Lunar Eclipse and the Milky Way with most recent version at the top!

[Paul_Holdorf]

Critique Style Requested: Standard

The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.

Description

This feels pretty good. I spent quite a bit of time with Photopills and a camera in the daylight a few days prior to see if this was even possible. The data said it was, but I was not certain how visible the Core would be, even though the Full Eclipsed Moon is not too bright. So, a 3 a.m. alarm and a 30 minute drive from Bozeman, MT later, I found myself here, with hooting Great-Horned Owls on one side and 3 or 4 Coyotes singing their little hearts out on the other.

Specific Feedback

Try as I might, I could not get avoid the orangish tint to the core. I am not certain if it was caused by haze or by the actual orange light from the moon. It didn’t affect the green airglow, but maybe thats because thats looking toward the light and not where the light is shining. Not sure, but wonder if you find it to weird and distracting. I also cropped the image for the moon so that it it would appear a bit larger than it did at 14mm. Its probably twice the size as it would have been, but still seems realistic.

Technical Details ~ change for moon image noted in parenthesis

MSM Nomad Star Tracker

Nikon Z8

Sigma Art 14-24mm with FTZ2 adapter

3 shots for the sky ~ ISO 1000, f/2.8, 120 seconds, 14mm

3 shots for the landscape ~ ISO 640, f/2.8, 180 seconds, 14 mm

1 shot to replace the blown out moon in original image~ ISO 1000, f/2.8, .4 sec, 14mm (Current image~ Nikon D850, Sigma 105mm Macro ISO 1000, f/2.8, 1/15 sec)
Blending and Ministar Action (level 4) in Photoshop

Processed in Lightroom Classic CC

[Youssef_Ismail]

Paul,

Very cool that you were able to get both the core and the eclipse together. I thought about that as well, but did not have someplace where I could get a good composition. I think the colors look right.

[Mark_Seaver]

Paul, this is a very special scene showing both the Milkway Core and the eclipsed Moon. The landscape part also look good. I do feel like the sky (especially the star field above and beside the MW could use some emphasis. I put your jpg into PS, calculated the first 3 luminosity masks and selected the L1 mask. Then I added a Curves layer, with a strong S curve. I painted black into the mask so the curve only applied to the sky and here’s what I got…

[Paul_Holdorf]

Thanks Mark. I had another go at mine and do agree with what you suggested. I will probably rework the thing from scratch at some point. I didn’t pay attention to the scale on my ball head and didnt get the same size images in my landscape as I did for the sky. I had a HECK of a time getting them to align! I warped and releveled each one multiple times before getting them close, but there are some glitches in the trees to the right

[Rob_Sykes]

I often see green and brown/red airglow near the horizon when the sun is not far below the horizon. Not too much you can do except a local mask and alter the tint plus white balance in that area.

[Paul_Holdorf]

Yes, there is definitely magenta and green airglow here, but the area around the Core seemed to be something different. A shot I took of the core later was much less tinted, so I almost wonder if there were some high thin clouds absorbing some moon light?

[Rob_Sykes]

Paul, have a look at my photo, The Milky Way over Straddie. Taken soon after sunset and has the red tinge on the entire horizon and impinges the core. The nearest place in this direction is New Zealand, about 3 1/2 hours flying time. It could be smoke blown far out to sea, but I have seen this quite often. The bottom line is if you like it, leave it alone. If you dont, change it to reflect what your mind saw. It is your photo and a pretty good one at that.

[Paul_Holdorf]

I went to your profile page and found that photo. I remember when you posted that! I do think that one of the problems with early and late season Milky Way here in the Northern Hemisphere anyway is that the core is low and you’re looking through a lot more atmosphere than when it gets higher. Hard to say sometimes if it’s airglow or atmospheric haze from humidity/dust/smoke. Anyway, yours is a lovely shot!

[Rob_Sykes]

I like the colours of the top image, particularly the taming of magenta. The moon size is a big jump, however I think most people would like it some other random size. Consider which part of the photo is the main event and then do what feels good to you

[Paul_Holdorf]

Thanks @Rob_Sykes . I struggle with how large to show the moon! It probably 4 or 5 times the diameter that it is rendered at 14mm. However, 14mm makes things smaller than they appear to our eyes. I want the image to be fairly realistic, but I do also want the moon to take center stage. Given that the moon in this new image was captured with a 105mm lens then cropped a bit, its definitely too big to be completely realistic.

[Diane_Miller]

Yikes!!! I can’t believe I just now saw this! I’m sure I poked into Astro several times since the eclipse – where have I been??

All I can say is, astonishing – great planning and execution! The brownish sky tint is not surprising – there is just no clean air anywhere, but I would think up there it’s as good as it could get. The brown tint is even more surprising with so much green airglow to the west, but I’d agree to just go with whatever fix works for you. Same with the moon size – either of the top two versions work for me and I wouldn’t have suspected they were enlarged. Fabulous detail in the dimmest part of the moon!

I was hoping to see a hint of the MW but never did. We had some “airglow” from Las Vegas about 60 miles to the east, but at least behind hills. Hadn’t planned to capture it in any case – I had all the stuff I wanted to manage.

[Paul_Holdorf]

Thanks Diane! Your deep space object game has been impressive! I actually made one more version of this but didnt want to add yet another image to this thread! Someone on a Reddit thread actually suggested I should add a hint of a bloom of light that often occurs with the full moon and definitely was present in the long exposure of that part of the sky, so I did and I think it actually really helps the image!

[Rob_Sykes]

Paul, 50mm is about what the eye sees, sorry, I was in very rural NZ. I wrote this on the 9th and had interesting coverage. Found I had not posted this a few mins ago

[Diane_Miller]

The added glow around the moon was a great idea – makes it appear more natural. I didn’t feel it looked pasted in before, but now there is a remarkable improvement. I think you could experiment a bit with the way the glow tapers off, though – it evokes more a thin intervening cloud or atmospheric haze.

I’ve always selected a moon and inversed and made a curves to darken the sky evenly, to remove what I assume is light scattering in the lens, but maybe I should not do that.