Different Delicate Arch

Aaron Macomber

Aaron Macomber

Well-Known Member
Hey all, I am on my way home now, and this is my last post while I’m still in motion. This image was from my last night of photography for this roadtrip. I decided to set out with the goal of getting a different take on an oft photographed location; Delicate Arch. I was late getting out there and pretty much ran up the trail, only to discover 100+ asian tourists running around the location and standing obstinately in the foreground haha. It was a sight to behold, and thus, I think I got all of two frames without someone standing in the foreground, or running through it etc. I decided to move and try some different things, which I have yet to give a good look. I decided that I was going to be the last one up there, regardless of how long that took. It was a cold night and I donned all the cold weather gear I had with me, and had a seat. Finally the last of them left and I basked in the silence. Truly. The moon was getting high in the sky and I started walking around scoping it out since I now had the whole place to myself. Magic. I have a few compelling images to process besides this one, but this is my favorite of the night. This is one-shot, ISO1600 (some light banding present in the sky, have to spend some time working on that, any suggestions appreciated.) Moonlit foreground, and the cars from all the scurrying tourists can be seen winding up the distant ridge, if I had my druthers I’d have wished for more stars visible, but the moonlight was wuite strong. I had the best time up there, and was grinning ear to ear the whole time. It was a fantastic way to wind up my journey. Thanks from following along!





Second go at processing this, turns out I can do a better job when I’m not in the back of a pickup in the middle of the desert. I used Affinity Photo to process this second version. So far, really liking it, much to learn. I’ll leave the original post up for comparison. I do seem to get some pixelization in the gradients when I link in images that is not there on the original image on my system, I’ve tried several different things, I give up. Must be compression artifact.. Cheers!

 
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AlanLichty

AlanLichty

Moderator
Glad you were patient so you could share this scene with us - without the teeming hordes. It's hard to shoot some of the icons anymore since everyone seems to not be content unless they have an image of themselves standing in front of said icon.

Moonlight and stars with the snow are an outstanding combination for this scene. Definitely a keeper in my books.
 
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JimFox

JimFox

Moderator
Staff member
Wow Aaron! What a magical way to spend your last night on your trip. This is truly awesome. I only see the banding in the sky if I look close, so I can still sit back and gaze at the beauty you captured here. The addition of the snow really sets this apart, and you have me thinking I need to stop by there on my way to Colorado in January.

As for the Banding, that usually only ever happens if you are editing in 8 bit instead of 16 bit. You might want to check that first, that somehow you might have converted the raw image to 8 bit. With the stars, the moon as you mentioned will be washing them out, though you have a pretty good display as it is. If you look in the Tutorials in the Article section, check out the one I wrote on processing stars, and I give a few tips on how to make the stars pop a bit more which will help more of the stars to show through here.

And your write up of the conditions you faced with all of the people clamoring all over in front of the Arch. I am all for people enjoying the beauty of our National Parks, but it's sad in a way that people can't enjoy it by just sitting back and taking in it's beauty.
 
Mike Mancil

Mike Mancil

Well-Known Member
Glad you were patient and let the hordes depart. I think I would probably zap the car lights, they pull my eye away from that sunset glow and aren't natural to this beautiful scene (IMO). Regardless, a wonderful shot.
 
Jim Dockery

Jim Dockery

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the story and wonderful and unique photo. I agree with cropping or cloning the cars out. More bright stars would be nice, esp. over the arch, but the moonlight makes this one so I wouldn't worry about it. If there was a two thumbs up rating this would be one!
 
Aaron Macomber

Aaron Macomber

Well-Known Member
JimFox said:
Wow Aaron! What a magical way to spend your last night on your trip. This is truly awesome. I only see the banding in the sky if I look close, so I can still sit back and gaze at the beauty you captured here. The addition of the snow really sets this apart, and you have me thinking I need to stop by there on my way to Colorado in January.

As for the Banding, that usually only ever happens if you are editing in 8 bit instead of 16 bit. You might want to check that first, that somehow you might have converted the raw image to 8 bit. With the stars, the moon as you mentioned will be washing them out, though you have a pretty good display as it is. If you look in the Tutorials in the Article section, check out the one I wrote on processing stars, and I give a few tips on how to make the stars pop a bit more which will help more of the stars to show through here.

And your write up of the conditions you faced with all of the people clamoring all over in front of the Arch. I am all for people enjoying the beauty of our National Parks, but it's sad in a way that people can't enjoy it by just sitting back and taking in it's beauty.
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Thanks Jim! I just got home, the fun of recovering all my crapola begins. I’ll have to look at the bit conversion, I always edit in 16 bit only, and only convert to 8 to save jpegs. Maybe I erred.

The people factor I experienced, I experienced at all the national park stops. Appears to be hoards of Chinese tourists. While I think it is great that others are interested in our national parks, The behavior I witnessed repeatedly is wantan disregard for the resource. Leaving the trails blown out and being about as high impact as a group of visitors could be. I read a proposal that is open for public comment right now about limiting admittance to Arches to a lottery system, and if it goes into effect it could be so as soon as 2019. I think that that shoudl apply only to foreign nationals and I plan to draft just such a proposal to the NPS. I found it disturbing and irritating and its the truth, regardless of political correctness. The stated mission of the NPS is “Caring for the American Legacy”. I think they are failing miserably. I am a former permanant employee of the NPS, and now a different agency, for reference. I sincerely hope new strategies are employed that do no restrict the use of US citizens for which the parks are preserved for and funded by.
 
Aaron Macomber

Aaron Macomber

Well-Known Member
Jim Dockery said:
Thanks for the story and wonderful and unique photo. I agree with cropping or cloning the cars out. More bright stars would be nice, esp. over the arch, but the moonlight makes this one so I wouldn't worry about it. If there was a two thumbs up rating this would be one!
Click to expand...
Mike Mancil said:
Glad you were patient and let the hordes depart. I think I would probably zap the car lights, they pull my eye away from that sunset glow and aren't natural to this beautiful scene (IMO). Regardless, a wonderful shot.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your comments, though I certainly see your point about the cars snake in the distance, and I usually refuse to have anything man-made in my images, for me its inclusion is meaningful to my experience and a reminder that I remained while the train of rental cars retreated. I appreciate the perspectives, though for certain :)
 
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