Michele Borgarelli  


Untitled by Michele Borgarelli

November 2024 - Untitled

November 2024 - Michele Borgarelli

Original

About the Image(s)

The Comet over the Lake

Sometimes our plans work the way we want, and those days are the ones we will remember forever. Last week I went to Oregon for one week of photography. First two days by myself at Crater Lake National Park and then on the coast joining other people.
I visited Crater Lake 18 years ago briefly and from that moment I always wanted to go back with my camera. So, this time I planned to be there for two days. I wanted to sleep in the lodge of the park, but it closed the day before I planned to be there. So, I booked a cabin in a camp few miles away. My wish was to be able to photograph the lake by night with stars. Two days before leaving the forecast were very promising. I would have one night of clear sky, unfortunately this was going to be the night I was traveling there, so I had just to hope everything would go smoothly. So, I woke up at 4 am to catch a plane to get to Chicago and from Chicago to Portland. Surprisingly, no delays or other issues were encountered. Picked up the car I booked and drove 4 and half hour to the place I was supposed to be by 6 pm for checking in. No issues on the road although the skies show some haze while getting close to the park because some wildfire. I was a little bit nervous, but as soon as the road started to go up, the haze cleared. Anyway, I arrived to the camp on time to check in, drop my stuff, bought some frozen food to eat later (that was the worse part…), and then jumped in the car again to get to lookout I wanted to go. I arrived there just 20 minutes before sunset. With my surprise there were few other people there some with cameras (it was Monday, and all park facilities closed the day before), and some of them just with binoculars. After few minutes I realize they were there because the comet Atlas would have been visible that night! Sometimes, all planets align, and we are lucky. Indeed, that night the moon was also kindly lighting the lake and the foreground from the side. I had the time to look around set my tripod a little bit offset and in a lower position compared to the others (we always want to get something different from others) and then I just had to wait. Here is the best image of that night. However, I took only 10 pictures that evening because the beautiful spectacle Mother Nature was showing deserved to be watched in silence and with respect.

Fuji GFX100s, Fujnon 20-35 mm f/4 at 20mm, f/4 15 sec, ISO 1600. White setting was on fluorescent because, as previously stated I like my night photo blue (I guess is a question of personal taste).

Post process, I crop to 3:2 as usual, I then darkened selectively the foreground because the strong light from the moon and lightened slightly the left part of the image to get a more balanced appearance. Added a little bit of contrast and clarity. Not much else needed to be done. Finally I increased exposure of 0.1 and brightness by 10%.


This round’s discussion is now closed!
7 comments posted




Mike Patterson   Mike Patterson
What a fabulous setting to see the comet. You did an excellent job of capturing it as it streaked over Crater Lake. You processing was right on point -- not too much and not too little. Just enough to enhance the stars in the sky and the landscape around the lake. Excellent work!   Posted: 11/01/2024 19:08:12



Tom Buckard   Tom Buckard
Michele, absolutely an amazing image. The lake and sky are beautiful and enough but to have Comet Atlas was just amazing. Did you know it would be visible? Your slight exposure increase was necessary and made it a very dynamic image.   Posted: 11/01/2024 23:30:15



Michele Borgarelli   Michele Borgarelli
Mike and Tom, thank you very much for your kind comments. I am very happy you like this image. Tom, no I did not know about the comet. Actually was fun that when I arrived at the location people were asking me if I was there too for the comet and I said, "well not originally but now yes...".

have a great weekend

Michele
  Posted: 11/02/2024 16:34:08
John Zhu   John Zhu
It's a great shot with comet above Crater Lake. I wish a more dramatic photo with lighting and color.   Posted: 11/13/2024 22:53:21
Michele Borgarelli   Michele Borgarelli
Thank you John, not sure I understand your comment.

Michele   Posted: 11/14/2024 05:41:08
John Zhu   John Zhu
I mean use light and color to increase the impact of the image   Posted: 11/14/2024 23:38:23
Comment Image



Michele Borgarelli   Michele Borgarelli
Thank you John for sharing your thought. I think taking a skyline image as the one you attach as an example, and capturing a night landscape is quiet different. My image was not intended to convey a dramatic effect. I strongly believe Mother Nature did a great job to let me to see the beauty of that landscape and I wanted simply to capture that moment. My image is intended to convey a feeling of serendipity and calmness, not a the feeling of drama. At the end I guess is a question of personal taste, as everything in life.

Have a great day

Michele   Posted: 11/15/2024 04:58:24