king great, very well done
Via Today's Explore at #142 on Fluidr
Gareth Brooks (11 months ago | reply)
Amazing work :)
Siete de Nueve (11 months ago | reply)
Wowwwww
Guillaume Chanson (11 months ago | reply)
You did an excellent work here !!
This is really a great shot !!
Congrats !!
FLuijendijk (11 months ago | reply)
Fantastic capture Mike! Really nice how all the different elements come together.
I am very interested in how you stacked the 10 photo. If you have 100 sec of photos, then the stars don't overlap right? Do you manually adjust the photos in post processing to align them?
Awesome shot!
Frank
pam's pics- (11 months ago | reply)
Wow!!!!!!! Breathtaking work. Absolutely one of my favorite places in col. So glad this made Explore
aignes (11 months ago | reply)
fantastic image
Via Today's Explore at #140 on Fluidr
Matt Warrell / マットワッレル (11 months ago | reply)
Great shot, worthy of the explore! Well done!
QuakaJaQ (11 months ago | reply)
BEAUTIFUL...
...congrats on Explore!
Walk in the Woods Photography (11 months ago | reply)
awesome
timcorbin (11 months ago | reply)
wow , amazing shot , great work
JOHN_KYLER DigitalColorado.com (11 months ago | reply)
Another super catch. When you doing a class?
miguelangelortega (11 months ago | reply)
Seen in Explored Today -
Via Today's Explore at #140 on Fluidr
nburwell22 (11 months ago | reply)
Absolutely amazing work!
Kia & Zeno {slowly catching up} (11 months ago | reply)
Great shot, so beautiful... quite magical! :)
RondaKimbrow (11 months ago | reply)
I'm not sure how you are going to top this night shot Mike! The looks incredible! Kudos!
♥ Katie ann .internet problems, (11 months ago | reply)
WOW STUNNING,....An Amazing Image.
This Stunning image certainly has the
….....‘WOW Factor’..……
and It's an honour to Invite you to Join and submit it to the group
I Think Your Image has the
….....‘WOW Factor’..……
and I personally Invite you to Join and submit it to the group
Please Post 1 Comment on 3
Got 5 Awards? Submit your image HERE
Got 5 WOW awards? Then submit your image HERE
Via Today's Explore at #140 on Fluidr
Jared Peters (11 months ago | reply)
Truly amazing photograph!
Lightvision [光視覺] (11 months ago | reply)
looks great Mike
Aspenbreeze (11 months ago | reply)
How you must have worked to make this magical shot happen ... I can only imagine. People don't realize how much skill is involved in getting a shot like this. AWESOME, INSPRING, FANTASTIC!
Aspenbreeze (11 months ago | reply)
PS ... should have been #1 ... but congrats on EXPLORE!!!
Steve Flowers (11 months ago | reply)
Beverly is correct. This takes a ton of skill and lot of work. Thanks for putting in the time and bring us these amazing images.
Thanks also for explaining the stacking process. I don't have the software to do it, but now I understand how it works and how you can get such bright stars that are sharp as all get out.
steve
Erroba (11 months ago | reply)
Worth all the effort, terrific job.
gato-gato-gato (11 months ago | reply)
Cool.
Denver Digital Imaging Center (11 months ago | reply)
The razor thin line of clouds glowing from the light pollution takes this one way past amazing!
beautythief (11 months ago | reply)
Susan Hall Frazier (11 months ago | reply)
This result was definitely worth your trouble. Awesome work. Compliments to you and congrats on Explore!
Elliot young (11 months ago | reply)
Nice shot
Via Today's Explore at #140 on Fluidr
taoci2012 (11 months ago | reply)
Well done!
J. Nobre (11 months ago | reply)
W
O
W
...Compliments.
Stexi (11 months ago | reply)
Amazing!!!:)
J. Nobre (11 months ago | reply)
Am speechless...
One of the most beautiful picture ever seen.
M grafix (11 months ago | reply)
Impressive !
Derek Balfe (11 months ago | reply)
Stunning
Via Today's Explore at #140 on Fluidr
sfhipchick (11 months ago | reply)
Images that make it onto Explore aren't always what I would consider to be worthy of this placement, but THIS shot is just fantastic and very much deserves to be here! WELL DONE and CONGRATULATIONS!! Very nice job!!
Via Today's Explore at #140 on Fluidr
nemi1968 (11 months ago | reply)
Beautiful shot
Congrats on Explore :-)
Via Today's Explore at #140 on Fluidr
Ogar Bonnie (11 months ago | reply)
Absolutely amazine Congratulation
Hammonton Photography (11 months ago | reply)
brilliant photograph
Congrats on explored!
Jonathan O'Brien (11 months ago | reply)
The work certainly paid off! Amazing result :)
Aspenbreeze (11 months ago | reply)
It's moved WAY up on EXPLORE ... YES!