I am profoundly moved by wild places. I experience a palpable connection to the high mountains and deep valleys of the landscape I live in. To stand at the edge of a forest and ponder what lies within makes one feel the contrasting emotions of meaningful connectedness and fragile insignificance. These feelings are exponentially amplified when peering into the unimaginable vastness of space while standing at the edge of a bluff overlooking the mysterious expanse of the Pacific Ocean. Imagine my joy as I stood with my back to the dark forest, my eyes to the heavens and my imagination vainly attempting to conjure up what creatures may lie just below the surface of the deep. The wind whispered through the fir trees around me, occasionally rising to a gentle roar as gusts came and went. Far below me waves driven by that same wind and other natural forces crashed against the rock formations, relentlessly making sand from rock. Far above, where the Earth’s gravity has reached it’s limit, meteors dart around as if teasing the planets to deviate from their set paths around the Sun and give chase. These places, where the natural world is relatively untouched and all living things are permitted to carry out their assigned functions, are worth protecting. They, like us, are not insignificant. They, just like us, have a purpose. These wild places must be preserved and protected for their own sake, not just for our enjoyment and consumption.
Feedback Requests
This is a vertical panorama of horizontal images. The foreground is right at the edge of a cliff, and doesn’t amount to much, but I liked it better with than without. Do you find this little bit of foreground to be meaningful or distracting? Each of the individual images for the pano is stacked in Starry Landscape Staker and consists of 6 light and 40 dark images. This makes the wave action even less distinct than a 13 second exposure would have rendered. Is it too soft because of that?
Pertinent Technical Details
Nikon D850
Sigma Art 20mm 1.4
ISO 6400, f/2.8, 13 seconds
Pano of 5 vertical images comprised of 6 light and 40 dark images stacked in Starry Landscape Stacker.
Pano stitched in PTGui and processed in Lightroom Classic.
One pass through the Ministars action in Photoshop for star reduction
Paul: I stood at this exact location on my October trip but it was in broad daylight. I’ve not done anything with astro photography so this is a real treat. The cliff edge gives this a greater sense of depth IMO so I would keep it. Beautiful image and marvelous thoughts. >=))>
I certainly have no problems with the vestiges of the cliff face - the triangle it forms points to the sea stacks and Milky Way. I believe the green lighting on the sea adds atmosphere as does the green dayglow in the sky. My personal preferences are that the horizon line is not in the center and I think the top half of the milky way does not add much. Cropping the top quarter from the photo might well add balance and calm to what you have produced. I have no problem with softness and think that overall this is a grand photo.
Lovely image! The sky is impressive as are the rocks! Personally I would crop the image and remove the vegetation. Less depth but then the image is totally about the sky and the peace of the sea.
Paul, quite a compelling image you’ve created and I enjoyed reading your description. I think having a foreground in most scenics is important…adds depth and anchors the lower half. In addition, it provides some context with the trees and rock. The inverted V in the foreground points the way through the sea rocks and up into the starry sky. Any wave action would have distracted from this placid scene. All your efforts were worth it.
Paul, this is a great, nighttime sea shot. I like the land in the foreground and how it point to the seastacks and the Milkyway. I would remove the two tall grasses (??) in the lrc. The softness of the surf fits with what I’d expect for a night shot.
Wonderful – both the concept and the realization! I could see two versions, with and without the cliff, and would have a hard time deciding which I liked more, but I think I would go with the purity of without it, so I was floating over the water, enveloped in space.
The composition is wonderful and I love how the SLS stack has blurred the wave action! The MW is rendered realistically and the airglow (and perhaps a trace of some thin clouds?) is dramatic. Very well done!
