Gokulananda Nandan

January 2025 - The night sky of Jaisalmer

Original

About the Image(s)

Exif details: Nikon Z5, Sigma 16 mm (F1.4 DC DN, Contemporary 017) at 16 mm, ISO 100, f/2.5 for 4 sec., Manual, Spot metering, 0 EV, Tripod.
Description: Orange, yellow and white marker discs, placed in electric wires around wind park situated in deep valley of Jaisalmer, India, are shining at night so that high tension lines and windmills become visible for helicopters and small planes. It is similar to the orange, yellow and white marker balls hanging in power lines in deep valley areas of Southern California in USA near major freeway crossings and airports. Thanks to these marker discs, it was surreal to discover and see this night sky.

This photo was captured near Habur village in Jaisalmer district.
I had to wait for quite some time to get complete darkness because after every 30 sec. to 1 min. a car was passing by this place. To get a good overview of these shining marker discs I had to stand in the middle of a countryside road.
I had to take some sample shots in various shutter speed to check at which shutter speed I could get clear colour of these marker discs.
I did some global edits in Lightroom.
Here is the original RAW file:

3 comments posted

Larry Treadwell

I think the concept is a very interesting one. First I commend your courage to venture out into the middle of the road where you can dodge traffic and still capture images. Just know that you have lots of company when it comes to doing this sort of thing. I know lots of photographers who do this exact thing.

I love shooting at night because the various types of night lighting show things that the naked eye just does not see. My first suggestion in to do some radical cropping. There is way to much solid blackness that is void of all detail. You may have been better off by cropping this into a pano and removing just about all of that black void at the bottom. Second while the metalic disks are an unusual touch to the image I personally do not feel they provide enough interest to carry the image. I would like to see the subject mater to be shown a bit larger in the frame. For me, the right side of the image is far more interesting. Posted: 01/12/2025 18:28:47

Michael Jack

I can't tell on my screen how much of the image is in the dark, but if there is much there for sure I could crop it. Kudos for the story you are trying to tell. Without your explanation I would have no idea what the bright spots are, however, so I agree with Larry about making them a bit larger. I think one thing that would really help the next time you do this is to use an aperture of f18-22 to get a starburst effect of the lights. That would help the image as well. Posted: 01/12/2025 23:50:12

Larry Treadwell

Great idea about getting the starbursts. That may be quite impressive. Posted: 01/13/2025 00:43:46

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