# Alone in the park...



## RustyBrown (May 29, 2004)

Friday night at the park (BBSP) was wonderful. I was there from 4:30 to 9:00 and never saw another soul. To make this shot complete you need to envision the sound of owls and pigs on a night a little under 50 degrees. More to come...

*Blackwater Moon* - _10s f/8.0 at 70.0mm iso400_


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## ripleyb (Mar 20, 2006)

Beautiful shot.


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## bzrk180 (Jan 7, 2008)

WOW!! What a shot!!


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## Gator_Nutz (Sep 27, 2006)

It is a most spectacular view of one of my favorite places. I knew when you told me you were going that we were in store for some wonderful images. You have a real gift for showing us through your camera what you were seeing firsthand. I am really looking forward to more from this trip.

Now, for us beginners with aspirations of making great landscape shots like this, could you please share some of the technical, shooting and processing information? Great, great work. Now I have the urge to go out there again...perhaps on the next full moon.

James


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## sandybottom (Jun 1, 2005)

This picture inspires me to get out and shoot. I never realized you can get such a beautiful shot taken at night. A flash was used yet you really don't notice it.
Either that its headlights from a car shining that direction.
Do I see a Brandt's Cormorant in the tree to the left?
Did you see all the rutts the pigs made near the shore line? I bet the sounds at night gave it a surreal feeling.
I can't wait to see more from you, Rusty. Nice work.


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## stargazer (May 24, 2004)

Very nice Rusty. Another beautiful shot of one of my favorite places. Let me know when you go so I can learn form the masters.


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## Arlon (Feb 8, 2005)

Darn it I new I should have come home sooner.. Great picture. 

Watch those pigs, there are some real porkers out there at the park.


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## seawings (Aug 28, 2004)

Wow...beautiful!!


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## texasfisherman (Mar 9, 2007)

That's a fantastic pic! What park is it?


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## sandybottom (Jun 1, 2005)

texasfisherman said:


> That's a fantastic pic! What park is it?


BRAZOS BEND STATE PARK. AWESOME PARK BTW

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/brazos_bend/


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## tec (Jul 20, 2007)

One of the better pics I've ever seen.


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## Koru (Sep 25, 2006)

beautiful, Rusty. i'm looking forward to see what else you took there. i don't recall seeing any night time images there before.


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## RustyBrown (May 29, 2004)

*Thanks so much...*

Thank you all so much. The compliments make the fact that I don't have a life and was all alone in the dark Friday night all worth it. :biggrin:

Gnutz, sorry fella page 1027 of the Nikon D3 owners manual says "with this purchase you forever forfeit your newbie status", but I've been told some manuals are missing that page. As far as the image tech details, there in the title line above the image. Post processing? Slight levels adjustment, +7 sat and some sharpening. Sorry guys no pixie dust here it's pretty much a straight shot except...

Sandy, nice to see you noticed the cormorant, don't know if it's Brandt's. Is he missing one? Flash won't reach that far and Gnutz knows you can't bring cars there. You guys will figure it out. If not I'll be happy to share.

Tec gets a greenie for sure. Thank you so much. More to come, dinner first.


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## berto (Oct 14, 2004)

man i wanna be able to do that. looks goood


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## Gator_Nutz (Sep 27, 2006)

Was a little lightpainting with a spot involved? Whatever you did, I keep coming back to look at it. I did not even notice the tech data at the top of the image but now it all makes sense. Great job again.
James


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## Pocketfisherman (May 30, 2005)

Wow. Beautiful image.


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## fishphoto (Mar 3, 2005)

Nice shot Rusty! I agree with James - Q-Beam???


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## stargazer (May 24, 2004)

I dont know about the q-beam, but I bet a flashlight was involved


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## MT Stringer (May 21, 2004)

Looks great, Rusty.
More, more, we want more.
Mike


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## DeepBlueGulf (Jan 18, 2005)

Another great shot Rusty, it truly is inspiring! Just out of curiosity, was the moon up before the sun went down? 

Thank you for sharing, and thanks to everyone else on this forumn for sharing their photos as well.

Hope your holidays are great!

Tom - DeepBlueGulf


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## dicklaxt (Jun 2, 2005)

When do we get all the particulars?

dick


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## RustyBrown (May 29, 2004)

*You got me...*

Yes, I did some light painting with a spotlight. Not too bad for a first attempt, but a little stronger than I would have liked. I'm pretty sure stopping down a bit would have fixed it, but I wanted to keep the moon round.

Sorry about last night. I crashed after dinner. Busy packing tonight for our trip.

Here's another from the same night. Arlon's windmill in a new light. By painting it with light it really brought out the frame and the fence rails and blades. Left Venus and some faint stars in. Much better application on this one I think...

*Windmill *- _30s f/6.7 at 24.0mm iso100 _


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## Fisher Lou (May 16, 2005)

Another great shot Rusty. I am inspired.


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## 02txceta (Jul 29, 2008)

Awesome, i live in the estate addition right by the park...is great out here.


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## RustyBrown (May 29, 2004)

*Combining disciplines*

Well, you knew this was coming te first chance I had to get away from the city lights. Unfortunately for star trails the full moon is what lured me here tonight. So I turned my back to the full moon and went for the 45 sec exposures I've been working with. This is 25 exposures at ISO 100. I would have done more but the pigs were getting closer...

Think I got the WB pretty close to what I saw.

*Elm Lake Trail*


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## grayfish (Jul 31, 2005)

Rusty. That Blackwater Moon shot is way up there on my list of great shots I have seen. Well done Sir. WOW!


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## RustyBrown (May 29, 2004)

Well here's my autumn shot. It's not exactly the aspens of CO, but I like it nonetheless. This is quite a contrast to the typical green "Sleepy Hollow" shots I've done in the past. Heavy PP on this one HDR then I desaturated the path to emphasize the canopy. Good example of the Golden Hour.

Miss you Captain Mike...

I'm curious what you guys think of the crop. Should I crop out the tree on the left border? It adds some detail...

*Sleepy Hollow*


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## RustyBrown (May 29, 2004)

grayfish said:


> Rusty. That Blackwater Moon shot is way up there on my list of great shots I have seen. Well done Sir. WOW!


Thanks. That means alot coming from you Mr. Fish. It's nice to try new stuff...when it works.

I have a feeling well see some more of these soon.


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## sandybottom (Jun 1, 2005)

I thought those star trail shots required much longer exposure time. I can learn a lot from you, Rusty. Hey, and your Sleepy Hollow shot I believe I have the same identical shot in my collection(The Lonely Trail). That was interesting to see. I guess that means I'm on the right track for a good eye.


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## Koru (Sep 25, 2006)

RustyBrown said:


> Well here's my autumn shot. It's not exactly the aspens of CO, but I like it nonetheless. This is quite a contrast to the typical green "Sleepy Hollow" shots I've done in the past. Heavy PP on this one HDR then I desaturated the path to emphasize the canopy. Good example of the Golden Hour.
> 
> Miss you Captain Mike...
> 
> ...


to Crop or not to Crop...

i think it depends on the perspective you want to give. half of me likes it there and half of me dislikes it there.

i like it because it adds a quirky dimension to the image as a whole. i dislike it because it 'fights' for attention with the 'light at the end of the tunnel' part of the image. if you crop it out, then it would be just another standard image of a track through trees - in my opinion. a good image, but a cliche one.

if you want two points of interest, then you got it right. and frankly, i don't see anything wrong with having two. the light is far enough away for my eye to be able to focus on that and have the close up tree in blur - just as a natural viewpoint would show.

so, i think the choice is yours this time. questions to guide your decision:
who is your audience? what are you conveying about what you see?

thanks for giving me much food for thought. i'd like to know what you think.

rosesm


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## The Machine (Jun 4, 2007)

super pic


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## RustyBrown (May 29, 2004)

Karen,

Thanks for the response...was it a yes or a no? :rotfl:

Probably no "right" answer...but I should have caught it in the field. BTW I got your upside down Christmas tree joke - good one.

R


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