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Freaksplace
@freaksplace_de
Best of the week 50 at #nomadict 2021
Since childhood, skiing in winter or hiking in summer in the mountains has been the most beautiful and relaxing thing to do in my free time. Being in nature has continued to be a priority for me in my adult life and nowadays, photography and traveling are an important part of my work-life balance. It helps me to escape from everyday life, set my own priorities, discover the world from different perspectives, and make the hidden visible.
"My wife loves the outdoors as much as I do and so every year, we go on a road trip."
This year we chose to travel to South Tyrol in September. We decided on South Tyrol because we hadn’t been there before and the mountains and landscapes that Mother Nature created there are so surreal – Perfect for my passion for landscape and astrophotography.
This area of the winning shot is called Alpe di Siusi, which was one of my focus points on the trip. We stayed there for three days so that I had enough time to get good conditions and to get to know the area by hiking. On the second day, I got up early to get to the spot. My goal was to photograph the sunrise with fog in the valley, as the weather conditions were almost perfect. Since I have the visual result in mind when planning at the beginning, I have to admit that I was mainly concentrated on the Milky Way and that is unfortunately only visible over the mountain range in spring. Hence, that was not an option for this spot on my trip.
However, when I was on the way to the spot, I orientated myself to the sky during the drive and could hardly believe that the Orion constellation was rising directly over the mountain. After I was annoyed with myself for a moment that I hadn’t looked at all the star constellations for the spot and so I didn’t feel well-prepared, I grabbed my equipment and ran to the spot as quickly as possible to get the last outlines of the Orion in the twilight. The feeling of standing up there on the hill and looking into the foggy valley with the cozy huts and the two surreally shaped mountains was incredible and for me one of the most beautiful moments on our trip. The first light of the rising sun made the scene even more magical.
With this picture, I wanted to create a classic composition, to capture the hilly landscape as the foreground, the small huts as the middle distance, and the mountain range with the Orion as the background. When editing, I aimed to direct the gaze through the valley, past the huts and the fog to the mountain range. I first calculated the desired luminaire masks for the image in order to be able to proceed in a targeted manner when editing. I mainly use Photoshop and DXO to make specific adjustments to the individual elements in the image. Because the sky and the mountains were exposed separately to the foreground and the middle ground, I used Photoshop for blending and luminance masks to create a kind of dodge and burn. I also highlighted the huts, the fog, and the structure of the mountains and tried to keep the foreground dark so as not to distract the view.
"In the end, the most important thing is the color grading."
I use only three main colors in my day/night pictures so that it also fits into my profile, which I adjust using gradation curves or selective color corrections. In order to be able to direct the view better, I use a kind of vignetting, but in which I restore the lights again with luminance masks in the edge areas. To get the lights a little softer and brighter, I use a kind of Orton effect that I also use with luminance masks.
I am satisfied with the result, though next time I will make a plan B for each spot and invest more time in the planning in order to really get the most out of it. As I mentioned in my previous story with Nomadict, especially in night photography, you have to have the final result in mind at the very beginning, because you photograph things that you cannot see directly and when you recognize it on the camera minutes later you may not have the time to adapt accordingly. Therefore, planning and a structured approach, as well as imagining the final image in your head, are the first step towards astrophotography. Luckily, this time due to my experience and speed, I still got a photograph of a beautiful star constellation above a breathtaking landscape.
I decided to include even more deep-sky objects or star constellations such as Orion or the Big Dipper in classic landscape photography for 2022. There are still so many treasures to capture at the already overcrowded photo spots; chances to create unique images and make the invisible visible for the human eye!
If you are interested in astrophotography, I recommend reading my previous story in which I share a lot more about astrophotography, including tips that can help you further.
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