January Image: Kiluea Caldera at night

The image was shot at 10:00 at night with the moon providing light. In addition, I did a 30 second exposure with my new wide angle lens (Tokina 11-16 2.8)

COMMENTS:
 

Jerry Appel	As a record of the scene, the image does the job. However, I somehow find the clouds in the background to be more appealing than the bright and not as sharp foreground. I might gave been termpted to make the sky and clouds just a little brighter to bring additional attention to that area.
Bill Buchanan	Great shot Karen.The time exposure realy worked in this situation. You have detail in the sky with couds and stars. My only negative comment would have been some additional foreground. I would like to see more in the foreground to give some base for the image
Joe Hearst	You captured the plume beautifully, especially because nothing is burned out. And the clouds and stars complement it wonderfully. But I think it would be stronger if the left side were cropped.
Guy Davies	Wow! I would really like to see something like this. The range of brightness in this image is very great. The brilliant yellow flame is the dominant part of the image and there is remarkable detail and texture in the red smoke blowing out of frame on the right. The sky and clouds are well recorded and the horizon line is clearly defined. You might like to try the Shadows/Highlights adjustment in Photoshop to bring out some more detail in the lower left. The attached thumbnail shows what I mean. This was two applications of Shadows/Highlights using moderate adjustment values each time.
Erik Rosengren	--An interesting shot with your lens Karen. The clouds and stars are tack sharp and the composition is good as well. I don't understand why the volcano smoke appears soft on my monitor. At f 16 and up all should have been sharp unless the long exposure created the softness.
Ann Schonlau	This isn't your typical image of a spouting volcano. Very creative in using the night sky as the backdrop. It makes the image different and interesting.

Member Bio

Karen Kotner- Biography I grew up and currently live in St. Louis, Mo. Our family spent four years in Boston where my husband was a resident at the Massachusetts General Hospital. I have a grown son and daughter and four grandchildren. I spent the last six years before retiring commuting to New York where I worked for MetLife in charge of all benefit programs for active and retired employees and was a member of the Metlife Merger and Acquisition team. Upon retiring in 2006, I began to pursue an interest in photography taking classes and becoming active in the St. Louis Camera Club. Although I loved the darkroom, I decided to focus on digital. Two years ago I won a membership to PSA. I became Photojournalism Interclub chair for the 2008-2009 club year and also won my first bronze medal in the most recent 75th Anniversary Exhibition. We have always loved to travel and I use travel as an opportunity to capture interesting people and beautiful places. I have (successfully) entered a number of PSA approved exhibitions to receive feedback on my images and look forward to this study group as a way to be exposed to expert photography as well as receive constructive feedback on my images.