Critique Style Requested: Initial Reaction
Please share your immediate response to the image before reading the photographer’s intent (obscured text below) or other comments. The photographer seeks a genuinely unbiased first impression.
Questions to guide your feedback
Foreground too bright?
Other Information
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Image Description
The Milky Way is poised over a section of the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes. Artificial light was painted onto the dunes briefly during the long exposure of the sky. The bright section of the sky on the left side near the horizon is from the lights of Las Vegas.
Technical Details
Canon EOS 5D II; EF16-35mm @ 20mm, f/2.8 @ 20 sec, ISO 3200; Gitzo tripod, RRS BH 55, remote trigger
Specific Feedback
Realistic, or should the foreground dunes be darker?
For me, the light on the FG is good. Any darker and the details are lost. The ripples in the sand are a nice element but I think it could be interesting to go vertical to include more of the interesting sky, and shift the view slightly to the right. The lighter sky area to the left is interesting, but for me the good stuff is in the right half. A horizontal pano with the camera oriented vertically could be a good idea to get more sky. Or doing a vertical pano with the camera in horizontal orientation. But either could be tricky with the distortion of the wide angle lens. Having the sky feel squished is a problem when the FG is interesting, as it is here.
Thank you @Diane_Miller for your comments and suggestions. This site and camera settings—position, orientation, focal point etc. were established the day before with knowledge of when and where the sunrise and MW would occur—to make setting up in the dark easier. I rarely make night/astro photos so I am reluctant to experiment much in the field, especially when I cannot see the terrain.
I will experiment with a 4x5 crop to limit/remove the left hand of the image.
Working at night is definitely fraught with stumbling blocks – literally and figuratively. I use a dim red headlamp for working with the camera and it has a brighter beam for hiking. I shoot a test exposure at high ISO to check composition and I can often light enough of the landscape with it to let me make adjustments. A handheld spotlight lets me illuminate even more distant features. I will usually shoot several different compositions and decide later.
Thank you @Diane_Miller for your comments and advice/tips on astro photography. I was part of a workshop when this was captured so I did not have much flexibility with controlling the environment. Too many people moving about a small area, lights of many sources going on and off, numerous recommendations about content etc. I felt fortunate to get what I did.
You did good, then – nothing like a crowd, a schedule and all kinds of advice to contribute to the ambiance of a night sky!
My first thought was that I personally would like to have seen a bit more light in the foreground, but I know it’s tough to do that with others around. I took 5 members of our local camera club on a night shoot and there was a lot of back and forth about lighting, especially the ones who had the little red light set to find focus in the dark! My second thought was that the composition, while almost a yin/yang pattern, is fairly centered. My personal preference to always include the Dark Horse Nebula. If you’d slid up a bit, you’d have the whole horse, but thats just what I like. It really is a nifty shot. I have yet to shoot in a location with sand ripples and it’s on my list!
Thank you @Paul_Holdorf for your comments. In spite of taking more than one class on astronomy, I do not use the information enough to be sure about much. One of my granddaughters is a PhD in astrophysics so I let her tell me what is what.
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