I figured I could avoid the crowds and hit Bodie Island in the off season. Boy was I wrong. On the way home it took me 1 & 1/2 hours just to get through Norfolk.
Anyway, about the picture - I saw a pic by Jason Frye of this lighthouse at night with all the nice light rays and decided I had to try my luck. I was looking for a night with about 20% cloud cover and high humidity because I thought the moist air was what was causing the light rays. My shots not as impressive as his, but it’s decent. I think there was too much humidity because it caused quite a glare at the top. In the spirit of full disclosure- I did not create any rays, but I did dodge the four at the bottom a tiny bit because they weren’t too bright.
(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
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@Michael_Lowe a very good shot in my opinion. The cloud cover add interest to the sky and I love the leading line in the foreground. In my opinion you should plan a milky way shot (if is possible, I don’t know the location) or a star trail and take the foreground shot at the blue hour with the same composition. It will be a great shot. Thanks for sharing.
I like this image a lot Mike. The composition is very strong, I love how you placed the boardwalk to the right like this, and then it pulls you back to the center. I think your processing is excellent, with great color in both the sky and the reeds, and just the right level of shadow detail in the reeds. That foreground looks very crisp and clean for an ISO 6400 shot, nice job with your noise reduction.
Really nice work on this one, it’s a winner for sure.
Mike, this looks great as presented. The sky is a fine mix of stars and thin clouds, you have good ray action from the light house and the boardwalk makes a fine leading line. Based on my experience in Yellowstone last fall, I’d say that you need more mist if you want more rays, but then I’d expect to see fewer stars. This came out very well.
Sweet rays, Mike! This turned out very nicely IMO with the boardwalk drawing me into this peaceful night time scene. I really like the sky with the mix of stars and clouds and this looks surprisingly clean for ISO 6400. Beautiful work on this.
This is fabulous! Great combo night, starry-night sky landscape. The glow/rays from the lighthouse are central, but I love all else with this too. Even the turn of the boardwalk at the bottom and lead-in to the lighthouse works beautifully.
The only suggestion I have might be considered if you ever print this. For me, the reflected light on the stand of trees of trees on the right pulls the eye a little. Not that it’s a bad thing in this image, but I think less light there would keep the eye more on the lighthouse and surrounding buildings - and the night sky.
