Starry Night and Car Lights - a photo on Flickriver

            I discovered this hairpin backroad a few months ago about 90 minutes from home, and had this shot in mind ever since. Last night I set about executing it. I knew there would be few if any cars traversing it, given that it would be after midnight when the Milky Way would be positioned where I wanted it for the shot. So I set the camera exposure on a timer and drove my own car through the scene. I turned the headlights off (too bright) and drove with just the parking lights on in front, tail lights in the back. And just to splash it up a bit with some additional light trails and color, I taped two "light sabers" to the roof, one of which was illuminated with a device that automatically changed the light saber's color every few seconds, from blue to red to green and so on. You can see that if you look closely at the trails.

This image combines two shots taken with the same camera in the same position -- one for the foreground with the car trails, the other of the sky. The car trails shot was a 60-second exposure - that's how long it took for me to drive from near the camera to the point in the distance where the road disappears behind a ridge. In that exposure the stars were smeared due to the length of the exposure (and Earth's rotation). So right after that shot I took sixteen 16-second images to get sharp stars; I then stacked them in Photoshop to boost the signal-to-noise ratio and get a single composite image of the sky. The car trails image and the sky image composite were then combined in Photoshop. 

Side note: While the camera was taking a series of images automatically, I was looking down at my phone when all of a sudden there was a huge flash of lightning that lit up the area! Except it wasn't lightning. I looked up to see a massive meteor streaking down right through the core of the Milky Way -- right where my camera was aimed! It then exploded into a myriad of pieces before snuffing out! OMG! And the reason I don't have the shot to share with you? I was taking dark frames at the time (for noise suppression) -- so the camera lens was covered. AAAArrrrrgggghhhhhhh!

Taken on: June 16, 2021

Tags:

Milky Way

nightscape

light painting

stars

starscape

landscape

airglow

light trails

oregon

curvy road

hairpin « less

Sets appears in: • Nightscapes • Light Painting

Groups appears in: • Night Images • Light in Motion more » • LIGHT PAINTING • Nightscapes - Natural Landscapes at Night • After Dark - Night Photography • Night Sky, The • Light STREAM___ • Light Painting - The Real Deal • [Noctography] • Night shooters • Bend Oregon Photographers • Oregon Night Photography • Wide Field Astrophotography - Starry Skies • The World at Night • Landscape Astrophotography • Anti star trails • LA VIE EN ROSE ( Admin Invite Only ) • Night Photography Group • Starry Night Astrophotography • WORLD WIDE ANGLE • The Stars at Night -- P1/C1 • Stars n' Stuff • Into the Night Photography • APOD Submissions • in explore • it happened one night ~ by Admin approval (p1 - c2) • Amateur Astro-Photography • Astroscape • Astrophotography - The Solar System and Beyond • THE IMAGINATIVE CAMERA • Beautiful Realm • Flickrology • **Special Landscapes** • **Extra Special Landscapes** (Admin Invite Only) • Lighttrails on Streets • A Picture, A Story, A Pearl • EXPLORE (simply the best) • **Flickr's Most Inspiring Photography** (Admin Invite Only) « less

Camera: Sony ILCE-7M3, f/3.2, 256 sec, 15mm, ISO 6400 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Sony ILCE-7M3
Aperture:	f/3.2
Exposure Time:	256
Focal Length:	15mm
ISO:	6400
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	Adobe Photoshop 22.4 (Windows)
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