Dusk to dawn

234 Pages·2018·39.939 MB·English

by  Randall, Glenn

Glenn Randall
Dusk to Dawn
A Guide to Landscape Photography at Night
Dusk to Dawn
A Guide to Landscape Photography at Night
Glenn Randall
www.glennrandall.com
Project editor: Maggie Yates
Project manager: Lisa Brazieal
Marketing manager: Mercedes Murray
Copyeditor: Maggie Yates
Layout and type: Hespenheide Design
Cover design: Aren Straiger
Front cover image: Glenn Randall
ISBN: 978-1-68198-306-6
1st Edition (1st printing, June 2018)
© 2018 Glenn Randall
All images © Glenn Randall unless otherwise noted
Rocky Nook, Inc.
1010 B Street, Suite 350
San Rafael, CA 94901
USA
www.rockynook.com
Distributed in the U.S. by Ingram Publisher Services
Distributed in the UK and Europe by Publishers Group UK
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018932110

All rights reserved. No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or utilized in any
form, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval sys-
tem, without written permission of the publisher.
Many of the designations in this book used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed
as trademarks of their respective companies. Where those designations appear in this book, and Rocky Nook was
aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed in caps or initial caps. All product names and ser-
vices identified throughout this book are used in editorial fashion only and for the benefit of such companies with
no intention of infringement of the trademark. They are not intended to convey endorsement or other affiliation
with this book.
While reasonable care has been exercised in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no
responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein
or from the use of the discs or programs that may accompany it.
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Printed in Korea
“This book is dedicated to the champions of wilderness,
both celebrated and unknown, who have fought to preserve the wild places
that inspire nature photographers to create their art.”
Front Cover Image: The Milky Way over dunes at Great Sand Dunes Back Cover Image: Aurora over
National Park, Colorado. September 25, 2016, 8:51 p.m. Canon EOS Mt. Monolith, Tombstone Territo-
5D Mark III, Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM. Seven focus positions, rial Park, Yukon Territory, Canada.
focus-stacked images aligned and blended in Photoshop, 30 seconds, March 17, 2015, 2:33 a.m. Canon EOS
f/2.8, ISO 6400. Two F&V HDV-Z96 flat-panel LED lights fitted with 85B 5D Mark III, Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L
warming filters provided the light on the foreground. II USM, 6 seconds, f/2.8, ISO 3200.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments vi
Foreword vii
Introduction 1
1 Preparing for Night Photography 9
Hiking at Night 9
Finding Clear Dark Skies 16
2 Tools for Night Photography 21
Camera and Sensor 21
Lenses for Night Photography 26
Tripods 35
Accessories for Night Photography 40
3 Essential Skills for Night Photography 45
Achieving Critical Focus 45
Composition at Night 53
Exposure at Night 54
Controlling Noise 59
White Balance 60
Holding Detail in the Land 64
4 Planning a Milky Way Shoot 69
Planning a Shoot of the Milky Way Over Longs Peak 74
Planning Milky Way Panoramas 79
5 Shooting the Milky Way 85
Shooting the Milky Way in a Single Frame 85
Shooting Milky Way Panoramas 88
Finding the Nodal Point 91
Multi-Row Panoramas 94
Camera Settings for Panoramas 96
iv
6 Processing Night Landscapes 103
The Color of the Night Sky 103
Editing Images Taken on a Moonless Night 107
Combining Two Images in Photoshop 109
Selecting Complex Shapes in Night Images 116
Brightening the Sky and Darkening the Land Near the Horizon 119
Processing Night Panoramas 122
7 Advanced Techniques for Night Landscapes 125
Light Painting 125
Focus Stacking at Night 129
Reducing Noise with Stack Mode>Median 137
Using Star-Tracking Camera Mounts 140
8 Photographing Star Trails 149
Exposure for Star Trails 149
Composing Star-Trails Images 154
Editing Star-Trails Images 154
Retouching Jet Streaks 154
Blending the Images to Create the Star Trails 158
Closing the Gaps 158
9 Shooting the Aurora 163
Preparing for an Aurora Shoot 167
Exposure for the Aurora 168
Composing Photographs of the Aurora 169
Processing Photographs of the Aurora 171
10 Photographing Meteor Showers 175
Photographing Meteor Showers 179
Shooting and Processing an Image of the Geminid Meteor Shower 187
11 Photographing Lunar Eclipses 195
Assembling a Composite Image of a Lunar Eclipse 202
12 Photographing Moonlit Landscapes 205
Exposure for Moonlit Landscapes 208
Processing Moonlit Landscapes 210
Index 215
v
Acknowledgments
The roots of this book date back to August 2011, when I saw a slideshow by
Colorado landscape photographer Grant Collier. His images of the Milky Way
glowing over landscapes in Utah opened my eyes to the potential of the lat-
est digital cameras to make stunning images at night. Thanks, Grant! Over
the next seven years I learned from, and was inspired by, the writings and
night photographs of a number of other landscape photographers, including
Adam Woodworth, David Kingham, Floris van Breugel, Ian Norman, Michael
Frye, Patrick Endres, and Royce Bair. Thanks to all of you for sharing your
insights through your articles and books. I’d particularly like to thank Roger
Clark, a professional astronomer and ardent night photographer, whose
extensive website provided a great deal of technical information on the
best cameras, lenses, and field techniques for night photography. Dr. Stan
Solomon, senior scientist at the High Altitude Observatory at the National
Center for Atmospheric Research, and Professor Scott Bailey at Virginia Tech
provided helpful insight into the complex physics of airglow. I’d like to thank
the staff at Rocky Nook, particularly my editor, Maggie Yates, whose eagle-
eyed, thoughtful, and meticulous editing helped make this book the best it
could be. Most importantly, I’d like to thank my wife, Cora, an atmospheric
scientist whose perceptive questions, boundless curiosity, and insistence on
scientific rigor encouraged me to go beyond a superficial understanding of
whatever topic was at hand, and whose tolerance of long absences made it
possible to create the images in this book.
Foreword
“The stars are the jewels of the night, and perchance surpass
anything which day has to show.”
—Henry David Thoreau
“Ye stars! which are the poetry of heaven!”
—Lord Byron
One of the fundamental principles of nature photography recommended to
those aspiring to learn the craft is to make images during the “golden hours,”
the brief window of time following sunrise and preceding sunset when the
sun is at a low angle in the sky, bathing the landscape in warm light. It is cer- ▼ Delicate Arch and the Milky Way,
Arches National Park, Utah. May 3,
tainly good advice, but it suggests that photographers ought to be occupied
2016, 2:01 a.m. Canon EOS 5D Mark III,
with some other pursuit once the sun has set. To the contrary; reading this Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM.
book, you will discover the magic of photography after dark. Land: 30 seconds, f/1.4, ISO 6400.
Sky: 10 seconds, f/1.4, ISO 6400. A single
Night photography is not new. From the earliest days of the medium, its
flat-panel LED light with an 85B warm-
pioneers attempted to capture the heavens. What has changed in recent
ing filter (brand unknown) provided the
years is the ability of digital cameras to produce sufficient image quality light under the arch.
vii
Foreword
▲ Aurora over the Tombstone Range,
Tombstone Territorial Park, Yukon
Territory, Canada. March 17, 2015,
2:33 a.m. Canon EOS 5D Mark III,
Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM,
6 seconds, f/2.8, ISO 3200.
viii
Foreword
from long exposures to do creative justice to the splendors of the
night sky. Early digital cameras did not perform well in dim light or
with long exposures, producing significant digital “noise”—similar
to grain in film—when shooting at high ISO equivalents or expo-
sure times longer than a few seconds. Each successive generation
of digital camera sensors has improved this performance. Today,
some digital cameras can produce long-exposure image quality far
superior to what was possible with film, and astrophotography is
more accessible than ever before.
As the editor of Outdoor Photographer magazine, and having
worked in photographic publishing for two decades, I have wit-
nessed firsthand the revolution that digital technologies have
brought to the art and science of imaging, and with those new
capabilities, the explosion of interest in night photography. My pro-
fession has also afforded me the honor and pleasure of collaborat-
ing with many of the most illustrious names in the field. What is
striking about this community is the generosity of spirit and will-
ingness—even eagerness—of nature photographers to share what
they’ve learned, and to teach and inspire. Glenn Randall is one of
those photographers who has a talent not only for making remark-
able images but also for clearly communicating the techniques he
uses to achieve those results. As a professional photographer for
nearly 40 years, with over 200 magazine articles and 12 books to his
credit, Randall is an exemplary artist and a passionate instructor.
In this book, Randall covers every aspect of the practice, from
the technical decisions for making successful long exposures after
sundown to other important considerations, including prepara-
tion and safety, location scouting, and gear selection, all of which
are essential for making memorable images as well as for enjoy-
ing the process. You’ll learn general techniques you can use with
any night sky, whether you want to capture sharp stars or star
trails, as well as specialized approaches for specific subjects like
the Milky Way or meteor showers, and advanced methods such as
light painting to incorporate landscape elements in your celestial
compositions. Randall also provides in-depth instruction for pro-
cessing your night photography images, a vital step that should not
be overlooked.
This is the most comprehensive guide to night photography that I’ve yet
seen, and one I will reference to improve my own work.
Wes Pitts
Editorial Director, Outdoor Photographer Magazine
ix