Double Arch in Twilight

[Don Lacy]

This is my first attempt at light painting and trying to capture the night sky and it was not something I had plan on doing but we were at the arch and my friend had a powerful flashlight on him so we gave it a try and it turn out better then I expected. I have other images shot when the light completely faded from the sky that have more stars but I like the blue of the sky in this image. Any processing tips on how to better capture and process night sky images will be appreciated.

6D, 16-35 f/4 IS at 17mm, 20s at f/4, Manual Exposure, ISO 3200

[Don Railton]

Hi Don,

This has a nice 3D feel to it and is quite spectacular, good stuff.. and I too love the blue sky. There is a blue spot on the rock just left of center bottom of frame that catches my eye... Thats about the only tip I can give you I think...

DON

[dankearl]

Don, nice work, well processed and noise free.
I might just try some other WB settings.
I am always surprised at what a simple change can do.....

[Dvir Barkay]

http://cdn.makeagif.com/media/3-24-2015/IeC8Qu.gif (http://makeagif.com/IeC8Qu)

Hope you don't mind a I made a GIF file to better highlight my changes. Really nice shot Don, I think it is a bit too cool, I used color balance in photoshop to to add +5 yellows and +3 reds, also added a bit of contrast and micro contrast selectively to the arches. Otherwise awesome shot and attempt! If the GIF is annoying I can remove it, just know Art uses them a lot and it can sometimes help better see the changes like in photoshop clicking the alt key (windows) to hide all layers so that one can see the changes made to the original.

[Don Lacy]

Thanks Dvir I like what you did.

[Diane Miller]

Very nice! I love the blue in the night sky! Dvir's GIF is a good way to see a subtle change. It should be easy to change color and contrast in the reds-yellows without affecting the blues -- Selective Color or Hue-Sat. Can be done in the raw conversion as well, but PS may have some advantages for final tuning.

[andresleon]

Hey Don,
Not much feedback from me. I think it's a gorgeous image. The blues are out of this world and I really like how you were able to illuminate the rocks and get their surface texture. Very well done.

In my opinion David Kingham is one of the best nightscapes photographers around. He has a really nice collection of tutorials and guides which you may find useful.
http://www.davidkingham.com/blog/keyword?k=night+tutorials

Thanks.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Gorgeous image Don! I like what Dvir's GIF illustrates, I would have also darkened the lights a bit so the light painting comes out more subtle.
I would love to visit these areas one day...

[Marc Mol]

This is a real credit to you Don, :cheers: that night sky pops beautifully from the open canyon.

[Andrew McLachlan]

Not much to add Don. A top notch image!!! I too like Dvir's slight change.