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Thread: $5,000 Postcards

  1. #1

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    $5,000 Postcards

    http://www.peterlik.com/tree-universe

    "It turns out that first impressions were a very good indicator of future performance: “Tree of the Universe” virtually sold out in just 33 hours! This eclipses Peter’s previous fastest seller, the majestic “Tree of Hope,” which sold out in 72 hours"

    That's 950 prints in 33 hours.

    Really incredible and quite sad how well this man is doing.

    How can over saturated colors countervail photographic content?

    And not to mention his "limited editions" of 950 prints.

    Is this photography for the HDTV generation?

    Johnny

  2. #2

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    Re: $5,000 Postcards

    Geezum is that shot even possible in-camera?

  3. #3
    Vaughn's Avatar
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    Re: $5,000 Postcards

    He would have had to use a mechanism to move the camera with the movement of the stars. So his explanation of the taking of the image is not complete.

  4. #4

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    Re: $5,000 Postcards

    ...and there's no way to move the camera (to keep up with the movement of the stars over 30 mins) without moving the tree too...so I'm calling BS. Photoshop.

  5. #5
    Vaughn's Avatar
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    Re: $5,000 Postcards

    Actually, I do not think there are any trees on the top of Mauna Kea, actually.

    Might be out-right lying.

  6. #6

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    Re: $5,000 Postcards

    That's right--the tree line on Mauna Kea is well below the summit. That's partly what makes it such a great spot for observatories. It's possible that you could do a 30-second exposure with no visible trail, but I don't think you'd get such good color.

  7. #7
    jp's Avatar
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    Re: $5,000 Postcards

    Quote Originally Posted by Vaughn View Post
    He would have had to use a mechanism to move the camera with the movement of the stars. So his explanation of the taking of the image is not complete.
    It's a 30s exposure; about the most you can get away with without serious star blur and a wide angle lens. How he got it that bright in 30s is beyond me though. Maybe curves in photoshop? Maybe composite? I would expect to need several minutes to get a starry sky that bright; at least at my location.

  8. #8
    Vaughn's Avatar
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    Re: $5,000 Postcards

    Thanks, I was thinking 30 minutes, even while I was reading 30 seconds!

  9. #9

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    Re: $5,000 Postcards

    I think I can field this one with some authority since I worked beside astronomers at an optical telescope observatory for a dozen years. Stars remain pinpoint for about 2-4 seconds without any tracking, depending on magnification. So that's most likely a long telescope tracking exposure (tip off is the deep red hydrogen response.) And it's a composite image to get the tree. Common enough cheat, that to BS about it is pretty cheesy. Incidentally, it was astronomers who invented image-stacking, to get around noise issues with early noisy piezo-cooled digital sensors (they'd been using liquid nitrogen cooled ones, prior, to keep circuit noise down to manageable levels). It's so easy to stack exposures these days, that this might be dozens of images of the stars, too-- especially if shot with a relatively noisy DSLR tracking through or piggybacked upon a telescope.

  10. #10

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    Re: $5,000 Postcards

    There are absolutely no trees at the top of Mauna Kea. It looks like Mars up there. The tree line is right about at the visitor center at 9300ft, 4500ft below where he claims he was. I don't believe for a second that 950 of those sold in 33 hours. If he's going to lie when it doesn't matter at all such as where he took a photograph then you can sure as hell bet he's going to lie about how desirable his prints are.

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