Since we joined Instagram (we're @MPOWERDinc), we've been lucky enough to meet some truly talented and interesting people from all walks of life. In _______, we find out what makes them tick.
Today, Josh (our head of social media) sits down with Scott Poupis (aka @supertubes) a nature photographer who's taken his night landscapes in an unexpected direction thanks to Luci.
Josh: So, what are the bare essentials you need to get into night photography?
Scott: A camera (haha), a tripod (the more heavy duty, the better) and a healthy appetite for long nights in nature – which can really let the imagination run wild. That last part can be both good and bad. And, of course, some Luci Lights, which have helped my night photography become a different type of creative and weird, veering into the surreal.
Josh: We definitely see that in your latest stuff. It's weird in the best way, making familiar landscapes feel almost alien. How did you get into doing this sort of thing? Were you always a photographer?
Scott: I've been obsessed with astronomy and staring up at the night sky since I was a kid. The idea of not knowing what’s out there - seeing all those stars, some even with planets orbiting around them, and some stars that might not even be there anymore. It's a crazy concept to think about. Then there's the inconceivable concept of other life out there. It's the imagination's wonderland.
With a camera, you can pull out all that detail in the night sky. If it's the right time of year, you get to see the Milky Way's galactic center and that’s where all the color and dust clouds come through with a longer exposure. It's really amazing to see and the naked eye doesn't always capture all of that.
Josh: No kidding. In New York, we're lucky if we see more than the moon on any given night, there's so much light pollution. Since this isn't your day job, where do you draw the line between hobby and passion?
Scott: To me, a hobby is what someone does for fun in their free time and it's left at that. A passion is when you're out there climbing rocks in the dark or driving down sketchy dirt roads at 3am and you still have work the next day. I would say passion pushes you to get better and better and even involves a bit of what could be called insanity to make it happen. You have to throw yourself into it.
Josh: So you're out there at 3am sometimes, that sounds potentially exhausting to someone like me. How do you carve out the time to make shoots happen?
Scott: The great thing about Astrophotography or night photography is that it (of course) happens at night, and I work during the day. So yeah, if you can deal with the lack of sleep, then you can make it happen. I’m lucky to live in Southern California where it rarely ever rains, so weather is usually not an issue. Plus, it's only a two-hour drive to Joshua tree, one of my favorite places to shoot, because there’s so little light pollution.
Josh: So you've been doing this for a while, and it's clear from your work that you know what you're doing. For those interested in starting out, what are the biggest mistakes people make when starting night photography?
What do you wish someone had told you when you started out?
Scott: Oh man. I've seen pictures where people have a camera that has a crazy ISO range and they try and push it to the max. Nothing is worse than a beautiful picture of the Milky Way with tons of grainy noise in it from pushing your ISO too high. It makes the photo a lot less sharp. It's also important to study the night sky and where you live and, depending on the time of year, when you will get great shots of the Milky Way or just crisp stars. Depending on the shot you want, you'll have to know what's up during the time of year.
Josh: What's your favorite photo of yours? Of anyone’s?
Scott: One of my favorite photos I've taken I call "the tree of life." It was taken in Mecca Hills just south of Joshua Tree and I used a Luci to light the tree up blue.
It's hard to choose a favorite photo of someone else's because there are so many good ones that I see everyday. Some of my favorite photographers are Andy Best and Jimmy Chin, their work always inspires me to get out and shoot more.
Scott C Poupis
