Terlingua Tx. Cemetery

I was in Terlingua Tx. this past year to do some night photography. This area of Texas has wonderful night skies and a few interesting old mining towns. I made this image around midnight using a flashlight to paint some light on the crosses. I have made several trip to this area over the years and I am always fascinated with the rugged landscape and the history of the area.

Night Photography

We spent a few days in Terlingua, Tx. to do some hiking and photography.  I decided to do some night photography of this trip and while driving around the area I kept an eye out for some good nighttime subject matter.   I discovered this old bus outside of town and contacted the landowner about retuning at night to photograph.  Once I was granted permission I scouted out the location during the day time to get an idea of where I wanted to setup the camera and which lens would be required.  I marked my tripod position by stacking a few rocks in a pile.  It had been my desire to visit during the period of a new moon so I could have a sky full of stars.  The first few nights of our trip were cloudy and the moon was already at a quarter.   In this image I choose a five minute exposure at f9 using a 35mm f2.8 Sony lens.  I put the camera in manual focus and working with the mirrorless camera bright LED screen locate a focus point.  I made a test exposure to determine sharp focus by setting a very high ISO using my F9 apeture. Once I was satisfied with the composition and that the image was in focus I placed an LED light inside of the bus to light the interior.  During the long exposure I walked around the bus with a flashlight at about a 90* angle to the axis of the camera.  It is important to use extreme angles of light to get contrast and details on the subject and surrounding ground.  It is best to try several diffent exposures to be certain that the final image has enough light for a proper exposure.  It is easy to be fooled by the bright LED screen at nighttime in thinking you have made a good image.  The best thing is to review the histogram to determine the exposure.  Although the stars were not out and the moon was coming up, the movement of the clouds added a new and unexpected demension to the image.