Gates of the Valley Milky Way

[JimFox]

One from Gates of the Valley in Yosemite earlier in the year. The moon was still up lighting the valley, but the side effect was it was washing out the Milky Way some. It was a case of shooting this just as the moon was setting but still lighting up the valley and then shooting the Milky Way as it was getting brighter the closer the moon was getting to setting.

All comments welcome,

Jim

 

[Ben Egbert]

Well done Jim. I have tried MW shots on nights when a partial moon was coming but in such conditions I usually can't even see the MW. It has to be really dark, I always prefer that the land portion be lit by the moon.

This shot is very natural looking, a big challenge for MW shots.

 

[Kyle Jones]

I like it a lot - I've been aiming at the same type of thing a lot lately and you've executed this nicely. My only nit is just wishing the MW was still a little more to the left so the peak would be centered over the valley.

 

[AlanLichty]

Almost looks like a Milky Way rainbow with the arch shape. The moon highlighting the peaks is a bonus for my eyes.

 

[Bart Carrig]

This is REALLY nice. Love the comp and lighting, all very well processed.

Bart

 

[JimFox]

Well done Jim. I have tried MW shots on nights when a partial moon was coming but in such conditions I usually can't even see the MW. It has to be really dark, I always prefer that the land portion be lit by the moon.

This shot is very natural looking, a big challenge for MW shots.

Thanks so much Ben. It does end up being very much a balancing act. What made this location even harder then say a flat area like Death Valley or Joshua Tree is that this in a valley, and where the shadow of the moon is, is very very dark. And as for the moon washing out the MW, it obviously has to be done as the moon is very close to be setting. But there are other factors also, are there clouds that can help knock down the brightness of the moon also.

Jim

 

[JimFox]

I like it a lot - I've been aiming at the same type of thing a lot lately and you've executed this nicely. My only nit is just wishing the MW was still a little more to the left so the peak would be centered over the valley.

Thanks Kyle!

Yeah, you named my biggest thing with it too, I do wish the core was more to the left as the valley does end up being unbalanced. The Milky Way does help to counter balance it, but next year I want to time this same shot a month or two earlier. I will probably sit down in January and plot this one out, and we can make an Event out of it.

Jim

 

[Kyle Jones]

Sounds good to me! I have a couple of similar shots in my calendar. People think I'm crazy when I talk about having 1 or 2 days a year where everything will line up for a shot - and a cloudy sky can ruin it for a year.

 

[Ryan10]

Awesome sauce! A very natural look. I'm assuming this a pano?

 

[JimFox]

Awesome sauce! A very natural look. I'm assuming this a pano?

Thanks Ryan! I was actually going to mention that in an earlier comment but was too lazy to go back and double check as I couldn't remember for sure. So yeah, this is a 4 shot pano. Doing MW Pano's is something I had tried in the past and was never to pleased with the results, but this one turned out okay and stitched nicely.

Jim

 

[Timmeh]

Hi Jim,

Ribbon falls is still going strong with Milky Way out! Crazy year...The stitch works really naturally and barring the nit about Milky Way balance, the water looks a bit noisy. It could be artifacts from downsizing though.

Tim

 

[JimFox]

Hi Jim,

Ribbon falls is still going strong with Milky Way out! Crazy year...The stitch works really naturally and barring the nit about Milky Way balance, the water looks a bit noisy. It could be artifacts from downsizing though.

Tim

Thanks Tim, Glad you liked it.

And nope, it wasn't from downsizing. It is noise. I was shooting the Milky Way first from Tunnel View, and then as I saw the shadow from the moon setting start to creep away in the Valley, I ran down to Gates of Valley. I only got the 4 shots for the pano and a couple of other shots down there and then the whole place was in shadow. And it was really super dark in the shadow area, but once the moon start going behind a ridge, it really moves fast. So I didn't get a chance to get more shots in where I could have worked more noise out. I tried using more Luminance reduction, but even in the water, I just didn't like the feel of it.

So, not sure how good this will look printed large, I haven't printed it yet actually. But as much as I like how the Milky Way looked, its a reminder to jump down from the Tunnel View a few minutes sooner next time.

Jim