Alcove By Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website, Instagram, Facebook Swipe Left: Large Alcove Or Cave In

Echos of Long Forgotten Times by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website Instagram Facebook Valley of Dreams, New Mexico Badlands, USA. Hope you enjoy! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family for all the support and encouragement! Cheers, Wayne

To Walk an Alien Land... by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website, Instagram, Facebook To Walk an Alien Land... He sat foot upon the barren rock of a new world, new to man. There was a residual atmosphere of Nitrogen and Carbon Dioxide but little or no Oxygen. There was widespread evidence of erosion indicating a prior abundance of water but there was little surface water now. They had spent decades in deep sleep and a small exploratory force had recently been awakened by the autopilot to resupply within the nearest system. There was little need for anyone to leave the ship as all resupply functions could be performed remotely by robotics. Spacesuits were still primitive and rarely used, but there were always a few who savoured the experience of walking a new world... If you like photos like this then come and join us in a workshop in July in this location. For details see my website or DM me here at Flickr. Thanks for all the kind support over the last year, it is much appreciated! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family!

Goblin Valley at Night on Flickr.

Goblin Valley State Park, Utah, at Night with the Milky Way above. Walking through Goblin Valley at night is like walking through an alien land, erie and otherworldly. It's definately worth a visit! Canon 6D camera, Sigma 15mm fisheye lens, f 2.8, 30 sec exposure, ISO 6400. Hope you enjoy! The rock formations have been likened to Goblins. If you let your imagination run wild, you can imagine that the rising sun turned the Goblins into stone in some ancient time, and the passing eons have eroded them into these shapes. The place certainly has a lot of atmosphere especially at night

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

The Elephant Walks at Night by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Thank You Flickr!!! This is my photo from earlier this year that was included in the recently announced Top 25 Photos on Flickr Award for the year 2017. blog.flickr.net/en/2017/12/07/top-25-photos-on-flickr-in-... So what does this mean? I do not delude myself into thinking that this is one of the best 25 photos on Flickr, It is not. I see many photos that I consider much better than my own. I am humbled by many of the high quality photos I see on Flickr, and those are what drive me to try and improve. This award, to the best of my knowledge, is based on how many views, likes, and comments a photo receives. What this award means is that many, many people on Flickr have been very, very kind to me, This is award is a reflection of the wonderful Flickr Community. It means that many of you have taken the time to look at my photos and comment and maybe "like" them. This award is simply a reflection of how kind people have been to me, much more than anything I have done myself. So I get it that you all have made this possible. So this is my sincere THANK YOU to all the wonderful Flickr people that made this happen. This is your award, much more than mine. Cheers, and Happy Shooting to all in 2018! Wayne Pinkston

Racing the Clouds by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: This is an image of Cyclops Arch in the Alabama Hills of California (eastern part of Ca. adjacent to the Sierra Nevada Mtns.). I arrived and got a couple of unlighted shots, and this one decent lighted shot before clouds rolled in and obscured the beautiful sky. There is a thick layer of clouds just above the frame, but I was able to salvage this one shot. I ended coming back the next night. One good thing is that cloudy skies = a good nights sleep! This is a single exposure. Canon 6D camera, Nikon 14-24 mm lens, f 2.8, 30 sec., ISO 6400. Thanks for taking the time to look. Hope you enjoy! Please join me at: Website Facebook Instagram Blog

Questions and Answers

About Focusing in the Dark

Question: I use a 5Dm3 and a 17-40mm f4 lens. and I struggle to get a good focus point for a one shot photo where everything must be sharp. Any suggestions?

Answer: Yes I do,and it's a problem for everyone. BTW the 5Dm3 is an excellent camera. First of all, the wider the lens the more Depth of Field. When up close use it at 17 mm. The fisheye lens are best when you are really close to something in the foreground. I have a sigma 15mm fisheye that works well. I use lens distortion correction on Lightroom. /use the widest lens you have. Next, take your lens out in the daytime and play around with hyperfocus distance. For example, at 17mm f 4 if you focus at around 10 feet or 3 m then everything should be in focus from about 4-5 feet up to infinity. Try it in the daytime and take a photo and check the focus near and far. Once you get it right, then tape the lens focus ring with masking tape (does not leave a residue) so it will not move. Use the lens at 17mm and do not change the focus.   Second way: go to liveview and mag live view up to 10X. Pan around to Find a star in the field of view and focus on that star until it is sharp. Take a photo and view it and mag it up to make sure everything is on focus. If not then make tiny adjustments and check again.  Third way: At 17 mm and f 4 shine a bright light on something farther than 10-12 feet or 3-4 m away, say 4-5 meters. Focus on that spot. Take a photo and check. Everything should be in focus from about 3-4 meters on. If not then make tiny adjustments and recheck. Cheers, Wayne

Questions and Answers

Do you hire guides?

Question: Do you hire Guides to find locations?

 Answer:  Do I use guides? Mostly no. Rarely I hire a guide. Sometimes I go with other photographers that know the area. Typically I go to scout an area before I shoot it. I research it on the internet and I have many hiking books for the West and Southwest USA. I thoroughly research the area online and in hiking books. 

Many times I see a photograph online that looks like a good night location, and I start researching that location. I prefer to go to places that do not have many people or one that has not received much attention at night. I like to find new places rather than just photograph the classic old ones. 

I go there and scout the area out in daylight. I record the GPS track or hike on my smart phone with the Gaia GPS app. It is a very good app. 

I check the place out to see if it is suitable for night landscapes. I mark the sites I want to photograph. I then follow the GPS track back there at night. Everything looks different at night. Everything, lol. 

I do a lot of hiking at night so it is easy to get lost. Use the GPS! Recording the GPS data is also great for using the next year or later, and also for communicating with other people. For example, there is a good place to photograph that I found in the Bisti Badlands of New Mexico that I found before I used the GPS app, and I never found it again, despite looking several times. 

For a big overview of a place that is new to me I might hire a guide to take me around and give me the big picture before I start exploring on my own. 

Learn how to use a GPS app on a smartphone! You can get the GPS signal even when you are out of cell phone range. Many of the places I go do not have a cell signal, but GPS still works.

Cheers, Wayne

Dec, 2016

It's a Long Way From Here To There by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website Instagram Facebook Bryce Canyon National Park. Canon 6D Camera, 16-35 mm lens, f 2.8, 20 mm, ISO 6400. Single Exposure. For more images like this please take a look at my website here . Thanks for all the kind support! Hope you enjoy! A big thank you to the wonderful Flickr family. Cheers, Wayne

Joshua Tree at Night by Wayne Pinkston Via Flickr: Website Instagram Facebook Joshua Tree National Park, California. Canon 1Dx camera, Nikon 14-24 mm lens with an adaptor, f 2.8, ISO 6400. Lighting with Low Level Lighting (LLL). For more about this technique see lowlevellighting.org For more images like this please take a look at my website here . 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. Cheers, Wayne