Turret Arch in Arches National Park is seen at first light. I really enjoyed looking for foreground elements to use in framing with this awesome natural feature!

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Tags:   Arches National Park Utah Arches Turret Arch Windows District landscape sunrise James Neeley 5xp hdr

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First light hits a rise along Bone Road east of Idaho Falls.

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Tags:   Idaho rural Idaho projects landscape James Neeley 5xp hdr Flickr24 f12 cgimprov

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The Whitney Portal Road curves through the Alabama Hills on a dusty day during our recent workshop. As we ascended toward the Whitney Portal a dust storm created an eerie effect and cool lighting in the valley below. I almost didn't stop for this shot but then remembered the advise of Jay Masiel who said something to the effect, "Never pass up an interesting shot thinking you will come back later. You will almost never return or get the opportunity again."

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Tags:   Alabama Hills California Whitney Portal Road landscape James Neeley dust storm Owens Valley Lone Pine Opportunity Mountain High Workshops BRAVO APlusPhoto SuperAPlus lsc2014

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While visiting family in Moab I noticed it was going to be a moonless night. Time for a little Milky Way shooting in Arches National Park!

A word about technique...First of all I used the Nikon D3s which has the best high ISO performance of any DSLR made including apparently the new D4 (according to DxoMark). The image was shot at ISO 12800 and f2.8 for 30 sec. The Milky Way was actually over exposed with this technique but hey, they say "Shoot to the right" don't they? To darken the over exposed sky I simply increased the contrast in PS which also intensified the color. By darkening the over exposed Milky Way the noise in the sky was also reduced or at least became less apparent. A side benefit from the high technique was that the foreground lit up a bit from the starlight. No light painting was used.

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Tags:   Low Light Photography Astrophotography Milky Way Night Sky landscape Arches National Park Utah Moab James Neeley f12

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Sunset over the Vermillion Lakes just north of Banff.

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Tags:   Banff Canada sunset landscape Vermillion Lakes James Neeley 5xp hdr Flickr24 f12

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