Archive 2015 · First time Milky Way shots last night after the new moon

pontmercy
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · First time Milky Way shots last night after the new moon

This is about the best I could do last night. Many pitfalls to this kind of photography, for sure, but I will enjoy learning how to perfect it! I also don't know what color the sky is supposed to be. My camera shot more "deep blue" space but I see others that have a purple hue. On the last shot I tried to force it into that. Still pretty, though!

Nikon Df, 18-35 f/3.5 @ 25 sec., ISO 6400

Nikon Df, 18-35 f/3.5 @ 25 sec., ISO 5000

Nikon Df, 18-35 f/3.5 @ 30 sec., ISO 3200

Nikon Df, 18-35 f/3.5 @ 25 sec., ISO 6400

Aug 15, 2015 at 10:45 AM

JimFox
Offline
• • • • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · First time Milky Way shots last night after the new moon

Hey Patrick,

It looks like you had fun shooting the Milky Way. Your first one seems the most natural of this group. But as you are finding out, there is not really an easy answer to what the WB should be when shooting stars and the Milky Way.

For the most part, there is no right or wrong answer. It's how do you want it to look? Personally, I will adjust the WB cooler when I am processing the shot to get the sky to have a blue look. I will adjust the Tint up to give the blue a rich look but not so much as the whole scene turns Magenta like your #4. My WB is most often in the 3500 range, but that can vary. And I adjust the Tint to my taste.

The main thing I watch for is I don't want a star scene with a blue sky and all the stars are blue too. Because most of the bigger stars should look white. Also with the Milky Way, I don't want to adjust the WB so cool that he Milky Way now looks Blue instead of it's normal whitish/brownish feel. Also when adjusting the Tint, I don't want to go so far either that the MW now is Magenta colored.

I hope that gives you some idea's to work with.

Jim

Aug 15, 2015 at 03:08 PM

pontmercy
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · First time Milky Way shots last night after the new moon

Thank you Jim! Great feedback and advice!

Aug 15, 2015 at 03:20 PM

jforkner
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · First time Milky Way shots last night after the new moon

To my eye, the night sky is black in the absence of any light source be it from the setting sun, the moon, or light pollution from towns or neighborhood lights. And even away from the light source the sky fades to black. When shooting shortly after sunset, the sky can still retain some blue. But after a couple of hours, it fades to black.

To me, your first three images appear unnaturally blue, especially after noting in the EXIF data they were taken around 10:30pm. And your last is unnaturally magenta. But as Jim points out, it’s ultimately how you want the image to look. I do think you’ve done a good job balancing the brightness of the MW to the surrounding sky. Too many images are presented with the MW too bright compared to the surrounding sky and look totally unnatural to me. But, again, it’s your image to be presented as you see fit.

Jack

Aug 16, 2015 at 07:24 AM


FM Forums \| Landscape Photographer \| Join Upload & Sell

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.