On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
The third photo reminds me of fireworks, which makes me very happy! ~WaterGirl
?BillinGlendaleCA
What is a photo? Is it a true to life single shot of what the photographer saw though their lens at the time an place when the shutter was clicked? Or is it the vision of what the photographer wants you to see, what they imagined the scene to look like. Is it legitimate to change the color or the image or the saturation of the image in whole or in part(pretty much every photographer does this)? How about removing things from an image, or adding things to an image, is that kosher? These are the things photographer argue about. My feeling is you can do what you want as long as you disclose it. If you replaced a boring blue sky with one with some clouds, say that you did. Sometimes the skill of the photographer is not being lucky at being at the right place and time to catch lightning(there are devices that help with this), but in convincingly selling their vision by using the tools of the trade(both camera and image processing) competently and effectively.
So why the philosophical mumbo jumbo? These images are as fake as a $3 bill. They were not created in-camera on location, in fact I don’t think they could be created in-camera. They are purely creations in Photoshop. I used 10-20 images that I’d already shot(sometimes for traditional star trails) and combined them to reduce noise and the applied an action(a Photoshop macro) about 50 times to create the sky portion of these images. I then added the foreground, shot the same night.
I hope you enjoy these images, I hope to produce more like them in the future(I’m partial to the zoom effect). If you like them keep in mind that prints of a any the images seen here are available for purchase at my on-line store https://www.billinglendaleca.com/Galleries/On-The-Road/September-30-2020/) and if you like my work in general, consider becoming one of my patrons https://www.patreon.com/BillinGlendaleCA).
Zoom effect centered on Polaris at Red Rock Canyon State Park.
Vortex effect centered to the upper left at Red Rock Canyon State Park.
Zoom effect shot to the east in Lockwood Valley.
Vortex effect shot to the east in Lockwood Valley.
Vortex effect centered on Polaris at Joshua Tree National Park.
Zoom effect centered on Polaris at Fossil Falls.
Baud
Was the title inspired by last night’s debate?
I feel like I’m about to jump to light speed on the Millennium Falcon.
JR
Fun stuff, Bill.
waynel140
Neat! Lots of work.
Dan B
Excellent art as in artifice. There’s something restrained about them – not too many things going on at the same time but what you have done is dramatic and captivating. They’re images that you could look at many times without getting tired of them.
bystander
Wowee!
Lee
I’ve been a lurker for years, but had to make a comment about these photos. Gorgeous. Reminds me of Starry Night in an odd way. Sort of an awe looking at the night sky thing.
arrieve
I love the drama in these. Amazing work, Bill.
StringOnAStick
The spiral photo at Joshua Tree is amazing, Starry Night combined with a gorgeous location that holds personal significance for my husband and I. We’re about to pull up stakes and move a few states away, but after we’re settled I need to buy this print for our new home.
There go two miscreants
Very cool! I see no problem with all kinds of photo-trickery as long as the purpose is to delight and amuse, as is obviously the case with your pictures.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: Nah, they were done about a week and a half ago, but good guess.
@JR: Thanks, when I ran across the piece on Google, I thought it might be fun.
@waynel140: The effect itself is pretty easy, getting the files ready(reducing one part being lighter and noise reduction) is probably the hard part.
@Dan B: I think the zoom effect is a bit simpler and why I tend to prefer it to the vortex effect.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@bystander: Thanks!
@Lee:
Glad they were able to draw you out of lurkerdom. When I let my girls out this morning, Orion was high in the sky, maybe I’ll they something with the nebula next.
@arrieve: Thanks, I wish I could have done one with the Red Hill at Fossil Falls, but my star trail exposures were too long. Next time I go up there I try for one.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@StringOnAStick: Glad you like them, I’ll have a few more in the future and I’ll make sure I feature J Tree. I think I’ve already done a zoom version at the Ryan Campground. I’ve shot quite a few star trails at J Tree.
@There go two miscreants: There are some photographers that insist everything must be done in one shot, I’m not one of those folk; but disclosure is the important thing.
SkyBluePink
Appreciate the philosophical perspective of photo editing as well as the striking pictures.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@SkyBluePink: Thanks, compositing and related type of manipulation are a hot topic in photography, especially after the Beth Moon controversy.
SkyBluePink
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Interesting articles on Beth Moon controversy .
I do not call myself a photographer- just take pictures of things that please me with my old Iphone. But last night I was thinking about the issues you raised as I contorted myself to try to snap a sky pic without the electrical wires. So now I have to learn to photo edit….
?BillinGlendaleCA
@SkyBluePink: Electrical wires are pretty easy to get rid of in Photoshop, but Photoshop has a steep learning curve and is $10 a month. However, there’s a lot of free tutorials on Photoshop on the web. I’m not sure how good other photo software is at getting rid of electrical wires.
SkyBluePink
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Thanks- checking out editing programs is on the list…
aarrgghh
“it’s beautiful!!!”
—rene belloq, at the climax of “raiders of the lost ark”
?BillinGlendaleCA
@SkyBluePink: Here’s a list for you:
Lightroom/Photoshop
Photoshop Elements
Luminar4
Affinity Photo
On1.
Luminar4 is being “replaced” by LuminarAI(it’s supposed to be out sometime in Dec/Jan), ON1 is also being upgraded in a few months. Many of these programs have free trial versions(usually 30 day trials) so try before you buy.
@aarrgghh: Thanks!