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Archive 2013 · Milkyway over Alabama Hills.

harshaj1
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Milkyway over Alabama Hills.

I spent two nights at Alabama Hills last week. This is my first time out with the astrotrac. I was trying to figure out what the optimum settings for the milky way without having too much noise in the images. I am getting closer but need more field time with the gear.
This is a blend of two exposures, one for the foreground and another for the sky.
Harsha

Jul 17, 2013 at 03:27 PM

jeremy raffer
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Milkyway over Alabama Hills.

Looks great. I got the polarie recently but haven't had a chance to test it. Would be interested in learning what settings you've tried and the results. From what I've heard, the best results are from taking multiple exposures and stacking them with dark slides. I've also seen that their are some really funky things astrophotographers will do like taking some pics with high iso and some with low.

Also, did you have any issues blending the two exposures? Or is it just simple layer masks...?

Jul 17, 2013 at 03:50 PM

JimFox
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Milkyway over Alabama Hills.

Hey Harsha,

Now that looks very cool! Good work with your Astro-trac. The wb of the foreground is a bit different being so cyan cast, but it really works for me. Good job.

Jim

Jul 17, 2013 at 04:31 PM

roguecoolman
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Milkyway over Alabama Hills.

Beautiful Harsha,

the details in the milky way looks fantastic and I like the composition.

Jason

Jul 17, 2013 at 05:15 PM

kellyakinsart
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Milkyway over Alabama Hills.

Beautiful. Perfect setting for the Miky Way.I love the color.

Kelly

Jul 17, 2013 at 10:00 PM

Todd
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Milkyway over Alabama Hills.

Looks nice! However the scene and Milky Way needs a lot more warmth. I feel it is too blue in color. I usually use the kelvin white balance when I photograph the Milky Way, usually between 3850k to 4100k depending on the light pollution and sky glow.

The two shot composite works well here, I have only done one ground/sky composite with my D800e and the astrotrac and it was a photo of the milky way over the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. I hope to get out and shoot more Milky Way soon, I like the photo....well done.

T

Jul 17, 2013 at 10:35 PM

Derek Weston
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Milkyway over Alabama Hills.

Looks really good to me exposure/noise wise. And very well blended, I must say.

Just way too blue, I'd go a little warmer look.

Edited on Jul 17, 2013 at 11:29 PM · View previous versions

Jul 17, 2013 at 10:52 PM

AMaji
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Milkyway over Alabama Hills.

A lovely image Harsha.

Jul 17, 2013 at 10:54 PM

Ben Horne
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Milkyway over Alabama Hills.

This turned out fantastic. I really like the color and very natural processing.

Jul 17, 2013 at 11:28 PM

jingjing
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Milkyway over Alabama Hills.

excellent shot, like the foreground tune.

Jul 17, 2013 at 11:34 PM

dgdg
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Milkyway over Alabama Hills.

lovely photo. good job.
I think the color is a matter of taste. It works for me, but I might also like something different as suggested.

Jul 18, 2013 at 01:40 AM

nburwell
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Milkyway over Alabama Hills.

Absolutely gorgeous! Great job with the blending as well!

-Nick

Jul 18, 2013 at 09:34 AM

boingyman
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Milkyway over Alabama Hills.

What a beauty! I personally like the colors as well. The lines inthe foreground hills really make it more interesting.

Jul 18, 2013 at 11:10 AM

JustinPoe
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Milkyway over Alabama Hills.

Harsha, the more I look at this, the more I like it.

I love the PP you did here. It gives you a taste of the foreground, but leaves some mystery there too. Thank you for sharing your talents with us.

Jul 18, 2013 at 12:27 PM

Nori
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Milkyway over Alabama Hills.

Very nice image Harsha

Jul 18, 2013 at 12:35 PM

astro-ep
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Milkyway over Alabama Hills.

Fantastic work, Harsha. Really a stunning image.

Looks like you're getting things zero'd-in.

Eric

Jul 18, 2013 at 05:53 PM

harshaj1
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Milkyway over Alabama Hills.

jeremy raffer wrote:
Looks great. I got the polarie recently but haven't had a chance to test it. Would be interested in learning what settings you've tried and the results. From what I've heard, the best results are from taking multiple exposures and stacking them with dark slides. I've also seen that their are some really funky things astrophotographers will do like taking some pics with high iso and some with low.

Also, did you have any issues blending the two exposures? Or is it just simple layer masks...?
Thanks Jeremy.
I started with rather conservative settings. My initial settings were ISO 640, F5.6 and exposure of 140 seconds. I got much better milky way shots with F2.8, ISO 800 and exposure time of 140 seconds.
What strikes me the most is the relatively lack of noise. I did not do any noise reduction for the sky in the image above. My ISO 6400 images before the tracker had good details but lots of noise. They were only good for smaller prints ( at least for my taste).

The problem with multiple exposures and stacking is the foreground. It is very time consuming to stack when the foreground is moving(tracked image)

I usually take two images. One for the sky and another for the foreground without tracking but using the same settings. This way my sky in the foreground image has the same tonality of the tracked image sky. This makes the blending much easier.
I did a very simple mask to blend the two images.
harsha

Edited on Jul 18, 2013 at 08:51 PM · View previous versions

Jul 18, 2013 at 08:49 PM

G-manWV
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Milkyway over Alabama Hills.

Very nice shot. Feels surreal with the ethereal distant galaxy mixed with the hills here on earth. I think that qualifies for foreground.

Jul 18, 2013 at 08:50 PM

camboman
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · Milkyway over Alabama Hills.

The color is quite eerie.

Must be an alien world, maybe even a bug planet like Klendathu.

Jul 18, 2013 at 09:40 PM

voltaire
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · Milkyway over Alabama Hills.

Beautiful shot and great effort.

Jul 18, 2013 at 11:27 PM

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