March 30-31, 2012
5D Mark III Visits The Milky Way In The Badlands Page 2 of 2
Looking for other views I wind up down the road where I woke up the morning before. Down that road I see lots of eyes in my headlights. I think, ok I have to at least try to get the Milky Way with deer eyes lit up in a flashlight beam.
Closer crop showing all the eyes and bodies lol.
F2.8, 5000 ISO, 23 seconds. The airglow seemed damn prevalent.
For the first bit I wondered, am I turned around and that's some weak auroras. But yeah no, that can't be it looking in this direction. It was airglow.
I haven't mentioned the other problem with roaming at night, not seeing rattle snakes! You'd want to walk into the grass off the road, but just wonder to yourself how wise that was. I wouldn't do it in flip flops anyway.
The main thing I wanted to do that started all this was see how many stars I could pull out on a star trail. I was having a real hard time convincing myself to waste precious time doing a trail with the sky I was having right now and with twilight not that far off. Think I had an hour and a half of complete darkness after the moon went down, but once I started shooting the Milky Way, I knew I had to keep shooting it. But I did go ahead and try to get a 15 minute trail in with this. During that I caught the above fireball with it. I learned the Milky Way really doesn't star trail great like this. So glad I didn't waste more time on it and glad I got the fireball. I only noticed it while thumbing through them, looking at the timelapse motion. Was like, what was that, cause it didn't come or go before or after like a plane would have. I then looked closer and saw it was clearly a fireball, with a puff/boom right before the end. Too bad more wasn't in frame, but I'll take it.
I'll be the first to admit, I'm an utter wuss in the dark by myself. I'll spook myself out on a gravel road 5 feet from the car and have to jump back in. I've learned just how much of a wuss I am in this regard. Few people are more-so I imagine. I let my mind get the best of me. You won't know what you're even scared of, but just the unknown in the dark seems to work.
This whole day and night I kept thinking, boy I bet the Milky Way ops up in the Notch Trail would rule in the dark. It was clearly one of those things I think about, but know for sure there's no way I'll do it alone in the dark. I'll convince myself I'll do it, without even convincing myself I'll do it. Like I'll knowingly lie to myself all night that I will. The only thing that can get me to be more brave, is a photo op that sounds damn good. The night before in this same area, the wind occasionally rattling a rattle snake warning sign, spooked the crap out of me and I got back in the car. It was so creepy in the dark. It'd be quiet, then make this random noise. All it takes lol. The biggest worry and what your mind is very willing to think is true, is that there are others right around you, that might not be up to any good. My mind in some ways like that, will just hop on assuming whatever is the worst case possibility. I'm just a wuss in the dark. Or at least maybe I was, now...
I get out of the car at the Notch Trail, probably around 4 a.m. Just amazingly dark. I get scared 5 feet from my car in more populated areas with houses around. Like a country road at night doing lightning or something. Usually those times require a cornfield and noise to "bug you out". Nothing beats standing near one in the dark, for several minutes fine, then out of nowhere something fairly large at least moves the corn. Anyway, I stand there thinking of this photo op I want to do. It's a freaking 3/4 mile hike through rough terrain and steep cliffs that surround you. If there was something I'm not bound to do in the dark by myself, here it is! Pretty serious creepy factor. I'm out for night ops on so many different things and time and time again I have proven how unable I am to stroll far away in the dark alone. I think to do it in the Badlands and I think to do it repeatedly at Murray Hill. I was going to camp out somewhere here at night this trip and prove to myself I can just go through with it and not be a wuss, no matter how easy it would be to get super freaked out over just the right situation lol. That fell through, mostly by not making a lot of sense, given I wanted to shoot all night and that was why I was here. So this idea of doing the whole Notch Trail alone, for a Milky Way op out the end of the thing, was another chance to prove something to myself. I stand next to the car for a moment and think, I couldn't even hang around the boardwalks the night before, over a stupid sign randomly making noises. Like I'm going up the freaking Notch Trail that far alone lol. In the next thought I said, just go and don't think. That's risky lol. You do that, then something freaks you the hell out, far from your car and life just becomes hell for you, unable to see crap. I mean hell it's bad enough to talk yourself into these things with full moon-light. I can't believe I actually did this and just went for it. Yet I can because there was a cool shot to be had and that was another driving factor, more than just proving to myself I can be less of a wuss. The main scary thing is just coming across people. Rather just not have that happen at 4 a.m. in the dark somewhere far from my car. I can deal with rattle snakes, coyotes, bighorns,.....mountain lions not so much.
As I start the trip, I quickly realized a good strategy to fend off getting freaked out, go really fast(I had to to have more time to shoot and the fact it'll take 20 minutes to get there anyway). As I went really fast, I would breathe so hard I'd really not be able to hear all the little noises that would come up. You feel so exposed turning the flashlight on too, but yeah, you could not do this without a flashlight. No way no how. Only light is star light. And there are tall cliffs on all sides knocking what there was of that down even more. I had two flashlights with lol. Thought ahead on the whole, man that'd suck if the flashlight died thing.
It was DARK in there. It was hard to not trip too. My biggest uncertainty with the log ladder thing, was the fact I would have a tripod with a camera on the end of it this time. Wasn't so bad. One hand on flashlight, other on tripod, who needs a 3rd for the ladder! The view from the ladder was freaking sweet. Where on the above image do I have to get to yet and am going? The end way out there under the Milky Way lol. Long way to go in pitch black, with crap in your hands. What I didn't want to do was catch my breath and be able to hear better again. I'm serious when I say this, I kept breathing hard even when I didn't need to anymore. The badlands is freaking messed up quiet. The first day I was on the door trail behind the one cliff wall. There were people around then. But just being over there, it was deafeningly quiet. It kinda bugs you. It's as quiet as space, straigtht up. It was exactly that way in here. So I had to keep breathing hard to fend off hearing creepy noises.
Kinda tricky to do the light on the ladder with such high ISOs. Gotta do it damn fast and so hit it just right when you flash it on and off.
The end is actually further than you can even see here. I believe you can see a damn faint and small white thing in the middle of this. That'd be about where the dangerous cliff warning sign is and that is a long way from the end. That's just closer to where the valley floor is raised up there.
Ok, time to leave the ladder and get going if I'm ever going to get to the end of the trail. I was in now, so it's not like it was anymore spooky or scary than just standing still in there at the ladder.
The Notch Trail is more interesting in pitch black night I found. During the day it's sometimes difficult to see where you are supposed to go. The few markers they have are far apart. And they are really just a dark pole. The biggest issue is just being in the stream beds or above them. The trail has to go in the stream beds at times, then on top of their walls other times. And at first there is a big cliff to stay away from, that drops straight down into the valley floor. The other thing at night is how the rock's shadows get you. You can only see exactly where the flashlight is. So many times the surface just looked different and you'd step wrong and about fall on your face. I should have busted the crap out of that camera and lens, either falling or really just smacking it on something(and I didn't take out the damage waivers). There were literally at least 5 almost bad slams that SHOULD have been. I'd catch myself with a quick step forward or side and keep from falling down. Anyway, note this spot above. Other images of it during the day are on the first page. Right there is the most skinny ledge, then that slanted part is that slick loose crap you'd slide down. At the end of that is just a cliff of doom. I did an interesting thing on the way back through here in the dark "lol".
A thousand near fall downs later and a few wrong turns and I'm there.
Pretty crazy view. This spot at the end of the trail is so sketchy. That is a BIG cliff you are on. The bad part about this spot is just how sloped it is to get up here. It's to the point you can just barely sit on your feet on it and not fall backward. If you step in the wrong place, you step on loose crap and you will go sliding backward and get messed up. I was being pretty stupid as far as going to the right here and on the worse part. I was never really toying with the edge though.
That's how slanted it is to get the view up there lol. I was up there on the right risking this fall back down on that lose crap. There were just a few solid things sticking up to try to grip your feet on while holding onto others. It's not easy to do this in the dark and try to set up a tripod on it too.
Looking back down from about where I took the shot before this one. Actually this is at the end of where you'd fall down to if you slipped backwards. That's going down and those are stars you see in the dark area. You get an idea of the terrain just walking in there. There was another spot that looks out that I shot during the day. You go down there and it is to the right somewhere. I tried to find it in the dark and I just couldn't. It's hard to go through here and know where to be. I was usually down when I should be up, then up when I should be down. You'd get to a spot and realize, ok I needed to be in the stream bed again already.
Again, that is looking up where you walk up to that edge. Most of the time on the edge you are fighting off falling backwards. It was especially silly on the right side with it steeper and full of loose stuff. I think it safe to say I burned of some of my wussiness by making it to the end of the Notch Trail in pitch black, no moonlight, alone and screwing around on what I was screwing around on to top it off. I was about to accidently rub some more off, by missing the cliff sign and taking the route through there that I wouldn't even take during the day.
So I was coming back down out of there, still dark. I'm making my way when all the sudden I come to two poles and it rapidly hits me what poles they are. I was standing on the back side of those, just having come through there, completely oblivious I took the wrong way at the cliff of death deal. It was a huge "aaaaaahhhhhhhhhh" moment as I scooted around the sign. I stop and think, holy crap I didn't just do that. That is how little you see in the dark. I completely missed the sign on the other side warning you and for damn sure never saw the cliff was right there in the dark. I must have just been right on that ledge. It's not real bad except right there where you can see on here. The last few feet right there with the skinny flat ledge to walk on. It's loose crap on the slanted part and well quite likely death death if you slid on that and down. You can imagine it being completely dark, walking along that edge and just figuring any slope next to you is like everywhere else and been, short slope to more flat area or more wall next to you. Because you have no vision outside the flashlight area and if you aren't swinging it around you wouldn't see the cliff. That was just a crazy oh crap moment when I hit those poles and realized where I was and had just evidently went through.
Back to the ladder, yay. It's still dark yet.
I was now in go home mode. I had a 6 hour drive ahead, after a 8:30 to 10:30 pm sleep and something planned the following night yet. Very exhausting. But then I come across this view. It was damn cool looking, with the trail between the formations and the wispy clouds.
The Badlands rule.
Ok, thought I could put some full sized crop examples between the 5D II and the 5D III. Not having the 5D II anymore, it made it impossible to just do same scene comparisons. I grabbed what I could at the same ISO settings, then tried to find areas of the image that at least had similar lightness. Using the 5D III, at the time I didn't feel there was any difference in ISO performance. I guess looking at comparisons, I suppose there is a tiny bit. Unprocessed 5D II on left and unprocessed 5D III on right.
At 400 they really are pretty damn similar, but perhaps the 5D III is more uniform and less junky looking. Yeah different colors, I can't help that.
Again unprocessed 5D II on left and 5D III on right, 800 ISO now.
5D III does edge it out. The scene layout and exposure matter, but you should be able to see that it would only matter so much. 5D III will have smaller noise that is more uniform.
Unprocessed 5D II on left, unprocessed 5D III on right, 1600 ISO now.
This time the red, but similar lightness, is the 5D III, unlike the first 400 where the 5D II happened to be a red area of a photo. Still the 5D III at 1600 ISO is a little smaller and more uniform. I really didn't think it was going to be like this from what I had in my head. I guess I could now see the 2 stop improvement claim being true, mostly because if you think about it, they have the high ISO noise so good now, that each stop increment doesn't change that much. So it wouldn't take big visual differences to have a 2 stop better noise level. But still, I'm not sure I'd buy a 5D III over this sorta change. But then again, perhaps that ability is ramped up as you try to use real high ISO's on the night sky.
Here is a very high iso shot done at 8000 ISO. Lightroom 3's default noise settings were used, so no luminance reduction was applied to the full sized crop example below.
Moving on up some more to 12,800 ISO for 10 seconds then pushed half a stop in lightroom 3. Again no luminance noise reduction applied on the below 100% crop. You'd almost not even want to apply any to the sky/stars. And you could easily help out the foreground and those clouds with some noise removal, then have yourself a pretty usable image I imagine. 25,600 ISO at night seemed to cross the threshold though, into rather junky. I'd actually rather keep it at 8000 ISO and below.
Considering that is 12,800 ISO, no luminance noise removal at 100% and at a rather detail lacking shot of the sky, it's pretty good! Sky is going to be the worst situation to hide noise. It's kinda messed up you can use 12,800 now. I'd probably set the limit for sky stuff just below that.
As far as the rest of the camera, I really don't even care about the rest of the new stuff myself and have no intention of buying a full frame anytime soon(need even more money for good lenses to make it worth it). I don't use them for video, as I don't have second bodies or sets of lenses and for chasing I shoot both at the same time obviously. Frame rate doesn't matter to me really, but man when I held the shutter down when I got it, it was a surprise. Lot faster than old one. I did miss how the T2i does live view zoom and picture zoom. It was pretty annoying to do either on the 5D III. For picture zoom, you have to push the magnify glass button, then spin the wheel to zoom in or out. To zoom on live view, you have to push the magnify button then push it again, not spin the wheel. After getting so used to just pushing a plus or minus button on the T2i for both those things, it was really annoying. Then even as I'd get used to it, I'd then screw it up just how they have it different on there. After zooming on photos I'd get used to that method, then when I'd live view I'd be trying to do it the same way, or vice versa.
The biggest plus I saw was that live view leveling function. Holy crap that thing is sweet! I wouldn't mess with it during the day, unless some odd scene never seemed to look right, like big cliff or hill on one side. But at night, that thing is a dream. There was no moon light during the Milky Way ops obviously. You look through the lens and really can't see much, especially if you had pushed the shutter half way to check settings, then you'd have to wait a minute to adjust your eyes enough to maybe make out the horizon. No need with that thing. Just angle it close, then push live view and the info button until you have the leveling thing on the screen. I will miss not having that now! (as I sent the camera back to lensrentals.com)
Anyway, enough on all that. It was a rewarding trip, like the Badlands always seem to be. I also got to take home the fact I manned up and went off into the spooky darkness alone lol. Now I just have to do that at Devil's Tower solo. Only way to get good views at night there. That would be something I considered impossible to get myself to do. It's easy to think it would be no big deal, until you are there alone and there's zero light and scary trees all over lol. I think I watched too many movies or likely it was all those unsolved mystery episodes as a kid. Yeah it has to be the latter. That host alone gives me nightmares. http://media.screened.com/uploads/0/34/65887-robert_stack_498_large.jpg Thanks Robert Stack. We used to live on the edge of a creek. Parent's would leave, it would get dark and I'd not have closed the blinds yet. Then before I knew it, programming would change and Unsolved Mysteries would come on. I'd be frozen there on the couch, afraid to get up to close the blinds, cause I just knew someone was out there. Good times. Parent's, don't leave you kid home alone when shows like unsolved mysteries and its freaky host are on the tv.
It's pretty sad I can't search for "unsolved mystery" images on google and not see one of my damn storm pictures. I mean really?
Anyway, if you've owned a 5D II and considered getting the 5D III and expect to be impressed by the noise levels difference, I wouldn't plan on it. 5D II was already rather good, so not really a knock. I'd buy it for that live view leveling function myself lol. Such a nice tool in the dark dark.
Short short timelapse of the Milky Way before I took off for the Notch shots. You can see the fireball appear right after the car lights.
Couple other accounts from the Badlands this year. I'm done going for the year now lol.
January 24-25, 2012 Badlands Auroras, **Amazing Fireball**, Star Trails and Wild Sunrise
