p.2 #1 · Milky Way over the Race Track, Death Valley
Well, you are one of a very few who has done it on this forum. Youve managed to actually use the milky way as a complimenting line to your composition, it is clean and not full of noise, AND you light painted this effectively. One of the best MW shots I've seen in a long time.
p.2 #3 · Milky Way over the Race Track, Death Valley
fantastic shot!!!!! Wow.
I find astro landscapes are a solitary thing too even in an area that is popular at sunrise/sunset. Very peaceful though.
you have great detail of the dust lanes too. I'm not on my calibrated monitor, but I might suggest playing around with the milky way core a bit. Consider creating a luminance mask and bring down the highlights of the nebula elements. Some people like to keep it 'natural', but if city glow affects the horizon, I will move the sky portion down to remove it.
p.2 #6 · Milky Way over the Race Track, Death Valley
Jeffrey wrote:
The two rocks caught my attention, but I am not allowing that to bother me. A nice dramatic image here. Perhaps straightening the racetrack horizon would be nice. And the sky is a bit past the point of believable brightness for a night image. A very attractive result, still.
While you have a fantastic image, I do have to agree with what Jeffrey said. It doesn't take away from the image, but the night sky does look a bit overprocessed. To the point that it almost doesn't look believable. With that being said, I still think it is a wonderful image. You composed the shot beautifully as well.
I don't know if you mentioned this in your other posts, but I imagine this is a composite image? One image taken for the sky and another for the foreground?
p.2 #8 · Milky Way over the Race Track, Death Valley
nburwell wrote:
While you have a fantastic image, I do have to agree with what Jeffrey said. It doesn't take away from the image, but the night sky does look a bit overprocessed. To the point that it almost doesn't look believable. With that being said, I still think it is a wonderful image. You composed the shot beautifully as well.
I don't know if you mentioned this in your other posts, but I imagine this is a composite image? One image taken for the sky and another for the foreground?
-Nick
Nick,
The sky actually isn't much different than what came from the camera. This was one of the brightest Milky Way's that I've actually shot and I've been to some of the darkest skies in the states (Crater Lake, Southern Utah, etc, etc). All I did was add a bit of contrast to it and that was about it, though it would be easy enough to use a luminosity mask to bring down the highlights. the A7r does capture an impressive amount of detail.
And I didn't mention it before but this is multiple images. The sky was shot with a SkyTracker (ISO 800, F/2.8, 4 minutes) and then, without moving the camera, I would turn off the tracker and use a wireless shutter for multiple 30-second exposures to paint the foreground. I would then mask/blend the foreground images to attempt even lighting (I can never get it in a single attempt) and then the blurred mountains created by the tracker are easily masked away. But these were all done in the same place and at the same time. I also took some regular 30-second ISO 6400 MW images before using the tracker and the results are extremely similar.This could have easily been done without a tracker as well but I don't mind the small amount of extra work for the ability to use a lower ISO. I hope that helps!
p.2 #9 · Milky Way over the Race Track, Death Valley
Hey Rick,
Nice work here with this one, you got some cool light painting here. I like the cooler tones for the WB. Often we can go back and forth on what the WB will be between the ground layer and the sky layer. I for one like the look of this. So other than the horizon curving off a bit which I would straighten up a bit. Even though I am sure it's a natural curving it does become noticeable.
As for no one else there, in my experience that's usually the case. Though more and more people are now out shooting the stars, it's still a minority so it does make for a real enjoyable time where it's just you and nature enjoying the solitude.
p.2 #14 · Milky Way over the Race Track, Death Valley
Gorgeous!! This is one of the better night sky milky way captures I've seen. Love the composition. I'm sure this really sings at OOC resolution. 4 min tracking makes such a big difference over the typical 25-30 sec exposure. My only critical comment is that maybe the horizon is tilted slightly to the left? Hard to tell but it does leave that impression.
Dave
p.2 #16 · Milky Way over the Race Track, Death Valley
Rick,
Really one of the nicest Racetrack photos I've seen in a while. The stars are so clean and plentiful. Really does make a difference using tracking hardware. I think the light paint was nice and even and the WB is fine with me. I've always liked a cooler tone then warm in the night shots.
