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NOVEMBER 20, 2010: NAFTAN CAVE AT NIGHT

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Looking south, out the Naftan Cave, toward Tinian.  The yellow lights to the left are likely lights of a small village community (maybe Marpo Heights?).  The white lights to the right are on the Voice of America Broadcasting towers.<br />
<br />
The moon was behind me (which is why you have some illumination on the foreground walls).  This is a composite of 7 photos, ranging in exposure from 1 minute to 20 minutes, and combined in a way to enhance range of exposure ("dynamic range," to use the official terminology).  For those of you who are familiar with High Dynamic Range programs, I prefer to do it manually.<br />
<br />
To give you some idea of the dedication (idiocy?) required to do such night photography:  Consider that this one photograph probably required about 45 minutes or so of total exposure time for all the individual shots.  My camera has a noise-reduction feature which "exposes" the sensor (with the shutter closed) for an equal amount of time after the shot is taken (and then uses that information to cancel out some of the noise {"grain"} which is inherent in long and under-exposed photographs.  So, ignoring the time to get there and set up, this one picture you see required about 90 minutes of camera exposure time.  Of course, that is also ignoring the Photoshop time in combining the individual shots.<br />
<br />
But, it is a lot of fun, too!  Amazing how much color is there, if the exposure is long enough (I could not see any of this color that night, except for the yellow cast of the lights to the left)!
1 / 5

Looking south, out the Naftan Cave, toward Tinian. The yellow lights to the left are likely lights of a small village community (maybe Marpo Heights?). The white lights to the right are on the Voice of America Broadcasting towers.

The moon was behind me (which is why you have some illumination on the foreground walls). This is a composite of 7 photos, ranging in exposure from 1 minute to 20 minutes, and combined in a way to enhance range of exposure ("dynamic range," to use the official terminology). For those of you who are familiar with High Dynamic Range programs, I prefer to do it manually.

To give you some idea of the dedication (idiocy?) required to do such night photography: Consider that this one photograph probably required about 45 minutes or so of total exposure time for all the individual shots. My camera has a noise-reduction feature which "exposes" the sensor (with the shutter closed) for an equal amount of time after the shot is taken (and then uses that information to cancel out some of the noise {"grain"} which is inherent in long and under-exposed photographs. So, ignoring the time to get there and set up, this one picture you see required about 90 minutes of camera exposure time. Of course, that is also ignoring the Photoshop time in combining the individual shots.

But, it is a lot of fun, too! Amazing how much color is there, if the exposure is long enough (I could not see any of this color that night, except for the yellow cast of the lights to the left)!

  • Looking south, out the Naftan Cave, toward Tinian.  The yellow lights to the left are likely lights of a small village community (maybe Marpo Heights?).  The white lights to the right are on the Voice of America Broadcasting towers.<br />
<br />
The moon was behind me (which is why you have some illumination on the foreground walls).  This is a composite of 7 photos, ranging in exposure from 1 minute to 20 minutes, and combined in a way to enhance range of exposure ("dynamic range," to use the official terminology).  For those of you who are familiar with High Dynamic Range programs, I prefer to do it manually.<br />
<br />
To give you some idea of the dedication (idiocy?) required to do such night photography:  Consider that this one photograph probably required about 45 minutes or so of total exposure time for all the individual shots.  My camera has a noise-reduction feature which "exposes" the sensor (with the shutter closed) for an equal amount of time after the shot is taken (and then uses that information to cancel out some of the noise {"grain"} which is inherent in long and under-exposed photographs.  So, ignoring the time to get there and set up, this one picture you see required about 90 minutes of camera exposure time.  Of course, that is also ignoring the Photoshop time in combining the individual shots.<br />
<br />
But, it is a lot of fun, too!  Amazing how much color is there, if the exposure is long enough (I could not see any of this color that night, except for the yellow cast of the lights to the left)!
  • I decided to show the individual exposures used for this cliff shot.  This is a 3-minute exposure.  If you look closely, you can see a couple of short star trails in the sky.
  • The shutter was open for 6 minutes for this shot.  You can see the coral reef under the water quite well.  The water surface was pretty much normal for here:  Not calm but also not overly churned.
  • 12-minute exposure.  I love how the long exposures give that misty look along the edges, where the waves splash.  I'm surprised at how well the reef shows:  Keep in mind that all that reef is significantly underwater (probably 5 to 20 feet deep).
  • Here I have combined the 3 previous photos, in the hope of marrying the best exposure for the sky with the best for the middle range and foreground.<br />
<br />
If you would like to see what this area looks like during the daytime, check out the following album links:<br />
<br /> <a href="http://www.optimimagery.com/CNMI-ON-LAND/SAIPAN/NAFTA/9860121_HeYsX">http://www.optimimagery.com/CNMI-ON-LAND/SAIPAN/NAFTA/9860121_HeYsX</a><br />
<br /> <a href="http://www.optimimagery.com/CNMI-ON-LAND/SAIPAN/JAN-2-2010-TOILET-BOWL/10985829_o65yh">http://www.optimimagery.com/CNMI-ON-LAND/SAIPAN/JAN-2-2010-TOILET-BOWL/10985829_o65yh</a><br />
<br />
<br />
For more night shots around Saipan, see the following links:<br />
<br /> <a href="http://www.optimimagery.com/CNMI-ON-LAND/SAIPAN/BIRD-ISLAND-BY-THE-LIGHT-OF-A/13914023_tr8M9">http://www.optimimagery.com/CNMI-ON-LAND/SAIPAN/BIRD-ISLAND-BY-THE-LIGHT-OF-A/13914023_tr8M9</a><br />
<br /> <a href="http://www.optimimagery.com/CNMI-ON-LAND/SAIPAN/BANZAI-BY-MOONLIGHT/11382678_Dnmui">http://www.optimimagery.com/CNMI-ON-LAND/SAIPAN/BANZAI-BY-MOONLIGHT/11382678_Dnmui</a><br />
<br /> <a href="http://www.optimimagery.com/Other/EVENTS-AND-HAPPENINGS/NEW-YEARS-EVE-AND-MORNING/10840746_nmsst">http://www.optimimagery.com/Other/EVENTS-AND-HAPPENINGS/NEW-YEARS-EVE-AND-MORNING/10840746_nmsst</a><br />
(this last link has night photos at the END of the album).
  • OptimImagery

    on November 23, 2010

    Thanks! I find it hard to get myself up and out for these night activities (definitely not planning on giving up my day job!), but the surprise that comes from these shots makes it so much fun!

  • t

    on November 22, 2010

    ...veryNice:)...

  • OptimImagery

    on November 21, 2010

    Thanks, y'all! Bev: The lights are on Tinian. The view is to the south.

  • TDM

    on November 21, 2010

    Well worth the time invested. Great capture!

  • BeverLi At Spirals

    on November 21, 2010

    Look where Mark did his night photography a couple nights ago!

  • BeverLi

    on November 21, 2010

    That is an incredible shot! I actually know where the cave is and how much time and CARE it takes to get there, walking on the edge of the cliffs over bush obstructing coral.....But then I've never done it AT NIGHT, have I.....probably easier at night, eh?
    BEAUTIFUL ~ I'm impressed. I must've been turned around when I was there....I would think the lights would be Tinian, but I know better.

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