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The Caldera - Big Island of Hawaii

Posted by
Scott F. Schilling (Highland, United States) on 10 June 2011 in Landscape & Rural and Portfolio.

This exposure was one of the more difficult night images I have tried. The challenge is to expose enough to capture detail in the sky and avoid blowing out the glow from the Caldera, in addition try to get some detail in the foreground elements. I ended up with a bit of noise in the foreground, but I liked the details and the juxtaposition of the Caldera and the Milky Way Galaxy in this composition.

NIKON D3 33 seconds F/2.8 ISO 4000 17 mm

https://scottschillingphoto.aminus3.com/portfolio/

Steve from Camdenton, United States

Ka Pow!! This one really hits you between the eyes! NICE....

10 Jun 2011 5:16am

Marie LC from Entre montagnes et Bretagne, France

A wonderful light and a landscape époustoufflant that we have no opportunity to see often on galleries.

10 Jun 2011 9:13am

Curly from South Shields, United Kingdom

Extremely impressive image Scott, just how did you save the caldera from blowing out? Did you make use of a graduated ND filter inverted for the lower half?

10 Jun 2011 9:19am

Eric Cousineau from Sherwood Park, Canada

Definitely a winner Scott! An image that defies reality! Well done! ;-)

10 Jun 2011 11:43am

Philip from South Wales, United Kingdom

Well worth the effort. Unusual to get so much detail in the night sky with such a high light source from the volcano.

10 Jun 2011 12:00pm

James Guillory Photography from Garner, United States

Scott, You did a beautiful job of holding the exposure all the way from top to bottom. Great image....

10 Jun 2011 12:02pm

Ralph Jones from Detroit, United States

Wonderful image, the splendor of the Milky Way puts it all into perspective.

10 Jun 2011 12:31pm

Don Smith from California, United States

Not many photographers have this caldera and the Milky Way in one frame - great timing! Adobe Camera Raw's redesigned processor is excellent for dealing with color noise. You might want to give it a try (or perhaps you already did). Also, Topaz's DeNoise5 can really help.

10 Jun 2011 1:47pm

Barbara Kile from Ft. Worth, United States

Quite a combo! Wonderful image!

10 Jun 2011 2:32pm

Tracy from La Selva Beach, United States

Wow! Spectacular!

10 Jun 2011 2:58pm

Stefan from Thiersee, Austria

Wow, excellent image Scott, well done!

10 Jun 2011 5:59pm

Denny Jump Photo from Easton, PA, United States

What DOn and James are saying I think is what struck me without realizing what was happening! The fact that we see the milky way AND the flames and caldera all in this exposure is phenomenal...the plants in the foreground are even so beautifully and effectively present...This is wonderful, Scott! Wow...

10 Jun 2011 7:34pm

Judy aka L@dybug from Brooksville, FL, United States

This is simply magnificent, Scott ... to get all of this in one shot and clearly visible, is a marvel.
I know it wasn't an accident!

11 Jun 2011 1:29am

Ahmad from Isfahan, Iran

this is really amazing shot .
well done !

12 Jun 2011 6:07am

DarkElf from Perth, Australia

you managed to control this exposure superbly! the starry sky is truly amazing above the glowing flame! sometimes it is worthwhile to sacrifice little bit of noise to capture such an amazing scene!

12 Jun 2011 12:00pm

Mike from California, United States

Very nice capture...A pretty dramatic view of earth and sky in one frame !

12 Jun 2011 8:16pm

Julie from Easton, United States

This is a breathtaking shot for sure! Amazingly done!

13 Jun 2011 4:13am

Tomek from PoznaƄ, Poland

Fantastic shot. Amazing sky. Well done:-)

13 Jun 2011 6:00pm

Nigel from Avening, United Kingdom

WOW!!!!

14 Jun 2011 4:39pm

Elsabe from Johannesburg - Fourways, South Africa

Amazing capture !!! A challenge well accomplished.

14 Jun 2011 6:31pm

Silvia Ganora Photography from Domodossola, Italy

Truly amazing capture! Well done!

21 Jun 2011 1:03pm

Laurent from not far from Lyon, France

all the difficulties you encountered worth it.
What a terrific shot!!!
Did you take it in one shot or is it an addition of several pictures?

23 Jun 2011 2:50pm

Jeff from Honolulu, United States

This is one of the finer images of this scene that I have seen before. Usually the caldera is blown out. You've done a masterful job here.

16 Jan 2013 5:58pm