- Mount Darwin, 13830 feet
- Moonlight Lake
- My campsite was down over here
- Shooting Star
Shooting Stars by Moonlight - Moonlight Lake, Sabrina Basin, High Sierra (Explored - Thanks!)
VIEW LARGE PLEASE! Press L or click the photo.
There is nothing quite like the Sierras in the summertime. To me, all the soaring granite spires, shimmering lakes, trickling streams, verdant meadows, and rampaging wildflowers create a paradise which seems to melt my brain with its beauty. Maybe it's the altitude, but once I cross the 10,000 foot altitude line and see all that stark Sierra beauty, all my coherent thought processes break down and I'm left standing there, gibbering like an idiot. At least my fingers still work and I can press the buttons on my camera.
Here's a shot of shooting stars growing around the shores of Moonlight Lake in the Sabrina Basin out of Bishop, California. Want to see more? Make sure to check out the video down below!
And a big thanks to Khristian Snyder, whose images of the Sabrina Basin inspired me to go there in the first place!
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Tech notes on this photo
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Nikon D7000
Tokina 12-24 f/4 at 12mm on a crop sensor
ISO200 to help with a faster shutter speed to freeze the flowers
f/9 - sharpest spot on my lens, allows for sufficient DOF on a crop
sensor while allowing me to increase my shutter speed
1/30 second to freeze the flowers
Lee 3-stop and 2-stop soft GND filters
Post-Processing
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In Raw Converter (Nikon Capture NX2)
- Processed single raw file twice, once for majority of image and once
to brighten midground which had been overly darkened by my GND filters
- Slightly darkened and added contrast to mountains
In Photoshop:
- Hand blend of two tiffs for master composite
- Selective sharpening of flowers, boulders, and mountains
- Curves adjustment to add global contrast to foreground
- Curves adjustment to slightly darken mountains
- Dodge and burn layer filled with 50% gray and set to soft light
- Duplicated stamped image and set to soft light, selectively painted
in water for more pop
- Hue/Saturation layer to bump overall saturation, plus additional
saturation of magentas for the flowers.
Thanks for your visits!
~Josh
Comments and faves
BenKH, ©Helminadia Ranford(New York), Photo Walker, ebeydat, and 220 other people added this photo to their favorites.
Joshua Cripps (21 months ago | reply)
My campsite:
©Helminadia Ranford(New York) (21 months ago | reply)
sweet light...fantastic landscape Josh!
ebeydat (21 months ago | reply)
Beautiful composition and shot.
Jeff Swanson -- www.interfacingnature.com (21 months ago | reply)
Your careful choice of composition makes this one for me! That soft warm light on the sierra's spine ain't half bad either!
Jared Ropelato (21 months ago | reply)
just watched the video. Awesome!
Nick Dobie (21 months ago | reply)
I. Love. This. PICTURE! Absolutely amazing shot my friend
lea1959 (21 months ago | reply)
stupendous!
Lightvision [光視覺] (21 months ago | reply)
what a beautiful shot Josh. i would prefer to bump up the saturation on those flowers.
Robin Black Photography (21 months ago | reply)
This is GREAT (and the video is, too!)!
Joshua Cripps (21 months ago | reply)
Thanks, guys!
Drew Sumrell (21 months ago | reply)
Beautiful.......majestic.......technically excellent. Thanks for taking the time to share your processing. Helpful & educational.
AGrinberg (21 months ago | reply)
Very cool! Love the video!!
Someday you will discover the beauty of hiking poles. :)
Gary Ngo | Photography (21 months ago | reply)
Awesome video!! And in a good funny way too!! I'm wondering was it all just you or you had another person do the filming? Is it from the D7k? And did your Jeep hit the camera in the "parking scene" (LOL...)?
p.s. subscribed to your channel! (11LandShark11) ^_*
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James Duckworth (21 months ago | reply)
The video is awesome!!!!! Very nice photography!
D Breezy - davidthompsonphotography.com (21 months ago | reply)
nice man! nice detail throughout the image! I like the reflected light in the lake! cool shot homie!
Jim Patterson Photography (21 months ago | reply)
Classic kind of shot. I gotta go to the mountains, but it may have to wait until November. Hope you had a great trip!
JohnCB2 (21 months ago | reply)
Superb composition, the light is just perfect as is the depth of field
Diego Tabango (21 months ago | reply)
Damn dude. Sounds like u had an amazing time. Nice work on the video too.
Blue Hour (21 months ago | reply)
I love your videos Cripps!!! All of your shots require one now.
How long was the hike to Sabrina Basin? Looks like you got to some epic spots!!
JP Benante (21 months ago | reply)
Superb light throughout the image!!
Great work, Joshua!!
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Justin Smith - Photography (21 months ago | reply)
Love that video! You have some sweet rock-hopping skills. Couldn't believe the leap over that river.
I'm always amazed to find that places like this aren't even in the nearest national park, in this case King's. By the way, I'm going to King's either next summer or the one after, gonna do the Rae Lakes loop and get as many sunrise/sunsets as I can on the trip. I hope it's as awesome as this place looks to be.
Awesome shot, by the way. Nice balance of lighting and the wildflowers out west just totally blow away the alpine flowers here on the east coast.
Jonathan R. Ramsey (21 months ago | reply)
great post processing, looks great!!
سلمان المرزوقي (21 months ago | reply)
very nice
MD_MC (21 months ago | reply)
fav
Meljoe San Diego (21 months ago | reply)
Beautiful shot!
Aaron Eakin (21 months ago | reply)
Great wild flowers! Beautiful shot
Dave Berryman (21 months ago | reply)
What a beautiful place Chip.
Jesse Bissette (21 months ago | reply)
Awesome shot!
james wang photography - wangjam (21 months ago | reply)
those high sierra lakes and granite rocks are just something else. Nice work Josh.
Sealis (21 months ago | reply)
Really great shot!
Steph Sawyer Photography (will catch up slowly) (21 months ago | reply)
Gorgeous! Envious that you are spending time in the Sierra's. I'll be lucky if I get 3 days in the fall.
jan lyall (21 months ago | reply)
Wonderful depth to this shot. Interesting place ...
Ivan Makarov (21 months ago | reply)
Amazing image man.. Looks like you had a blast on the trip and was there all alone. Incredible. Aren't we lucky to live around here?
Ivan Makarov (21 months ago | reply)
PS - great video - watched all of it!
Borderizo (21 months ago | reply)
Excellent take.
Panorama Paul (21 months ago | reply)
Amazing!!! I was looking all over the sky for those shooting stars you were talking about... then I saw your note!! LOL!!
J.Wood (21 months ago | reply)
Excellent work
Michael Greene's Wild Moments (21 months ago | reply)
Dude,
That video is insane, especially the cartwheels at the end of it. Amazing. Have you ever thought about investing in some hiking poles? Anyways, great photo and amazing video. Thanks for sharing Joshua.
Michael
PS - I think you can bump up the saturation on your greens a bit
rich.perron (21 months ago | reply)
Great shot and kick@ss video! You took alot of fantastic shots. Looked like a comp. candystore!
idashum (21 months ago | reply)
The light, tones, textures and colors all make for a magical shot.
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Jeka23 (21 months ago | reply)
Stunning Shot!
ming9595 (21 months ago | reply)
音乐家摄影群组 World Musician Photograph Society
~ Luz Natural ~ Alienor de Sas (21 months ago | reply)
espectacular! I love it!
photography.andreas (21 months ago | reply)
That’s fantastic, great work
lostinagoodway (21 months ago | reply)
heaven is a place on earth
www.lostinagoodway.com
Marcel Tuit (21 months ago | reply)
very impressive landscape photograpy. very well composed and processed. good work.
Keris Tuah (21 months ago | reply)
Gorgeous !!!
Gianluca@clickrchart (21 months ago | reply)
Congratulations! You are one of the top photographers today on ClickrChart!
sev83 (21 months ago | reply)
marvellous shot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!