Venus (the brightest object above Banker’s Hall and just in cloud), and the last of the winter stars (Castor & Pollux above Venus, and Capella at right) sinking into the west and northwest on a late May evening. This was from Scotsman’s Hill overlooking the Stampede Grounds. It was taken as a demonstration of using a graduated neutral density filter to dim the city lights while leaving the sky more or less untouched and unfiltered, to better balance the huge difference in brightness between the natural sky and unnatural ground. Taken with the Sony a7III at ISO 100 and Canon 24mm lens, at f/4 for a single exposure of 15 seconds. Using a Cokin P Grad Filter “upside down” so the dark area was at the bottom. No light pollution filter was employed. The diffraction spikes are from the lens iris, not a filter.
A long 4-minute exposure in twilight as a demo of urban car trails with an ND filter to prolong shutter speed, shot from the Zoo Bridge on Memorial Drive, Calgary, May 28, 2018. Venus is the streak at upper right. Shot at f/5.6 for good depth of field but to minimize sensor spot visibility which become a problem at very small apertures. With the Canon 24mm lens on the Sony a7III at ISO 100, and with the Syrp Variable ND filter at ND 9 setting.
The 1910 Liberty Schoolhouse, a classic pioneer one-room school, on the Alberta prairie under the stars in the twilight of a spring night. Moonlight from the waxing Moon provides the illumination. This is a luminosity mask blend of a short exposure for the twilight and longer exposure for the rest, with a vintage effect using Luminar applied to the ground for the rustic tone. With the Laowa 15mm lens and Sony a7III camera.
