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An Autumn Orbit


 
BetterPhoto.com All Time Best Photo Contest Editor's Pick BetterPhoto.com Photo Contest SECOND PLACE Winner   An Autumn Orbit(w)
An Autumn Orbit(w)
A view if the night sky near Canis Bay in Algonquin Park, Ontario in October. The illumination on the trees is coming from the campfire. 15mm Diagonal Fisheye, Agfa Pro ISO 50 film, Tripod Cable release(on timer)

Eric Highfield

 
 
 

Dan Holm
 

Wow! This is gorgeous, Eric!! Your perspective and capture are simply magnificent! Excellent work!


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December 06, 2004

 

Carolina K. Smith
  I agree :) I like the star trails, too :)


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December 06, 2004

 

S J
  Terrific capture and framing, Eric! Very nicely done!


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December 06, 2004

 

Amy N. Cappelli
  Stellar capture Eric, just beautiful! lovely contrast in colors between the gold of the leaves and lapis sky.


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December 06, 2004

 

Allan L. Whitehead
  Marvelous capture and terrific presentation, Eric. Very well done, my dear friend - your good friend, Allan


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December 06, 2004

 

Barbara Kehoe
  Totally beautiful image Eric. The combination of gold and blue is stunning.


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December 06, 2004

 

Sharon Day
  Outstanding and beautiful, Eric!!! This is just super with the color in the trees and the star trail! Great job!


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December 06, 2004

 

Igor Laptev
  Great image!


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December 06, 2004

 

Darren K. Fisher
  Looks like a winner to me. Wonderful job on exposure and capture of color here. This inspires me.


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December 06, 2004

 

Judy S. Fung
  Wonderful capture, Eric! Very beautiful.


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December 06, 2004

 
StoneHorseStudios.com - Eric Highfield

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  Dan,Carolina, Sanjay, Amy, Allan, Barbara, Sharon, Igor, Darren, and Judy, Wow...thanks so much for your support in this image! The composition has benefited from some luck...I knew where the North Star was in the frame when setting the shot up, but it was too dark to see anything but vaguest outline of trees...it was nature that lended a helping hand.


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December 06, 2004

 
newjerseyphotos.net - Deborah C. Lewinson

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  Wow, stunning image, Eric!

-Debby


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December 06, 2004

 
StoneHorseStudios.com - Eric Highfield

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  Thank you, Debby!


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December 06, 2004

 

Barbara Kehoe
  Congratulations Eric, It's a wonderful shot.


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January 17, 2005

 

Patricia Marroquin
  Congratulations, Eric, this is awesome! :-)


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January 18, 2005

 

Judy S. Fung
  Congrats, Eric!


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January 18, 2005

 

Kip T. Berger
  Congratulations on the finalist Eric!!!


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January 18, 2005

 

Allan L. Whitehead
  Eric, my dear friend, congratulations on your finalist selection. Well done, and good luck in the next step - your good friend, Allan


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January 18, 2005

 

Patricia A. Kuniega
  Congratulations on your superb finalist, Eric! Good luck!


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January 18, 2005

 

Paul Michko
  Congrats, Eric.


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January 18, 2005

 

cj patterson
  CONGRATS!!!


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January 18, 2005

 

Murry Grigsby
  Congrats again Eric!


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January 18, 2005

 

Phil Sauvey
  Eric,

I love the fall colors and the blue of the sky here. What a wonderful photograph. Congrats on your finalist entry and best of luck in the next round. Very deserving of GOLD!


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January 18, 2005

 

Judy S. Fung
  Congrats on your second place win, Eric!


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January 20, 2005

 

Marilou Olejniczak
  Congratulations on your win!


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January 20, 2005

 

Wally Orlowsky
  Congratulations on this awesome winner, Eric.


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January 20, 2005

 

Paul Michko
  Congrats, Eric on a terrific win.


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January 20, 2005

 

kathy wolfe
  Congrats Eric!!


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January 20, 2005

 

Patricia A. Kuniega
  Congratulations on your terrific win, Eric!


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January 20, 2005

 

Charlene Bayerle
  Congratulations on a great win Eric!!!!


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January 20, 2005

 

cj patterson
  Big Congrats Eric!!!!!!!


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January 20, 2005

 

Barbara Kehoe
  Congratulations again Eric. You really deserved to win.


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January 20, 2005

 

Murry Grigsby
  Congratulations on your win Eric!


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January 20, 2005

 

Kathleen Clemons
  Congrats, Eric!


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January 20, 2005

 

Karen Engelbreth
  Congrats on your win, Eric!


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January 20, 2005

 

Lisa Deaton
  Beautiful photo and a well deserved win, Congrats!!


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January 20, 2005

 

Marie Fields
  Congratulations, Eric! Awesome image!


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January 20, 2005

 

Allan L. Whitehead
  Eric, congratulations on both of your wonderful wins, each of which is very richly deserved, my very dear friend - your good friend, Allan


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January 20, 2005

 

Audrea Telkamp
  Congratulations Eric!!!! Absolutely gorgeous!!!!


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January 20, 2005

 

Sharon Day
  Congratulations Eric!!! I loved this the first time I saw it! Well deserved!


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January 20, 2005

 

Kathleen R. Struckle
  Congrats.Eric!! Just a stunning image!


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January 20, 2005

 

Wendy Stevenson
  Congratulations Eric on your win with this great shot!!


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January 20, 2005

 

Dale Gast
  Congratulations, Eric!!! This is wonderful & so very well deserved!!!


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January 20, 2005

 

Mellanie
  Congrats on this win, Eric! Love this image!


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January 20, 2005

 
- Jim Kinnunen

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  Congratulations on your win Eric!!!


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January 20, 2005

 

Debra Booth
  Congratulations, Eric!!


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January 20, 2005

 

Darren K. Fisher
  Congrats not only on your win but one awesome image.


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January 20, 2005

 
- William C. Raco

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  Congratulations, Eric
Excellent work.

bill


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January 20, 2005

 
- William C. Raco

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  Congratulations, Eric
Excellent work.

bill


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January 20, 2005

 

Phil Sauvey
  Eric,

Awesome job! This is a great photograph and congrats on getting the gold!


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January 20, 2005

 

Kip T. Berger
  Beautiful colors and POV for this winning shot Eric! Congrats!


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January 20, 2005

 
- Wanda Judd

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  Congratulations, this is simply outstanding...


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January 21, 2005

 

Pamela K
  I still love this image! Congratulations, Eric!

Pam


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January 21, 2005

 

Kristi A. Howson
  Fantastic perspective and great lighting effects Eric. Congratulations!!!!!


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January 21, 2005

 
- Evy Johansen

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  Congratulations on your win, Eric! Beautiful image!


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January 21, 2005

 
StoneHorseStudios.com - Eric Highfield

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  Thanks everyone for your warming comments, I'm truly honoured! Your support has been greatly appreciated!


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January 22, 2005

 

Leonard Pierce
  Congratulations on your Second Place win Eric!!!


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January 23, 2005

 

Duane
  Very nice. A few questions. With such a long exposure, how were you able to perfectly balance the ambient light and prevent the campfire from totally blowing out all the detail on the trees close to the fire, and retain their true (albeit warmed) color? Also, was this relatively soon after sunset, or is the greenish-blue hue coming from city lights to the left? (based on the amount of light coming from the West). Did you choose Agfa film with any regard to reciprocity failure or pulling in more blue, or was it just what you normally shoot? How did you choose the f stop you selected for depth of field vs. getting a long enough exposure? Thanks, Duane


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January 24, 2005

 
StoneHorseStudios.com - Eric Highfield

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Hi Duane, thanks for the comments and Questions! This was photographed on my Wedding anniversary trip and my photography was mostly casual throughout this trip. As such, this photo was not planned out in advance nor was my record keeping on the logic and settings, but I think I can recall most of it, and will try to answer your questions the best I can:

1). With such a long exposure, how were you able to perfectly balance the ambient light and prevent the campfire from totally blowing out all the detail on the trees close to the fire, and retain their true (albeit warmed) color? - The campfire blowing out all the detail was my primary concern, so I moved as far away from it as possible. My option were limited, we were in a forest and most of our site was under a canopy of branches. The above photo will show you the approximate location of the exposure in relation to the campfire. It was actually very dark there, but I knew from other long exposures the compounding effect of light, that the fire would still be a factor (even when its barely detectable by the human eye). The colour retention of the trees was a surprise to me too. If I were too close to the fire, I expected orange glow trees...no star trails. Too far away, silhouetted trees, many bright star trails. I can only assume I ended up on a "sweet spot" in terms of proximity of the fire, maximized by fortunate exposure settings.

2). Also, was this relatively soon after sunset, or is the greenish-blue hue coming from city lights to the left? (based on the amount of light coming from the West). - About 3 hours after sunset I'd say. No cities within two hours of this location and 1/2 hour to the nearest small town so light pollution shouldn't be a factor. This was actually the second of 2 shots. the light in the bottom corner is the moon creeping up on the horizon. invisible to me at the time, but picked on the film. There would have been a third shot, but shortly after the second the moon's light was visible to me and I knew the "party" was over.

Continued....


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January 25, 2005

 
StoneHorseStudios.com - Eric Highfield

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  Continued from above....

3.) Did you choose Agfa film with any regard to reciprocity failure or pulling in more blue, or was it just what you normally shoot? - Agfa was the film we were trying at the time, and what was in the camera. I didn't have the reciprocity failure data with me which is why I had decided to go for three shots, the first shot was 1 hour (which turned up okay, but too dark, less colourful and shorter star trails), the second shot was at 2 hours (this one), and the third never happened, but even without the moon I think it would have been overexposed. There is some evidence of reciprocity failure throughout this image although less evident, you can see the greenish tint even in the leaves on the right side

4.) How did you choose the f stop you selected for depth of field vs. getting a long enough exposure? - I wanted the longest exposure possible so I went with F/22 which was the smallest on this lens.


I did a search and found this link for Dan Heller's site. He's got a great tutorial on star trails and even has a similar image to this one. Here's the URL:

http://www.danheller.com/star-trails.html


Thanks again for taking interest in my image!


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January 25, 2005

 
StoneHorseStudios.com - Eric Highfield

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  Thanks everyone for your comments and encouragement, it's greatly appreciated!


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January 25, 2005

 

Nancy Grace Chen
  Excellent idea and well-executed. A late congrats to you on your winner!!

Nancy


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January 31, 2005

 
StoneHorseStudios.com - Eric Highfield

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  Thank you, Nancy!


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February 01, 2005

 

Sandra Freyler
  Beautiful image! I also enjoyed viewing your gallery!


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September 23, 2005

 
StoneHorseStudios.com - Eric Highfield

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  Thank You, Sandra. I appreciate your visiting!


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September 24, 2005

 

Laura Clay-Ballard
  gorgeous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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October 14, 2005

 
StoneHorseStudios.com - Eric Highfield

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  Thank you ,Laura. Sorry for so late in responding. Must have missed it!


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June 01, 2006

 

M.Christine Duncan
  Fabulous image, I love all the color!!! And amazing star trails as well... welcome to Canada Photo Eric!


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May 16, 2009

 

Jean Lechleiter
  Beautiful colours perspective and star trails. BIG CONGRATS. on the finalist!!!


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May 26, 2009

 
StoneHorseStudios.com - Eric Highfield

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Thank you Christine & Jean!

I apologize for the delay in responding, I don't seem to be getting email notifications anymore.


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July 10, 2009

 
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