Arch Rock On Flickr.

The Mage by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website, Instagram, Facebook Mautao the Mage had traveled far to reach the Sculpted Lands of the Ancestors. The lore of old held that the lands were carved by fire in the time before Man, and that the eternal smoke of the Dragon’s Breath still arched through the sky at night. The People now suffered from the Wasting Sickness and he had been sent to intervene with the Gods of Old. Rain and game had become scarce and the little food to be had was from foraging and meager crops. The New Gods had not answered their prayers, so Mautao appealed to the Gods of the Ancestors residing above. An image from a fantasy shoot in the New Mexico Badlands. Thanks to Kialo Winters of Navajo Tours USA, who is the Mage! Contact him for tours in the area! This is a Lighting Blend, one exposure for the sky and foreground with Low Level Lighting, and the same image repeated with a muted flash (from behind the rocks) for the Mage. An experiment with night photography, characters, and microfiction. Thanks for all the kind support over the last year, it is much appreciated! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family!

Canyon de Chelly Panorama by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website Instagram Faceb ook Panorama of Canyon de Chelly in Chinle, Arizona, taken from one of the viewpoints on the Southern Rim. I had never seen a night photo from the rim of the canyon so I wanted to give it a try. There was so much light pollution that I did not expect this to be successful, and left disappointed after trying panoramas from several viewpoints. When I processed it, the image was more successful than expected, and the light pollution actually adds more color to the photo. For more images like this please take a look at Wayne Pinkston Photography . Thanks for all the kind support! Hope you enjoy! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family. It's a pleasure to post here.

The Great Kiva by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website Instagram Facebook My is my personal favorite photo of the summer, a view of the MW over the Great Kiva at Pueblo Bonito in Chaco Culture National Historical Park. This is an impressive and mysterious place even in the daytime, but is haunting at night, like stepping back in time. There is LLL (Low Level Lighting) within the Kiva (a small Goal Zero Micro Lantern lowered on a string), and LLL on the background structures by a Ceneroid light panel on a tripod off to the left. See www.lowlevellighting.org This is a panorama of 13 images taken at 20 mm, f 2.0, 20 sec., and ISO 10,000. There is a thin layer of clouds present which causes the stars to be somewhat indistinct and to "bloom". I thought they might mess up the photos but I ended up liking the effect. You need a special use permit, SUP, and must be accompanied by a ranger to go in at night. Adult supervision is required! For more images like this please take a look at Wayne Pinkston Photography . Thanks for all the kind support! Hope you enjoy! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family. It's a pleasure to post here.

Questions and Answers

When to Photograph the Milky Way

Question: Hello Wayne, I love your photos...always... Can you please guide me how to find the Milky Way? How do you know when and where to see the Milky Way?

Answer: Hello, and thanks for asking. When you see the Milky Way (MW), and how well you see the MW depends on:

1) where you live, and 

2) the time of the year, and

3) the moon or lunar cycle ( a new moon is good, full moon is bad), and

4) and just how dark it is in your location.

It is most desirable to photograph the Galactic Core of the Milky Way. The MW Season is considered to be the months when the Galactic core is above the horizon. The Galactic Core is the widest and most colorful part of the galaxy.

In the Northern Hemisphere these are the good times for Milky Way photography in 2017, at a latitude of approximately 38 degrees north :

Feb. 23 to March 5       (a couple hours in the early a.m.)

March 23 to April 1       (a few hours in the early a.m.)

April 19 to 29

May 18 to 29

June 15-28

July 16 to 27

August 15 to 24

Sept 12 to 22                 (a few hours each night)

At these times the core of the MW is above the horizon and the moon is below the horizon for 2 hours or more. At the beginning and the end of the MW season the core of the MW may only be optimum for an hour or two. In the middle of the MW season, it may be optimum for 4-6 hours. The farther north you go, the shorter the MW season, and the farther south you go, the longer the MW season.  The best months in the northern hemisphere are April through August, and to a lesser degree March and September.   Some portion of the Milky Way, the “arms” of the galaxy, can be see during the new moons during the rest of the year but this portion is the less colorful and less photogenic part of the galaxy. Seeing the MW also depends on light pollution. You need a very dark place away from cities. You can look up places with very dark skies on the Internet, or you can use a smart phone app called "Dark Sky Finder". This will show you where the darkest places are located, and where the light pollution from cities is bad. I use other smart phone apps to plan shooting the MW as well. These include TPE, PhotoPills, and PlanIt. These help to show where the Milky is located in the sky and when it can be seen, and when the moon phase is best for viewing the Milky Way.

Hope the helps, Cheers, Wayne

The Pillars of the Sky by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website, Instagram, Facebook The Pillars of the Sky: looking up in a borrow canyon in Utah. Low Level Lighting (LLL) used with 2 Cineroid LED light panels turned to low and used at a relatively neutral to slightly warm color temp of 4200K. The rock here is so “red” (actually orange) that if you use a light that is too warm the rock can actually look red and very bizarre. ________________________________________________ This brings up an interesting topic, how the color temperature of your light combines with the color temperature settings in your camera (white balance). I shoot at a relatively neutral camera color temperature (white balance) of 4000-4200K, so a external light temp of 4000K might be neutral to slightly warm in color, and a light temperature of 3000K extremely warm (yellow). If you shoot at a camera color temperature (white balance) of 3200-3800K (very blue sky) then you might need warm light temperatures of 2700-3200k to make your scene look adequately warm (if you want a warm foreground). A light temperature of 2700K is often too warm for me shooting at a camera white balance of 4200K. Have I confused everyone, lol?

Mittens Panorama by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website, Instagram, Facebook The Mittens Monument Valley, Utah. Panorama of approximately 11 images taken vertically with a Rokinon 35 mm f/1.4 lens. _______________________________________ You need a guide to go into the park at night. Contact Majestic Monument Valley Tours and ask for Quanah. ____________________________________ Thanks for all the kind support over the last year, it is much appreciated! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family! Thanks for all the kind support over the last year, it is much appreciated! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family!

In An Alien Land on Flickr.

Goblin Valley State Park, Utah, USA. Canon 6D, Sigma 15 mm fisheye lens at f2.8, 25 sec. exposure, ISO 6400. For perspective, most of the "HooDoo's or mounds in the image are 6-15 feet (2-5 meters) high. Hope you enjoy!

Bristlecone Pine by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr:  Bristlecone Pine in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in the White Mountains of California. Thanks for taking the time to look. Hope you enjoy! Big thanks to the wonderful Flickr family for all the support and encouragement! Cheers, Wayne

http://waynepinkstonphoto.com

Night on Fire by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Anasazi Part 4: The Anasazi were a Pre-Columbian Indian people that lived in the SW region of North America. This is the Anasazi or ancient Puebloan ruin called House on Fire or Flaming House ruin in Mule Canyon, Utah. The name comes from the appearance on the rocks just above the ruin. In the morning at a certain time the rock takes on a color that looks like flames. I wondered just what it might look like at night, and found that the warm lights on the rock did reproduce the appearance, perhaps even better. I shot the standard close up views of the ruins but liked this wide view as well, which is a bit more unusual. The ruins are tucked in below a large rounded or elliptical rock dome with the arching Milky Way overhead. Disclaimer: No rooms or ruins were touched or entered in the making of this photo. The lights were placed in the rooms using a fishing pole and string. (No fish were harmed in the making of this photo either!). This is a panorama of multiple vertical images combined in Lightroom. Nikon 810A camera, 14-24 mm lens, at f 2.8, 14 mm, 30 sec., and ISO 8000. If you visit these sites please treat them with respect and care. Thanks for taking the time to look. Hope you enjoy! Your time, faves, and comments are much appreciated! Please join me at: Website Facebook Instagram Blog

Set the Table for One... by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: A quiet night in the Bisti Badlands of New Mexico. There are many of these "Table Top" Hoodoos scattered around the area. These develop when the base , a softer rock, erodes faster than the top, making for a wide variety of shapes. These table tops are one of my favorites. When the flat tops are really long or wide, they have been given the name of "winged hoodoos", and some are quite long and wing-like. Here I was playing around with the lights. Canon 6D camera, Nikon 14-24 mm lens at 14 mm, f 2.8, 30 sec., and ISO 6400. Thanks for taking the time to look. Hope you enjoy! Please join me at: Website Facebook Instagram Blog