The Cosmic Breath - a photo on Flickriver

The Cosmic Breath

Startrail, single-shot, one hour exposure, taken at night close to the northeast walls of the Tre Cime di Lavaredo (Dolomites), Italy.
Therefore my camera was pointed towards southwest. When you almost turn your back to the Polaris you get all these "parallel" lines, which are the trails of starlight recorded by the camera while the Earth rotates to the east.

I've been waiting to have the Milky Way completely shifted to the west, because, as I've already written some time ago, I do not like to see the light trail of our galaxy included in a strar trail, it is just a matter of personal taste of course, but I think it only generates confusion. Therefore, when my schedule and weather conditions allow, I definitely prefer to wait for the right time before to start such a demanding exposure.
It is only necessary to calculate that the exposure ends enough time before the appearance of the first faint light before the dawn.

All my startrails are always the result of one single exposure.
I want to have the shot in camera in the moment I leave the place I've visited, just to be sure I've really got what I was looking for.
So it is paramount to find out the perfect spot where to fix the equipment. It must be an area shielded by winds.
Fortunately in this alpine pass, always exposed to the winds, there are also some huge stones (taller than a person) that turned out to be very useful to protect my camera and tripod from any kind of vibration during the long exposure.

I've never particularly loved the startrails, and, telling the truth, neither I do now... anyhow, presently I have at my active 183 night shots, plus many other pending publication, so, the fact of coming out occasionally with a startrail, well, I guess is pratically statistically inevitable :-)

Actually, this shot comes from a very simple feeling: I was mounting my tent for the night, it was pitch black, with rather strong wind, so the process took a little more time than usual. Time to time I was watching these walls, huge, looming... beautiful, yes, but also somehow disturbing... black huge blocks of stone, ominous... a vision light years different from what you can see on a typical sunny day!
That's when I began to think about a possible startrail, in black and white, where these black monsters would have contrasted with the shining light of the cosmos. Huge mountains, dark, hopeless, death... pervaded by a cosmic breath of glorious otherworldly light.
_____________________

©Roberto Bertero, All Rights Reserved. This image is not available for use on websites, blogs or other media without the explicit written permission of the photographer.

berteroroberto.pixu.com/

Taken on: October 4, 2013

Tags:

star trail

Night

Night shot

Dolomites

Dolomiti

Dolomiten

Dolomitas

Dolomiti di Sesto

Landscape

Tre Cime di Lavaredo

Drei Zinnen

Black & White

Black and White

Monochrome

Monochromatic

Montagna

Montagne

COTH5

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