Lightcrafter - Blog Posts

Wandering in the Badlands by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: This is a panorama of one of the flatter areas in the Bisti Badlands in NW New Mexico. A few photos back I downloaded a view of a small wash or ravine surrounded by steep stony hills or ridges. www.flickr.com/photos/pinks2000/22455038082/in/dateposted... This badlands are a mixture of both broad flat areas (with many moderate to small hoodoos), mixed with long areas of water cut ravines and ridges. Both have their own unique beauty. It's certainly easier to walk around in the flat areas, and the flatter areas have most of the named hoodoos, but to get to these areas you usually have to negotiate the hills and ravines. It's a fun but lonely and desolate place at night. The first night I went there a German couple was trailer camping in the parking area and I parked near them. I was going out a little before sunset, and he said, "You're going out there? Now?" The chances that you will be alone out there at night are just about 100%. After all, who is crazy enough to go out there at night? This is a series of single vertical exposures combined in Lightroom. BTW, this was taken on May 18, not April. 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

Solitude in the Bisti Badlands by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: This is a small a wash or small valley,ravine in the Bisti Badlands of New Mexico, located in the NW section of N.M. near Farmington. I took this in a attempt to give a representation of what most of the landscape looks like. There are numerous small valley-like washes like this, intermixed with flat areas with numerous small to medium sized Hoodoos. Many of those ridges are steep enough to be tricky to climb over, and so you go around and around to get by them. It is impossible to walk in a straight line. There are no paths and so it is easy to get lost. A GPS device is a must! It beautiful and erie scenery though, and well worth a visit. This was taken with a Canon 6D, and a Nikon 14`24 mm lens at 14 mm, f 2.8, 30 seconds, and ISO 6400. This is a single exposure. 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

Wolfe Ranch by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Still standing after all this time... This is the Wolfe Ranch in Arches National Park, Utah. John Wesley Wolfe and his son Fred moved to the area in 1898 and built this home in 1906 when his daughter, son-in-law, and their 2 children moved to the area to join them. The 6 of them lived in this 17 X 15 foot (5.2 X 1.6 m) home. There is a meteor just above the house. If you look closely you can see it turning from green to red as it descends. This is a single exposure. 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

16 Room Ruin by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Anasazi Part 6: This is a selfie taken outside of the Ancient Puebloan Ruin called The 16 Room Riun, near the San Juan River and Bluff, Utah. This is a single exposure. 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

Milky Way above Turret Arch by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: The Milky Way rises behind Turret Arch in Arches National Park, Utah, USA. 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

Imperial Point Milky Way, Grand Canyon by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: This is an image taken at Imperial Point on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA. This is a combination of 2 photos, a 30 second exposure for the sky and a 12 minute 40 second exposure for the foreground. Sky - 30 sec, f 2.8, Sigma 15 mm fisheye lens, ISO 6400. Foreground - 12 min 40 sec. f 2.8, 15 mm, ISO 2000. It is really dark down there, than I thought! Since the canyon is lit by starlight, which is basically coming from everywhere, the lighting of the canyon itself is very flat, with few shadows. 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

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

Night on Fire by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Anasazi Part 4: The Anasazi were a Pre-Columbian Indian people that lived in the SW region of North America. This is the Anasazi or ancient Puebloan ruin called House on Fire or Flaming House ruin in Mule Canyon, Utah. The name comes from the appearance on the rocks just above the ruin. In the morning at a certain time the rock takes on a color that looks like flames. I wondered just what it might look like at night, and found that the warm lights on the rock did reproduce the appearance, perhaps even better. I shot the standard close up views of the ruins but liked this wide view as well, which is a bit more unusual. The ruins are tucked in below a large rounded or elliptical rock dome with the arching Milky Way overhead. Disclaimer: No rooms or ruins were touched or entered in the making of this photo. The lights were placed in the rooms using a fishing pole and string. (No fish were harmed in the making of this photo either!). This is a panorama of multiple vertical images combined in Lightroom. Nikon 810A camera, 14-24 mm lens, at f 2.8, 14 mm, 30 sec., and ISO 8000. If you visit these sites please treat them with respect and care. 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

Delicate Light by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: This is the iconic Delicate Arch in Arches National Park, in Utah, USA. I had wanted to try my hand at this for a while, but the site had become so popular that I had major reservations about competing with others over "territory" for filming. Fellow photographer Eric Gail and I made the hike and found 20-25 people there including 2 people who said they were from the BBC making a time lapse. Two of the parities did indeed get into a hostile shouting match and the location "heated up". After everyone calmed down we were able to take turns and everything worked out just fine. Thanks to everyone there for such good co-operation. We did set up this lighting scheme which most found acceptable. A few people preferred the blue light of LEDs, and they had their turn. The time lapse people just filmed it all. There is smoke near the horizon from the fires in California. This obscures the stars near the horizon. You can see a layer of smoke above the light pollution. 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

Stranger in a Strange Land by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: This was the name of a book published in 1961 by Robert A. Heinlein (a very good early sci-fi book), and this is how I felt wandering around the Bisti Badlands of New Mexico at night. It is an extensive area with no marked trails, and a maze of washes, ravines, hills, ridges, etc. It is a broken landscape full of small to moderate sized hoodoos of every shape imaginable. There are also a number of petrified trees. It is incredibly easy to get lost at night because you cannot walk anywhere in a straight line. I used a GPS app and still had trouble getting back to the car because of deep ravines. Anyway it is an amazing place and well worth a trip. This is a single exposure. This photo was lit with reflected light from a hand held halogen spotlight/torch. I reflected the light off of a formation to my left, diffusing the light, and also illuminating the scene from the side. Hope you enjoy! Please join me at: Website Facebook Blog

In The Still of The Night by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: This is Flattop Arch in the Bisti Badlands of New Mexico, located about 36 miles (60 Km) south of Farmington. There are relatively few visitors here and at night the probability is that you will be there alone. It's a rough terrain after you traverse the initial flat area near the parking lot. It's a highly varied landscape with areas of clustered hoodoos, flat areas, ridges and ravines, and a number of small arches. There are a number of hoodoos that look like wings or tables balanced on a rock pedestal. In this photo there is a constant or static light behind the arch, and the front lighting is reflected light from a hand held halogen spotlight. The light is reflected off a formation to my right. This was taken with a Canon 6D camera and a Nikon 14-24 mm lens at f 2.8, 30 sec, 14 mm, and ISO 6400. This is a single exposure. Hope you enjoy! Please join me at: Website Facebook Blog

Joshua Tree Arch by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Does anyone know the name of this "Arch"? This was taken near Hidden Valley in Joshua Tree National Park, Utah. I thought I had scouted the area pretty well in the day, but I never saw this in daylight. Towards the end of the night I was stumbling around in the dark (literally) and stumbled on this structure that looked like an arch, or either 2 large rocks with another one stuck between them. It was around 20-30 feet (6-10 meters) high. Anyway, the sun was about to rise so I set up the photos as fast as I could and was able to get this composition before it got overly light. There was not much time for adjusting lights. There is one constant light behind the "arch" and another on a small tripod about 45 degrees to my right. One problem with Joshua Tree is that there are enough trees and rocks to get in the way and cast shadows, so you have to find a window between the trees for any lighting. Another problem is the light pollution. There is considerable light pollution, but in general you can work around it in processing. This is a single exposure. Hope you enjoy! All comments are welcomed. Please join me at: Website Facebook Blog Twitter

Hoodoos in the Bisti Badlands by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: This photo was taken in the Bisti Badlands of New Mexico, USA. This is an area of severely eroded rock formations creating a wonderland of small to medium sized Hoodoos and a number of small arches. Bisti is part of the Bisti/De-Na-Zen Wilderness, with Bisti being on the western side. The concentration of Hoodoos is some areas is amazing, with scores of small Hoodoos clustered together. Some Hoodoos are so small you have to avoid tripping on them, others up to 4-6 meters tall. After seeing other locations it's like "Honey, who shrank the Hoodoos"? The variety of shapes is very diverse, with Hoodoos looking like wings, birds, tables, golf balls, pillars, mushrooms, golf tees, dinosaur eggs, animals, etc. The moderate size makes the Hoodoos much more accessible, and actually easier to photograph. It's like nature went out of it's way to show us just how inventive it could be. These hoodoos are about 3-4 feet (1-1.3 m) tall. This is a single exposure. Oops! Just realized I uploaded the wrong file format, distorting the color.. This was corrected 10 pm EST July 9. Hope you enjoy! All comments are welcomed. Please join me at: Website Facebook Blog Twitter

Chimney Rock by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Chimney Rock, Escalante, Utah, USA. This was taken during a workshop with Royce Bair. His workshops are highly recommended. Escalante is one of the darker places I have seen in the USA. The sites are very spread out, and there is quite a bit of driving on dirt roads involved, but the scenery is great, and there are relatively few visitors compared to other places. This was taken with a Canon 6D, Nikon 14-24 mm lens at 14 mm, f 2.8, 30 sec, and an ISO of 8000. Phil did a great job of standing still for 30 sec. It's a lot harder than it sounds! Hope you enjoy! All comments are welcomed. 

Shiprock by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: This is the iconic Shiprock for which the town of Shiprock is named in NE New Mexico. The rock rises 1583 feet (482 meters) above the desert plain, and can be seen for miles around. It is sacred to the Navajo people. The formation is similar to those in Monument Vally about 90 minutes to the West. This photo is Panorama of 11 vertical images combined in Photoshop and taken with a Canon 6D camera, and a Bower 24 1.4 lens at f 1.4, 20 sec, and ISO 6400. I wanted to get a more horizontal Milky Way and so this was taken relatively early in the night, near the crossover from twilight to true dusk (darkness). The illumination is from a very small crescent moon to my back, as well as some light pollution. The presence of the moonlight also tends to make the sky bluer in the photos. The yellows and oranges are not a sunset! The sun set to my back. This is light pollution from the town of Shiprock (population of around 8,000) approximately 10 miles (16 km) away. There are many reasons why this photo almost did not happen. I did not know that this monolithic rock even existed and I was traveling across northern New Mexico to get to the Bisti Badlands near Farmington. But you can see this huge rock for an hour or more as you drive across NW New Mexico. As I stared at the rock my driving dazed brain started to think "I wonder what this looks like at night"? And then there is no easy access to the rock. The nearest paved access is more than 2 miles (3 km) away and was on the wrong side of the rock (south side). As I was riding around I noticed a couple filming off of a dirt road and pulled over to talk. The woman seemed to be a Native American and assured me the land was not private or restricted. When I told her what I wanted to do she pulled a map out of her car that showed a maze of dirt roads. She showed me how to get to a position north of the formation and how to avoid impassable ravines and ridges. Thank you nice lady! And then there was the light pollution. It is best to be shooting away from the light pollution, but this time I had to shoot right into the brightest spot. I had doubts that the photo would succeed. As it turned out the light pollution could be used to enhance the photo. It is not a truly "dark" night photo, but is still interesting. And then I was supposed to be in another park, but the nice park ranger told me I could not shoot there at night as he gave me a speeding ticket. This was not the way I wanted to meet a ranger. And then the sky was so hazy near the horizon that night that I believed there was no way to get a clear photo. I just went ahead with the attempt just because I was already there. Anyway it turned out to be more colorful and interesting than expected. Thanks for looking. All comments are appreciated. Hope you enjoy! 

Lost in Their Own World by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Remember those days when you could walk along holding hands and the rest of the world was as remote as another universe? Oh, those days... This was taken on a beach in Darwin, Australia. We were at an outdoor craft and food market near the beach, and I was lingering in the food section when my wife rushed up and said, "You've got to see this sunset"! I dragged myself away from the food and saw one of the most beautiful and colorful sunsets I have seen. We just clicked away until the light was gone. Thanks for looking. All comments are appreciated. Hope you enjoy!

Coral Sea Milky Way by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: This is a vertical panorama taken on the NE coast of Australia between the towns of Cairns and Port Douglas, in the region of the Great Barrier Reef. This part of the Pacific is called the Coral Sea. This is a stack of 8 horizontal image stacked vertically, each horizontal image taken with a Canon 16-35 mm lens at 16 mm, f 2.8, 30 sec, ISO 8000. So this image is pretty wide as well as "tall". From the perspective of an observer from the Northern Hemisphere, the Milky Way is fascinating in the Southern Hemisphere, and presents its own unique challenges. Here I am talking about the arch MW as a whole, and not just the core. First, the Milky Way arches high overhead at this time of year (April). The arch starts out lower on the horizon, but as the night progress it rapidly assumes a position high overhead. As a result the MW in the early night is a lot like the MW arch in the NH (Northern Hemisphere) in early spring, and then later in the night it is a lot like the NH MW in late summer and fall (more vertical) where it meets the horizon. Another difference is that the core of the MW is in the middle of the MW arch, and not near the horizon as we commonly see in the NH. As a result you need a really wide field of view or stacked panorama images to get good photos of the core and landscape at the same time. As a result you see a lot of panoramas of the MW taken from the SH (Southern Hemisphere). As for this image, it was taken after Moonset at around 2:30 pm. By this time the MW core was high in the sky, and I used a vertical stack to include the core. Since we did not plan the trip around night photography, I had to take the chances available, and this night I had a couple of good hours of shooting, after Moonset, but before the MW core got to high. A couple of nights later the MW was just about directly overhead before the Moon set, high enough to cause problems. When it is that high it is hard to include much landscape. This was probably as clear as mud. Hope you enjoy! Thanks in advance for taking the time to look and comment. 

A Quiet Night in Joshua Tree by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California, USA, with the Milky Way above. This was taken in an attempt to capture the unique landscape and feel of Joshua Tree National Park at night. In some ways Joshua Tree reminds me of the Alabama Hills, but with lots of odd looking trees. :-) The park contains portions of the Mojave Desert and the Colorado Desert, and is slightly larger than the state of Rhode Island, approximately 100 X 50 Km. The Joshua Tree is the Yucca Brevifolia, and they are usually grow in a widely spaced and scattered pattern. Much of the park is considered "High Desert", ranging up to 5,500 feet (1850 Meters). There are 2 small static light lights among the rocks, and a brighter light 30-40 meters to my right at about 45 degrees. One problem in Joshua Tree is the shadows, as there are lots of boulders, shrubs, and trees scattered around. This is taken shortly after the Milky Way has risen above the horizon, and at that time has a more horizontal orientation, later to become more of an arch. Canon 1D x Camera, Nikon 14-24 mm lens at 14 mm, f 2.8, 20 sec, ISO 6400, 3700 K. Hope you enjoy! 

Milky Way over the Coral Sea by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: This is another night shot taken on a beach on the NE coast of Australia, between Cairns and Port Douglas. This is a panorama of 14 vertical images combined in Photoshop, taken with a Canon 6D camera, Canon 16-35 mm lens, at f 2.8, 30 sec, 16 mm, and ISO 6400. As compared to the Northern Hemisphere in April, the Milky Way arches high overhead, and continues to rise as the night progresses, Soon the MW is directly overhead, and it takes a really large field of view to capture . The challenge is fun in a different way. Also the core of the MW is more centered, and is very high in the sky, as opposed to the Northern Hemisphere where it is closer to the horizon. Frequently in the Northern Hemisphere the low positioned core competes with light pollution, or features on the horizon. In the Southern Hemisphere its high position places it in the darker portions of the sky, and detail and color in the core is better preserved. Alternatively, it is harder to get the core and interesting features in the same frame in the Southern Hemisphere. Disclaimer: Unfortunately several unruly pixels were harmed in the making of this image. Hope you enjoy!

Morning Twilight at the Trona Pinnacles by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: This one is a bit different. I overstayed my welcome, trying to get as many photos around the Pinnacles as possible before the sun rose, but despite my best efforts, the sun rose anyway. I was still shooting when the morning twilight started. As I took this photo the sun's glow was starting to be seen on the horizon, and with light pollution created a yellow glow. There were clouds near the horizon which were illuminated also. The sky was becoming noticeably lighter, but you could still see the Milky Way surprisingly well. There are 2 static lights helping to light the spires, one downhill to my right, and one downhill from my feet. There is also a fair amount of ambient light present from the twilight hour. It was a kind of "golden hour" before sunrise. Canon 1Dx Camera, Nikon 14-24 mm lens at 20 mm, f 2.8, 30 sec, and ISO 6400. Hope you enjoy!

Sunset Arch Panorama, Escalante by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: This is a panorama of Sunset Arch in the Escalante National Monument, Utah. This was taken in a workshop with Royce Bair (his workshops and ebook are highly recommended). This is a combination of 12 vertical images, taken with a Canon 6D Camera, and a Nikon 14-24 mm lens at 14 mm, f 2.8, 20 sec., and ISO 8000. The arch is about a 20-30 minute hike from the parking lot, and is less visited than many of the well known arches in Utah. It's petty much in the middle of nowhere, off the beaten path. Our group settled in for the night and we were blessed with great weather. Escalante is one of the least light polluted areas I have seen in the USA. This makes for excellent detail in the sky. The faint light pollution on the horizon is from Paige, Arizona or Lake Powell, many miles distant. Doesn't the Arch look like a sleeping dragon? Thanks for looking. Hope you enjoy! 

Landscape Arch on Flickr.

Landscape Arch Panorama in Arches National Park, Utah, USA. I have posted a similar panorama previously from the same spot that I was not satisfied with. I decided to give it another try. Hope Thanks for your patience if you have seen this before. This is a series of 9 vertical images combined in photoshop, taken with a Bower 24 mm f 1.4 lens, at f 2.0, 20 sec exposures, and ISO 6400. This arch is really large (290 feet, 88 meters wide) and a real challenge to light uniformly. There were lots of messed up shots on this one, and I never quite got the right side fully lit, but at least you can see the whole arch! Hope you enjoy!

Fairyland Canyon on Flickr.

Fairyland Canyon in Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah. Lighting set up by Royce Bair in one of his workshops.