03/15/13 Featured Arkansas Photography–Night skies over Roark Bluff on the Buffalo River

Night skies over Roark Bluff on the Buffalo River January 2013

Taken with a Nikon D800e, Nikon 14-24 Lens @ 14mm, F4.5, iso 400, total exposure time approximately 40 minutes.   This shot was taken back in January, but it was a great night to be out shooting the stars.  The temperature was around 29 degrees and there was virtually no wind.  We started shooting at dark and by about 1 hour into the night we were getting excellent runs.  This shot is a composite of 40 minutes taken in 2 1/2  minute exposures at iso 400.  I will then stack the exposures to catch the motion and create the trails.  The blue sky is due to the moon.  If you work with the moon at night you will be pleasantly surprised by the results.  It will give a nice blue hue to the sky and also provide all the illumination to the bluff that you see in this photograph.  This is not a daylight/nighttime exposure as many people think.  This is all done at night with the aid of the moon.   As was looking up, it makes the perspective of the trees a bit more interesting, as if they are looking into the photo.  I am going to start working at night with a Canon 24mm TS-E for perspective control where it will give me a good enough FOV, which on this shot I needed all of the 14mm I could get.  You are looking to feature the sky, but you still want to get as much of the foreground as possible.