Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Starry, starry night



Starry, starry night.

Paint your palette blue and grey,

Look out on a summer's day,

With eyes that know the darkness in my soul.


-Don McLean's




Well I tried doing something like this when I was at Acadia, but I couldn’t...I couldn’t figure it out and missed it badly....I got little nervous that time and decided next time when I see stars in the sky I shouldn’t miss it by any means.

On this Labor day weekend, I camped at Virginia's Shenandoah Valley with my cousins. After delicious (n spicy ;) barbeque dinner, we were chilling out near camp-fire...when I saw up, I was extremely stunned by the sight...almost thousand of stars were shining in the sky making the whole place so phenomenal...so romantic! Now this time I didn’t want to miss the shot. I unwrapped my camera and got ready to shoot it...BUT! But there were all odds waiting for me. My torch batteries died, I was out of candles and as it was nearly 11-15 ish, according to campground rules, I was not allowed to turn on car lights. It was pitch dark and I was absolutely blind to frame the picture through lens...I had no clue where to see and what to frame. And suddenly, I got an idea. I got clicked that I could use my cell phone’s light to see the camera readings...wow! I got excited and started clicking shots with the help of that cell phone’s light. I thought I got it....I achieved it. But....but alas, all pictures in preview were showing me just a big, dark, flat rectangle. By this time I got frustrated... for last 40 mins I was trying hard and what I got is nothing. I had forgotten all lessons for shooting the stars and that means, I was going to miss this most awaiting shot this time toooo! But I was not ready to give up, I wanted it at any cost, so I tried once again, I tried to remember all those notes, stretched my memory, changed all camera settings...and I clicked it! It was nearly 12-00, I exposed the shot for 10 mins and finally.....finally what I got is THIS!....the shot which talk about Earth's spinning and revolving motion. The motion of stars what you see in the picture is really the motion of earth.
When I saw the preview, I was all set for a good sleep...:)




Place -
Shenandoah Valley, VA. Camera-Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT with 28-90 Canon lens

12 comments:

inspired said...

brilliant 1st class ;o]

s said...

wow !!! this is really a pretty cool pic.

dumb stupid ignoramus question following: u had ur camera on a tripod stand?

Knittnerd said...

Beautiful!!! I've always wanted to try something like this. Maybe I can next week when I visit my sister. Thanks for the comments on my blog! Have a great week!

ps I responded to your comment on my page.

Lori said...

Wow!! What am awesome shot. It sounds like you had to work hard to get it, but it really paid off. I can't believe you had to expose the shot for 10 minutes. I have to learn about all that technical stuff. This is really beautiful!

Dina said...

Well done!! I also have to learn about all the technical stuff .

Unknown said...

@Inspired:
:) thanks you..!!

@Shailendra:

Infact, that's a good question. I had thought of using tripod, but then my car's top was a better option I found in that dark situation :)

Unknown said...

@Melanie:
Thank you...and yes, i visited ur blog just now!!

@Lori:
did u like this?..well, the shot is not great but i agree,my hard work paid off ;)
There is a good book on photography I recently bought. I dont remember the name rt now, once I go home I will post you.

@Dina:
Thank you Dina...:D
the book, which I just mentioned above is the best source. I will update you on that..!!

Blue Wave 707 said...

That is one cool shot! :-)

Cris said...

Cool, the motion of earth... that's a beautiful shot!

Chica, Cienna, and Cali said...

its a very poetic shot, A-X!!
and i love that song by Don Mclean.....it's a very evocative song ....the words there always bring me close to tears ....

Geraldo said...

I remember seeing a picture like that in a science book when I was a child. It explained that if you pointed the camera to the North Star and exposed the film long enough you would see the circular tracks of the stars as the Earth turned. I never tried it, though (of course here in the Southern hemisphere I would need another reference star).
Great picture and great photographer's story!

Unknown said...

@ Blue Wave 707:
Thank you...!!

@Cris:
Yes Cris, I was also excited with that concept when i see something like this before.

@Moi:

you like the poem Moi...you know what, if I am not mistaking this song by him is based on Vincent van Gogh's famous 'Starry Nights' painting...:)..I am sure you'll like that painting too!!


@Geraldo:

Thank you Geraldo for boosting my moral with cheerful wordings. Science is limitless and everyday, every min we learn something new, something great..!!