The Watchman watches the Milky Way

[JimFox]

This is from last year in Zion National Park, from the Watchman bridge. It was a really windy evening and night, so the trees and leaves are not well defined. On top of that it was totally dark with no moon, so that valley area along the Virgin river was pitch black. So the end result is a bit more of a painterly feel for the ground, but all in all I hope it works.

Since it was pitch dark this is one of those times where I did blend too shots. The sky as at 25 secs and the ground was at 110 secs.

All comments are welcome,

Jim

 

[AlanLichty]

A really nice result - one of the more interesting versions of this scene I have viewed. The darkness really makes the lights of the town jump out on the face of Watchman.

 

[Darcy Grizzle]

Wowza!

 

[Jim Dockery]

Very cool.Too bad about the wind, with a sharp ground layer this would be print worthy for sure.

 

[Ben Egbert]

Great job with the planning and blend.

 

[dan swiger]

Lovin this! Maybe run AIsharpen to pickup some detail & blend. Either way, it's a stellar shot

 

[Dean]

Nice Jim this works really well !

 

[Jameel Hyder]

Nice one Jim. Good color and detail in the ground layer for a dark night. The MW is nicely positioned over the watchman.

 

[chuckp]

Wow! that's a beauty.

 

[JimFox]

A really nice result - one of the more interesting versions of this scene I have viewed. The darkness really makes the lights of the town jump out on the face of Watchman.

Yeah I was amazed at just how much the lights from Springdale did light it up. It was actually nice.

Thanks!

 

[JimFox]

Very cool.Too bad about the wind, with a sharp ground layer this would be print worthy for sure.

Thank you Jim! I guess it’s a good reason for me to go back again when there isn’t so much wind.

 

[Tom Narwid]

Great shot.....all of the highlights on the trees, river, and mountains and color make for a very well balanced image, along with the milky way.

 

[Douglas Sherman]

I love this one, Jim. The bottom of the image is dark enough so that the blurry leaves don't matter.

 

[Bart Carrig]

Wow Jim, in these early days of my "return", I'm so happy to see this gorgeous image of one of my favorite places. It works out beautifully as Milky Way image. Love it. Would you share the settings for your long exposure of the foreground?

Thanks,

bart

 

[David S]

This is crazy cool! Love the colors and the scene is kind of magical.

 

[Amy Nelson]

Great shot Jim, love the Milky Way in this.

 

[Bob]

Jim,
This is a nice shot. Really like the way you positioned the milky way. When I do two shot milky way I always shoot one shot just after the sunsets just in case I need it then shoot the milky way a few hours later.
Bob

 

[Alisa]

This is awesome Jim!

 

[sweetgrass]

Just a stellar image Jim, I've never blended two images before. But this gives me motivation to try it.

 

[JimFox]

Jim,
This is a nice shot. Really like the way you positioned the milky way. When I do two shot milky way I always shoot one shot just after the sunsets just in case I need it then shoot the milky way a few hours later.
Bob

Thanks Bob, I am glad it turned out. I had done that too, but the light just looked so different I didn't like it. If I can, I might try it again this year but with some moon light to help light up the ground.