Yucca viewing the night skies over the Arizona desert

A Yucca in bloom watching the night sky during a 675 image star trail capture in Arizona. Yucca was not superimposed in post. "Real-time captured".

comments (15)

Ferdy Christant

Lion

What a unique photo, love it! What's the shutter time on this one? Posted 8 years ago
1. Stephen Philips
  
  Lion
  
  If I recall on this shot it was 675 images:
  Star shots most likely:
  30 secs
  f/4
  16mm
  iso 320
  
  Exposed some foreground elements with flash (adjusted WB post).
  
  Then stacked complete set with black frame Posted 8 years ago, modified 8 years ago
2. 1. Stephen Philips
    
    Lion
    
    Revised the above after some reflection of process Posted 8 years ago
  2. Ferdy Christant
    
    Lion
    
    I don't know much about astrophotography, but why so many images? I thought the usual process was to have a single image with long exposure? Posted 8 years ago
  3. 1. Stephen Philips
      
      Lion
      
      Well there are several theories on how best to capture star trails. I guess I settled on several images with short durations and pauses between shots to reduce noise, reduce clutter (planes, satellites, and meteorites), and to not overexpose the night sky. My method allows me to capture the normal look of the dark sky without the normal effects of light pollution found on long exposures while still capturing the stars. 15 - 30 sec. exposures (depending on darkness of night) with a 3 sec pause gets me where I need to be. I use a intervalometer so I can leave it for several hours while sleeping. Posted 8 years ago
    2. 1. Ferdy Christant
        
        Lion
        
        That's a lot of useful info on the process. Giving that you sleep in the meanwhile, I'm guessing such a shot takes hours to make? Posted 8 years ago

Stephen Philips

Lion

I assume we need to start a new thread since the last one did not allow me to reply.
Let's do some simple math:
30 secs exposure plus 3 sec delay between shots = 33 secs/image
700 images x 33 secs = 23,100/60 secs = 385 minutes / 60 min = approx. 6 hours and 25 minutes of sleep time! Posted 8 years ago

Ant Marriott

Lion

Great info, noticed you managed to catch a shooting star in there as well. Posted 8 years ago
1. Stephen Philips
  
  Lion
  
  Ant, normally I try to avoid meteorites, planes, and satellites in my final images. Occasionally I can't clean one up or the time it takes to clean it up becomes counter productive or it would impact the image negatively. I like meteorites in static night sky shots but not as much in star trail images. Just a personal preference as most of photography is anyway which makes it a never-ending subject of intrigue. Thanks for looking! Posted 8 years ago

JohnR

Lion

Nice!!! I've always wanted to try this, but never get round to buying a trigger! :) One day, or night i guess! :) Posted 7 years ago

ThreePointSoul

Katipo Spider

Such a great photo! I'd love to get a look at an individual 15 second frame from this sequence. After cleaning them up do you just layer then on top of one another in photoshop to get the trail effect? Posted 7 years ago
1. Stephen Philips
  
  Lion
  
  Good day! Send me your personal email and I will send you the some sill shots. I also have a timelapse video of a series which is pretty cool also. Thanks for the comment. These photos can be fun but take a lot of time. you can send private messages to warrior3735@gmail.com Posted 7 years ago, modified 7 years ago
2. Stephen Philips
  
  Lion
  
  In post processing I normall import into lightroom. There I can adjust the series for WB, exposure, and crop. Once I apply the settings normally globally to the entire series I export to PS as layers. Once in Photoshop I select all the layers and if practical (depending on whether the scene includes stationary subject matter) I align all layers. Once aligned I convert to smart object. Within the smart object group I use stack mode and select maximum to combine all pixels at their brightest levels. Hopefully that makes sense. I can go into more detail if you want to contact me privately. Posted 7 years ago

Stuart

Lion

That is awesome, again, something I am wishing to get into! Heard about stacking images and the software to do it as well as cleaning stuff up. Very nice indeed! Posted 7 years ago

Christine Young

Lion

From today's JungleDragon Facebook post:

"This stunning photo highlights a blooming Mojave yucca (Yucca schidigera) with a background of star trails! Absolutely gorgeous! Mojave yucca is a flowering plant that is native to the southwestern United States where it grows on rocky desert slopes. One of the most interesting aspects of yucca ecology is its mutualistic relationship with its sole pollinator, the yucca moth (Tegeticula yuccasella). These moths collect pollen from yucca flowers, form it into a ball, carry it to other flowers, and push it down into the stigma tube. The moths will then lay eggs in the ovary after fertilizing the flowers. Once they hatch, the moth larvae feed on a small number of seeds (around 3%) and leave the rest to develop. The plants are so dependent on this process that during years when the yucca moth is not abundant, sexual reproduction may not occur for the Mojave yucca. {Spotted in Arizona, USA by JungleDragon user, Stephen Philips} #JungleDragon" Posted 4 years ago

The Mojave yucca

''Yucca schidigera'', also known as the Mojave yucca or Spanish Dagger, is a flowering plant that is native to the Mojave Desert, Chihuahuan Desert and Sonoran Desert of southeastern California, Baja California, New Mexico, southern Nevada and Arizona.

This yucca typically grows on rocky desert slopes and creosote desert flats between 300–1,200 metres altitude, rarely up to 2,500 metres . They thrive in full sun and in soil with excellent drainage. It also needs no summer water. It.. more

Info 2 0

Similar species: Agaves, Aloes, Onions

Species identified by Stephen Philips