About this limited edition photograph:

The blended/stacked photograph “Bromide Charcoal Kilns” was created near Maybell, Colorado.

Bromide Charcoal Kilns is comprised of (16) 60-second exposures for the foreground (f/1.8 aperture, ranging from ISO-640 – ISO-2000), and (10) 10-second exposures (f/1.8 aperture and ISO-4000) stacked for the sky/stars.

I created this blended/stacked photograph by setting up my Sony A7iii camera with a Sony 20mm f/1.8 G lens on my Feisol CT-3472 LV tripod featuring a Really Right Stuff BH-40 ballhead. When I arrived on site I discovered that there was a lot of smoke in the atmosphere from wildfires in both Colorado and Utah. I could still faintly see stars peaking behind the smoke, so I decided to continue with my planned photo shoot. I used two VidPro Varicolor 144-LED panels to illuminate the kilns and the foreground. I first placed one LED panel behind and to the left of the kiln on the left, and then I placed the second LED panel inside the kiln. I placed a folded white handkerchief over my LED panels to reduce the overall brightness. Then I took a photograph. Afterward I moved the two LED panels to illuminate the next kiln, and I took the next photograph. I also placed an LED panel in front of all of the kilns to give an overall illumination. I focused my camera’s lens on the foreground bush and took a photograph to allow me to focus stack. Finally, I took ten exposures of the hazy sky and stars.

At home I edited my photographs in Lightroom and I stacked and blended the photographs using Photoshop and Sequator. The resulting image is Bromide Charcoal Kilns. 

Bromide Charcoal Kilns History:
Dating from 1898, the four stone charcoal kilns are important as the only remaining intact structures associated with the Bromide Mining and Milling Company’s smelter facility. The period of intensive operations at the facility extended through the end of World War I. The kilns are in good condition and clearly reflect the beehive shape associated with structures constructed to process wood into charcoal. They have been ranked by a researcher of Colorado’s coke ovens and charcoal kilns as the best surviving examples of their type in the state.

Nocturnal Designs © 2020.