I just came back from a solo backpacking trip in the Eastern Sierras to capture the Milky Way everywhere I went. This is the first shot from the trip that I finished processing.
Since I was a kid, I always wanted to make my way to the Eastern Sierra. This summer, I finally had the opportunity to make it happen and was fortunate enough to land permits during the New Moon phase.
A huge thank you to a few folks on the forum to help me understand how to plan this loop.
This shot was taken on my 3rd night in the trip, just after I had to do a class 3 downclimb from the previous lake which can be seen over on the left in this shot. In total this backpacking trip specifically came out to be about 32 miles long with about 5000 feet of elevation change. With 75 lbs of gear on my back, this was one of the hardest things I have ever done on my own. I learned a lot on this trip, and I am thankful I was able to enjoy such a trip and make shots like this possible.
Please remember to abide by all rules and regs should you choose to go to the Sierra, and follow all LNT principles.
I used my Nikon Z6, Nikkor Z 14-24 2.8 S @20mm, and iOptron Skyguider Pro. I took one shot during blue hour to capture the foreground @ 0.6 seconds, f/7.1, ISO 800, and then another on the tracker @ 120 seconds, f/4, ISO 1600 in the exact same tripod/camera position, just taken later in the night. Processed with LR, PS, and Pixinsight.
I tried to keep the milky way natural color, but had a little artistic fun with the background to tie it into the blue tones of the water.
Congratulations on your first Sierra solo. (My first was a two-week trip across the range some decades ago. At the start of the trip I was quite nervous about things, but by one week in I had learned the joys of solo travel. Since that time I've enjoyed many backcountry trips with friends and solo.)
I'm impressed that you attempted a night landscape photograph in the backcountry. The battery issues alone have long limited the amount of backcountry night photography I have done. (Urban night photography is a big part of my photography.)
One tricky and subjective issue has to do with the question of realism. I'm not a person who believes that the highest goal of photography is some kind of objective realism. In fact, I think that such a thing is both impossible and uninteresting. I'm more interested in photographs that reflect the photographer's subjective experience in most cases.
However, to my eyes this sort of Milky Way image combined with a night landscape doesn't reflect my objective or subjective experience with the backcountry night sky. The Milky Way certainly is much more visible in the clear air of the high country than in the haze and bright lights of the city, but this particular way of showing it feels to me more like attaching an astrophotography image (enhanced to allow us to see the invisible) to a landscape image that feels more like the actual light of a backcountry night.
I know that there are those who love these super-bright Milky Way skies...
What’s cool to me about doing something that is up there with your hardest physical accomplishments is that it shows you that there’s something more left, that you can go farther, physically and metaphorically. Of course, the true line can’t be seen until you’re across it. Mixing physical pursuits with photography makes it easier to enter into a creative flow state, at least for me. Good effort.
As for the image, I too like to take Milky Way shots in the Sierra. How much to edit them and process them with composite foregrounds is always a tough one for me. Perhaps more exposure grading would make it more natural?
gdanmitchell wrote:
Congratulations on your first Sierra solo. (My first was a two-week trip across the range some decades ago. At the start of the trip I was quite nervous about things, but by one week in I had learned the joys of solo travel. Since that time I've enjoyed many backcountry trips with friends and solo.)
I'm impressed that you attempted a night landscape photograph in the backcountry. The battery issues alone have long limited the amount of backcountry night photography I have done. (Urban night photography is a big part of my photography.)
One tricky and subjective issue has to do with the question of realism. I'm not a person who believes that the highest goal of photography is some kind of objective realism. In fact, I think that such a thing is both impossible and uninteresting. I'm more interested in photographs that reflect the photographer's subjective experience in most cases.
However, to my eyes this sort of Milky Way image combined with a night landscape doesn't reflect my objective or subjective experience with the backcountry night sky. The Milky Way certainly is much more visible in the clear air of the high country than in the haze and bright lights of the city, but this particular way of showing it feels to me more like attaching an astrophotography image (enhanced to allow us to see the invisible) to a landscape image that feels more like the actual light of a backcountry night.
I know that there are those who love these super-bright Milky Way skies......Show more →
Thanks for the lovely feedback Dan! You were a major help in planning this particular loop as I know you are quite well versed in the Sierra. I cannot wait to go back and spend even more time at some of the locations I only really was able to dayhike to for the sake of needing to be at my designated campsites for the nights I was out there.
As far as batteries go in the back country, I only brought 5 batteries split across two bodies. Then, I just have this cheap little dual USB battery charger made by the same brand as my headlamp and spare flashlight. That plugs into the solar charger I brought along with me which I also use to charge my phone, headlamp, and star tracker. It is a little on the heavier side, but it keeps my kit going.
I appreciate your feedback on my processing. I know it is not for everyone, but personally (as you have stated) my subjective opinion on how I craft my images starts from my lack of actual vision in the first place. You see (pun totally intended) for all intents and purposes I am pretty much blind in one eye. My other eye isn't much better. Photography is my gateway to better vision. I can utilize the medium to create an image I never would have even be able to fathom before.
I am sure others can feel this too, and it is personally the building block for my work. Since I use a tracker to create my nightscape shots, I can understand how that kind of draws away from the realistic aspect, but I do try my best to stress that my shots would look the same compositionally as just a single shot or stack—they just have far more detail and color thanks to the two image blend. I also try to process at least the Milky Way portion in the image for natural color. Still, I know it is not for everyone, and I do get where you are coming from.
---------------------------------------------
junglialoh wrote:
Your elaborate and hard work is rewarded from this image, well exposed captivate work
Thank you!
---------------------------------------------
bmike-vt wrote:
Congrats on a successful trip and well done on the image! Can’t wait to see more!
Many thanks Mike!
---------------------------------------------
jforkner wrote:
Overprocessed Milky Way, IMO.
I appreciate the feedback, I know my work is not for everyone's taste.
---------------------------------------------
jcw1982 wrote:
Very nice! It obviously took a lot of planning and work. Nothing wrong with making how you like it.
Thank you kindly, I totally agree!!
---------------------------------------------
seanderson wrote:
What’s cool to me about doing something that is up there with your hardest physical accomplishments is that it shows you that there’s something more left, that you can go farther, physically and metaphorically. Of course, the true line can’t be seen until you’re across it. Mixing physical pursuits with photography makes it easier to enter into a creative flow state, at least for me. Good effort.
As for the image, I too like to take Milky Way shots in the Sierra. How much to edit them and process them with composite foregrounds is always a tough one for me. Perhaps more exposure grading would make it more natural?...Show more →
You are totally right! I use photography as a way to connect with the world and also an escape. The meditative flow of being able to push myself to a point is vital for me. Each trip is a new challenge. I crave being able to max it out.
I also greatly appreciate the feedback. I was going back and fourth on this edit a ton to the point I actually completely restarted it once. I think a little more color balancing in the shadows could help. Even though the Milky Way and foreground are in perfect alignment as far as placement and composition goes, the fact of that matter is the foreground was still shot during blue hour, creating a decent shift in colors and tones.
its a great image, and I would have been very proud to have taken it. I would have processed the milky way to much cooler tones without all the pink and red, for my taste, but otherwise. comp is great, and it has impact.
I guess it depends with your vision for this pic. If you want to make this into an astro landscape that's like a new age art then keep it as it is. If you want to sell this as a more realistic landscape then for me the MW is too bright and overpowering. In either case you have a wonderful comp, a captivating MW and all the pixels in place for a wonderful pic.
I really like this image!
I much prefer twilight images of the foreground instead of artificial light. Not that you would pack external lights up there anyway.
The milky way has nice color and wonderful detail with excellent color balance. The milkyway's brightest core is not blown out and lacking detail, but instead appears even. Sometimes tweaking the foreground color balance to have a blue-ish nighttime look can make the two portions a bit more seamless.
How bright and saturated one would like to make it depends on what you want your sky image to be. As long as it is deliberate - I say bravo!
David
kevindar wrote:
its a great image, and I would have been very proud to have taken it. I would have processed the milky way to much cooler tones without all the pink and red, for my taste, but otherwise. comp is great, and it has impact.
Thank you so much for the well thought out critique! Yeah I personally go for the warmer Milky Ways, I cannot put my finger on why but that is just what I like haha. Maybe that Roger Clark article on natural color just heavily impacted me
---------------------------------------------
hm2008 wrote:
This is impressive, worth the long hike.
Thank you so much, it totally was worth the effort!
---------------------------------------------
dbehrens wrote:
I guess it depends with your vision for this pic. If you want to make this into an astro landscape that's like a new age art then keep it as it is. If you want to sell this as a more realistic landscape then for me the MW is too bright and overpowering. In either case you have a wonderful comp, a captivating MW and all the pixels in place for a wonderful pic.
Thanks for the kind words and thoughtful feedback, I greatly appreciate it!
---------------------------------------------
dgdg wrote:
I really like this image!
I much prefer twilight images of the foreground instead of artificial light. Not that you would pack external lights up there anyway.
The milky way has nice color and wonderful detail with excellent color balance. The milkyway's brightest core is not blown out and lacking detail, but instead appears even. Sometimes tweaking the foreground color balance to have a blue-ish nighttime look can make the two portions a bit more seamless.
How bright and saturated one would like to make it depends on what you want your sky image to be. As long as it is deliberate - I say bravo!
David...Show more →
Many thanks David! Great advice indeed. I think going back on round II and doing a little bit more color masks will help a ton.
---------------------------------------------
cohibaron wrote:
Nice shot and your expression. Questions, where do you need a permit in Sierras and what loop and general location?
Thanks
Many thank yous! So Dr. Dan up there can tell you a bit more as he is a Sierra expert, but in short the area is heavily regulated—for good reason.
This was taken in an area of the Sierra known as the Ansel Adams wilderness. You need a permit to camp for any reason, for any nights. You need to apply for a permit well in advance, and if there are more people who apply than there are allotted slots for, you enter a lottery system. If you do not make the first lottery several months in advance, there is a second draw 2 weeks in advance.
The permit system is in place to regulate use of the land, and also acts as a good educational tool to allow uses to plan ahead and prepare for their adventure and understand where they are going and why.
Permits are required throughout the Sierra, not just in this particular area for again the reasons stated above and many more. Check out https://www.fs.usda.gov for info.
kevindar wrote:
its a great image, and I would have been very proud to have taken it. I would have processed the milky way to much cooler tones without all the pink and red, for my taste, but otherwise. comp is great, and it has impact.
I think the pink/reds I see are mostly little nebula. Maybe the saturation brought these out a little too strongly for you?
Give the milky way to 100 people and you'll see 100 different versions.... It can be hard to agree on what something should look like that we cannot see fully with our own eyes.
I wonder if the camera was astro modified?
dgdg wrote:
I think the pink/reds I see are mostly little nebula. Maybe the saturation brought these out a little too strongly for you?
Give the milky way to 100 people and you'll see 100 different versions.... It can be hard to agree on what something should look like that we cannot see fully with our own eyes.
I wonder if the camera was astro modified?
Ding ding ding you got it! My camera is modified, so h-alpha sensitivity is increased by a four fold. That would explain the extra saturation on nebulae like lagoon, triffid, cats paw, and eagle.
Wonderful composition and goodonya for carrying the tracker all the way up there! I'm with those who prefer a toned down MW that looks a bit more realistic. Looking forward to more.
