Glacier Point Galaxies!

[JimFox]

Actually, not so sure about the Galaxy part, but the title kind of sounded cool.

This is from last weekend roaming around Central California. I had a couple of options to choose from for shooting the stars and the MW. For me it was a prime day as the Moon was only 1/4 and it was setting around 10pm or so and would be awesome for lighting up the ground while not washing out the stars. After checking out some webcams and seeing there should be some light clouds at sunset, I made the mad dash from San Jose where we were buying some fried Squid.... (You don't want to know...) because according to my Calcs I could make it to Glacier Point about 15 mins before sunset.

It was a beautiful scene at Glacier Point. While shooting the stars, the moon was getting close to setting, it was just lighting up the top of Half Dome at this point, and while I was thinking it was about time to wrap it up, I could see this cloud mass moving in. That was exciting as I liked the shape of it, and I thought it would be cool to maybe play Hide and Seek with the Milky Way. The cloud was being lit up from the lights down in Yosemite Valley. The more north (left side of frame it moved) the more color it got.

There are a few shots I really liked, this was the 2nd one I have processed so far.

All comments are welcome,

Jim

PS. Again shot with the new Sigma 14mm f1.8

 

[Kyle Jones]

Totally works for me - beautiful image!

 

[AlanLichty]

Is this a single frame shot? I'd love to see a print (preferably large) of this one. I love the mood of this scene with the visible stars and the mountain tops.

 

[JimFox]

Totally works for me - beautiful image!

Thanks Kyle! I am glad you like it.

Jim

 

[JimFox]

Is this a single frame shot? I'd love to see a print (preferably large) of this one. I love the mood of this scene with the visible stars and the mountain tops.

Hey Alan, I am glad you like this. I probably should print this one.

This is a single frame like almost all of my night shots are, except for the light on Half Dome, I painted that in from an image just a couple of minutes before this one when the cloud mass was still too far to the right, but the moon was still lighting up Half Dome. I could have just masked in Half Dome and brightened it manually, but I thought this would look more natural. And although I did borrow the light on Half Dome from a few minutes earlier, it's actually only blended in at about 50% opacity. I didn't want to go crazy with adding some light and depth to the ground layer, I just wanted to light it up softly. Anyway, that's my excuse.

Jim

 

[Ben Egbert]

Nice Jim, I always like scenes that use moonlight as the light source. That cloud and the stars and the moonlit Halfd ome and valley make this a great image.

 

[Vieri]

Beautiful Jim! And... Galaxy sounded great in the title!

 

[JimFox]

Nice Jim, I always like scenes that use moonlight as the light source. That cloud and the stars and the moonlit Halfd ome and valley make this a great image.

Thanks Ben! I am glad you like this, and yeah, the moon can be a wonderful light source when timed properly.

Jim

 

[lightsgood]

Sureal Jim. Love this image. The moon light really sets it off.

 

[Bob Denton]

Great star photo!

 

[BarryHamilton]

Striking image, Jim. I too love the moon light on the land. The sky and clouds are not over-cooked. Well done!

 

[Dean]

Jim,
Great shot of a beautiful location this works all the way around for me . Nice Job Here !
Regards,
Dean

 

[Ryan10]

Most excellent image! That cloud reminds me of a gigantic UFO flying in over the valley.