Valley Of Fire & Zion, Nevada and Utah, March 2013: Night Sky, Long Exposure, and Landscape Photos of the Parks
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I asked people on my photography Facebook page and on a Long Exposure Photography Group Page. The results were interesting. On my Facebook page, approximately 1/3 of the comments preferred the one lit with the headlights vs. 2/3 for the darker, starker, moodier, colder moon-illuminated one. But the "likes" were higher for the headlight-illuminated one, although that could have been because it came first in the album, and in someone's newsfeed, they might just click "like" without realizing what was being asked. On the Long Exposure Photography Group Page, on the other hand, all but one photographer preferred the darker moon illumination. ~~~~~~~~~ Some people preferred this version, offering comments such as "I prefer the lit tree. I like the color and the way it stands out from the rest of the background vs blending in" or The tree has a warmer tone!" or "This one because the viewer can see more of the stump, and because it adds a burst of color and character to the scene. Also nice is the way the branches lead the eye upward to the star trails. Beautiful photo." or "I like this version as more light on foreground = more detail on foreground. " or "I love that the tree is highlighted making the star trails not the focus but a special treat in the overall photo." This latter one had the consensus of 40 other family members as well. And these were good points. I was still waffling from the night before, when I had stayed up late working on these and couldn't decide. But I had the comments for the darker, starker, lonelier moonlit one to read as well. Title: Temple Tree Star Trails (with headlights) |
And these too were good points. The only thing I was sure of at this point was that I had really insightful friends and fans, ones with good, substantiated opinions. I slept on it. ~~~~ Title: Temple Tree Star Trails (Moonlight Only)
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The comments helped me crystallize what I liked about each photo. The next day, I realized that the quality I liked about this darker, starker one the loneliness, the eeriness, the original mood I was going for, but that the quality I liked about the other one was that the trunk was illuminated a bit more, creating a bit more contrast and warmth and detail. I realized that what I might really like is just a hint of the artificial light, something that would give the otherwise stark, lonely scene a hint of warmth, of hope. I decided I would blend a hint of the illumination in to the photo. So this final version has a hint of the car's illumination blended in but is otherwise the moodier, starker, moon-illuminated photo, a 50 minute exposure in total. Thank you!!! Title: Temple Tree Star Trails |
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Valley of Fire State Park, Zion National Park, Nevada and Utah, March 2013
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Six minutes after I began photographing this tree, someone drove up in a car, illuminating the tree. I thought for sure the photo was ruined. But to my surprise, when I got home, the tree actually looked quite good. I began waffling, unsure whether to go with the headlight illumination version or the one solely illuminated by the moon. 
Others preferred this darker, starker one, lit only by the moon, the version I had originally intended on doing before the oncoming headlights illuminated the tree. Comments included:
