A couple weeks ago during the full moon, I drove up to Crown Point. I had some specific photos in mind and sometimes you just have to revise your plans if something better arises, and that Monday was the night for adventure.
My thought was to park south of Crown Point to capture it lit up by the full moon and to have a long enough exposure so that you could still see the stars .... instead, once I parked, I noticed on the west side of the Vista House (the side i the shadow of the moon), there were sparks. I thought to myself that it looked a lot like a steel wool photoshoot, so I decided to investigate.
I went towards the light and struck up a conversation and after some chit chat I had my tripod set up next to the two guys who were the masterminds behind the adventure. Now, I've read about steel wool photography, but I haven't had a chance to do it. I asked them their settings and all my photos turned out great!
I used my Tokina 11-16mm 2.8 lens and had it set to ISO 200, f/8.0, 20-25 sec, and focus set to manual at infinity. This was my first time taking night photos with my new lens and I'm quite happy with it.
As with all good photoshoots, there's a great story behind it. No, it's not the story I've already told you, but it's more of a lesson. Steel wool photography lesson #1-100, never have anything flammable within reach of the flying, flaming bits of steel wool. This includes having your car window open ... thankfully only a towel in the guy's car caught on fire and not the actual upholstery.
