Podcast: “F-Stop Collaborate And Listen”

After Midnight Landscapes: This is a video made for fun to show some photos from my website. I liked the upbeat music. This will take about 3 minutes of your time. Enjoy! As seen on You Tube:  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2zAFserk0c

Flickr:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/pinks2000/19324861534

Shiprock Reprised by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: This is a panorama of Shiprock, the huge rock tower for which the town of Shiprock, New Mexico is named. Many photos back I posted a photo of Shipwreck from last year, and several people had expressed an interest in shooting there. We (myself, Chris Wray, Sandra Herber, and Eric Gail) shot there and ran into another group from Flickr including Willa Wei, Huibo Hou, and Wenjie Qiao. Some of their photos have been posted from the night, and it is fascinating to see how different photographers interpret what they capture. The photos vary quite a bit and reflect choices in processing and acquisition. Willa's group captured foreground photos at blue hour and as such they have more foreground detail which is beautiful. We arrived later and for the panoramas obtained a series of vertical single exposures, foreground included. This is series of 12 vertical images obtained with a 24 f1.4 Bower-Rokinon lens at 24 mm, f 1.4, 15 sec., andISO 12,800. The rock monolith is 1,583 feet, 482.5 meters high (from the surrounding plain). It is the remnant of the throat or central core of an extinct volcano, exposed over time by erosion. By the way, one of the photographers, Wenjie Qiao, has developed an excellent smartphone app called PlanIt, that helps to plan night photographs like this. Consider checking it out! Thanks for taking the time to look. Hope you enjoy! Big thanks to the wonderful Flickr family out there. Please join me at: Website Facebook Instagram Blog

Moccasin Arch by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website, Instagram, Facebook Panorama, 4 images, 14 mm, f/2.8, 25 sec., ISO 8000 Moccasin Arch in Monument Valley. The Arch is a huge cavernous alcove with an opening in the side of the "roof". This is a photo of some of my fellow photographers taking photos within Moccasin Arch. I was taking photos of them while they were photographing the arch. It turned out that I liked this one more than my views looking straight outward from the arch. The photographers in the photo give you a sense of scale. The Arch is huge! A big thank you to Quanah from Majestic Monument Valley Tours for taking us there. Thank you! He is highly recommend if you want to take a night tour in Monument Valley (day tours also). Thanks for all the kind support over the last year, it is much appreciated! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family!

Nighttime with the Gods by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: This was taken in the Valley of the Gods in Utah, USA. This is one of those "gems" that not many people visit, and is not widely known. This area is usually bypassed for the more famous Monument Valley. This valley lies just north of Monument Valley and contains similar but somewhat smaller isolated buttes and mesas. This valley is not owned by the Navajos and there are no restrictions on traveling there at night. It lies just north of the town of Mexican Hat, Utah. The area has been used to film several Western Movies as well as 2 Dr. Who shows. The formations are still quite large and consist of red sandstone. The Andromeda Galaxy is just on the edge of the horizon on the bottom left. For perspective there is a car (SUV) silhouetted along the horizon on the bottom left also. To the best of my knowledge the butte is called "Castle Butte". This image is a series of vertical images combined in Photoshop, taken with a Canon 6D camera and Rokinon 24 f 1.4mm lens at f1.4, 20 sec., and ISO 6400. Thanks for taking the time to look. Hope you enjoy! Your time, faves, and comments are much appreciated! Please join me at: Website Facebook Instagram Blog

Carpe Diem by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website, Instagram, Facebook Carpe Diem: Sometimes it’s best to just stop and enjoy the moment. In our pursuit of beautiful photos we often get distracted with the chase itself, and them after we are there we get caught up in the technicalities of capturing the photograph. You you ever just stop and enjoy the scene or night sky? Some of my most enjoyable moments at night are when a few clouds roll in and I just lay down and watch the sky waiting for them to pass. The quiet solitude and beautiful sky are like a magic tonic erasing the cares of the day. Carpe Diem! ___________________________________________ Best wishes to all in this holiday season, and good shooting in the upcoming year! Wayne

Portal by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website, Instagram, Facebook This is massive Natural Bridge or Arch. Low Level Lighting (LLL) used to illuminate the scene. There are 2 Goal Zero Micro Lanterns hidden under the arch to illuminate the undersurface. There is a Cineroid LED light panel on a light stand to my left to illuminate the foreground, and 2 more small lights illuminating the far ridge. With a structure this massive it can be a bit of work to get the lighting even. Lots of repositioning and reshooting. This is a vertical panorama with the images taken horizontally and the series of images sweeping upwards. 14-24 mm lens, 14 mm, f/2.8, 20 sec., ISO 6400.

Where a Civilization once Thrived... by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: This is the Anasazi or Ancient Puebloan Riun called the 16 Room Ruin. It has many other names but this one seems most common. It is located just south of Bluff, Utah adjacent to the San Jaun River. This is part of an experimental series to see if the Anasazi Ruins are amenable to photography at night. I would love to combine an interest in the Anasazi with nighttime photography. I spent several days in August in the SE corner of Utah photographing several ruins at night, to be processed over the next few weeks. One thing I did discover is this: Being in these ruins at night is fascinating. To see the starlit sky, and be surrounded by ancient habitations where people once thrived is magical. It's like going back in time. The alcoves just glow with the light. You can imagine the glow of fires illuminating the ceiling and walls centuries ago. This ruin is in one of a small minority of Alcoves or Caves that opens facing North, and faces a fertile plain overlooking the San Juan River. Because it opens to the North, the Milky Way is seen overhead to the South. Most of the Anasazi Ruins purposefully open facing South, providing shade in summer and sunlight and heat in winter. It seems they were more concerned with these mundane everyday matters than with the needs of photographers that would come 800 years later. On the other hand the Milky Way may be visible looking out of many alcoves at some point in the year. There are limited choices for photo ops. Sometimes the only decent choice is looking into the Alcove, sometimes the only choice is to look out. Most of the flat "bench" in the Alcoves was used as building sites, and there is not a lot of room to roam around. The maintained and easily accessed Anasazi tourist locations in parks are closed at night. You can get a permit to photograph these at night for hundreds of dollars. There are, however, numerous sites on Bureau of Land Management land that are not maintained. There are unmarked trails to many of these ruins, and if you can find them you can photography at night. Many require a hike of a mile or more through rough trails. They are open to visitation but the BLM does not make them easy to find, sometimes knocking down cairns that mark the way. This is a panorama of 10 vertical images combined in Lightroom. Taken with a Canon 6D camera and a Bower 24mm f 1.4 lens at f 1.4, 15 sec, and ISO 6400. There are 6 lights used. There are 4 very small lights shining up on he ruins from just in front, and there are 2 larger lights lighting the whole alcove. Warming filters were used on the lights. The ridge looks more domed than it really is because of looking upwards at a relatively close structure. Disclaimer: No ruins were harmed in the making of this photo! So what do you think? Is this kind of image interesting or worth pursuing? Thanks for taking the time to look. Hope you enjoy! Your time, faves, and comments are much appreciated! Please join me at: Website Facebook Blog

The Alien Throne with Comet 252P/Linear by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: No Aliens, just the Alien Throne. The unique Hoodoo is in the New Mexico Badlands, north of Chaco Canyon. I have been fascinated by the appearance since I first saw it's photo, and finally got to photograph it at night. The atmosphere is surreal. I love the melted wax appearance of the rocks in the region. 14-24 mm lens at 24 mm, 20 sec., f/2.8, ISO 6400. The small blue-green fuzzy object just above the right side of the large hoodoo is the comet 252P/LINEAR. Thanks for taking the time to look. Hope you enjoy! Big thanks to the wonderful Flickr family out there. Please join me at: Website Facebook Instagram Blog

Tower of Babel by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website Instagram Facebook Tower of Babel, Arches National Park, Utah. Nikon D810A Camera, 14-24 mm lens, 24 mm, f 2.8, 20 sec., ISO 8000. Lighting with Low Level Lighting (LLL). For more about this technique please see lowlevellighting.org For more images like this please take a look at Wayne Pinkston Photography . Thanks for all the kind support! Hope you enjoy! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family. It's a pleasure to post here. Cheers, Wayne

Whispers of Time Past by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: This is false Kiva in Canyonlands National Park, Utah. this is a bit of a different take on the composition, shooting from the far left corner, and covering the whole opening of the cave in a panorama. The right rock wall (outside the alcove) usually looks like a large dark void at night, so I decided to light the wall to give some definition. This was shot with fellow photographer Eric Gail, and the shadows on the ceiling of the cave were his idea. He had the idea of using an Indian Headdress to cast a shadow on the walls, using a small headlamp. The effect was really interesting to the eye as well as in the photo. The sky was nice and clear except for lots of smoke in the air from the wildfires in the Western USA. The smoke mostly stayed near the ground and created the ruddy coloration just above the horizon. Thanks for taking the time to look. Hope you enjoy! Your time, faves, and comments are much appreciated! Please join me at: Website Facebook Blog