# @noahwetzel on Instagram

- **Type:** Video
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/C2tTfcLOzIl
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/59723659-noahwetzel-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/c7a53a7aad.jpg
- **Posted:** 2024-01-30T02:40:57.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Noah Wetzel (@noahwetzel) — https://gondola.cc/noahwetzel

## Caption

Grizzly Canyon Glow ✨

Two minute, single frame exposure with aerial lighting on the trees via light painting with a powerful headlamp attached to a drone. The yellow light you see is light pollution from the townofaltaut and saltlakecity_utah . 

It’s important for me to stress these days how much work goes into capturing my best work. This photograph took 3 years to conceive, plan, and pursue, roughly 50 hours total. First back in 2019 scouting locations for perfect compositions. Then returning to shoot sunrise imagery in 2020. In 2021, I began to utilize aerial light painting techniques, and that’s when the idea to illuminate this came to mind. Next I had to wait, I would need a huge winter storm to stack these trees without wind, I would also need an untouched foreground with no ski tracks in it. Finally conditions aligned in December of 2022, and I invested three absolutely freezing nights. Waiting hours on end for clouds to clear, one of the nights not even pulling out my camera… just hiking back and forth to stay warm. This was captured on the first night, I was pursuing a slightly different composition, and honestly… irritated with the clouds. Then I decided to work with them, to change my exposure and see what I could get. 

There’s much more detail that goes into creating these images. I only get a few attempts per night. From pre-composing the image before the drone is in the air,  to the toe warmers and revving the drone rotors to help internally warm the batteries so the drone doesn’t fall out of the sky… I’ve learned a ton through trial and error, expensive errors. Also, the headlamp needs to be angled slightly outward and not straight down, so when I toggle the drone controls to rotate the drone left and right in the air… I can paint light with it… yet still have a very studio esque straight down lighting. In this image, there are about 5 sections of trees that I paint light with for 20-30 seconds each. It’s all a precise effort!

#fineartphotography #behindthescenes #interiordesign #interiordesigner #utahart #utahartist #fineart #utahinteriordesigner #utahdesign #artinstallation #artinstagram #artinstall #altautah #skiart #skiing

## Stats

- **Views:** 1,332
- **Likes:** 137
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 10

## Tags

interiordesign, altautah, artinstallation, artinstagram, skiing, utahinteriordesigner, artinstall, utahartist, fineartphotography, utahart, interiordesigner, behindthescenes, fineart, utahdesign, skiart

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