This is at Trona Pinnacles, taken a few days ago. It was over 100 degrees in the afternoon, dropping to maybe 85-90 degrees at night, but a slight breeze made it bearable.
I know this editing of the night sky and Milky Way isn’t for everyone…that many prefer a more natural sky color! I just like the tones of blue and magenta, but try not to go overboard!
What I like most about this is that I was able to actually get something of a composition going, rather than just a flat wall of tufa pinnacles.
Specific Feedback Requested
Is the foreground too dark?
Is the foreground sharp enough? (I wish I had done some focus stacking)
Hot pixels. Do you have a favorite workflow to take care of hot pixels? I see some YouTube videos on how to streamline the editing of them, rather than the manual spot healing brush that I used here.
Technical Details
Nikon D750 with 20mm f/1.8 lens.
20mm, f/2.8, 20 seconds, ISO 2500
I tried stacking for the first time on this trip. This is 6 images plus two dark frames taken into Sequator for combining. Sequator did an ok job with noise reduction, but not as good as I had hoped. And I had a ton of hot pixels, mostly in the foreground, which was surprising since I had two dark frames that I thought would help with that. So in PS I used the spot healing brush for the hot pixels, which was arduous work. I think there is a better way in PS. Then LR for some masks of the foreground (exposure, texture) and sky (clarity and tones). Then Topaz DeNoise AI for a bit more noise reduction. Final touchups in LR.
Terrific image, Mark. I too prefer a cooler sky at night. I think the foreground is just right for nighttime.
Regarding hot pixels, my camera has a feature where it can map out hot pixels so the don’t show up. I’ve done it a couple of times and it works great. Not sure if the D750 has that feature.
Very well done. I think the sky color does look natural, it could be warmed up a tad.
Land shot at same time? If so you did a nice job lifting the shadows and it also looks natural, not too bright.
The stacking looks good.
Thanks @David_Bostock and @Dan_Kearl. Appreciate your thoughts.
Dan, yes the foreground was shot at the same time as the MW. I added sharpening to it. I think some focus stacking would have been best.
Inviting image Mark. It feels like I’m standing there at the beginning of the path. The tonal balance between the sky and foreground works for me. Great composition with the path, the 3 rocks, and the Milky Way. I use the dust and scratches filter in PS for the hot pixels, but sometimes it removes too much detail. C1 does a decent job of dealing with hot pixels in the RAW files.
Thank you @AndreDonawa. I just learned about using dust and scratches filter in PS. Did some experimenting and liked it. As you said, details can be lost. A mask helps retain tiny stars in the sky. Thanks!
Wonderful night sky and Milky Way image Mark. I really like the colors and they look real enough for me, especially given the light coming from the horizon. The clouds add a lot here too.
Great job with the landscape portion. I’ve only played with Sequator a couple of times and know I have much to learn. I think you did very well with this one.
Very nice shot Mark! I like the look of the stars and Milky Way and the drama of the clouds. I never know with Astro how far to go with the foreground. It certainly looks natural and you can make out some nice detail. I have found the new masking in light room to work pretty well in separating out the foreground and background.
@Cameron_Wilcox, Thanks so much! Me too, foregrounds in night are always tough choices for me. Yes, LR’a new masks do a great job for separating subject, sky, and foreground!
Terrific Milky Way image Mark. The sky colors don’t bother me at all and look quite natural actually. I love the road leading to both the pinnacles as well as the core of the Milky Way. That was a well chosen location. I would not brighten the foreground at all. This is how it should look, and is quite believable. I also like the clouds along the horizon. Makes it not so static. Well done!
Hi, Mark.
I really like this image. To my eyes, the tones in the foreground are just right. It does look a little warm to me. I think the foreground is acceptably sharp but from your technical details, this is a stacked image, exposed for the stars. When I shoot astro, I have found that blue hour blends are the easiest way for me to get a truly sharp foreground. Considering this foreground was shot in the middle of the night, the quality is quite high. In my opinion, the way to improve from here is not focus stacking, its lowering the ISO.
Hi @Mark_Eley ,
Thanks very much for your thoughts! I like the idea of blue hour for foregrounds. I’ll keep that in mind…I know it is done a lot and I’ve never really tried it. Also with some additional blue hour lighting, I could drop the ISO as you said. In this case we came upon the scene well into the night, so I was stuck with the light you see here. Anyway, I appreciate your feedback!
Yeah, and if you were shooting a blue hour blend you’d have been stuck sitting there until dawn. It certainly isn’t ideal… I bring a book. It does work though. Great location/image, in my opinion. Always wanted to go see the pinnacles.
