Critique Style Requested: Standard
The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
This image was generated from a set of stacked photos taken during the overnight 26/27 August 2024. The Devil’s Orchard is located in the Craters of the Moon National Monument near Arco, ID. I was attempting to capture the grandeur of the Milky Way behind in contract to the dead trees in the Devil’s Orchard.
Specific Feedback
Color grading Milky Way images is challenging. I try to balance the subtle blue and oranges to achieve the best aesthetic. I am looking for feedback with respect to the color and the brightness of the Milky Way . I am also looking for feedback with respect to a pure silhouetted foreground (as shown) versus blending in a light painted tree into the foreground.
Technical Details
This is a stacked image generated from 10 light frames and 7 dark frames in Starry Landscape Stacker. The images were processed as TIFFs before being stacked (my RAW images were too dark for SLS to process in the RAW format and SLS does not ingest .xmp files).
Sony a7RV, RAW(M) which reduces averages over the sensor for effective 26 MP, 6400 ISO, 20 sec, using a Rokinon 14mm F/2.8 @ f/2.8.
Post processing of the generated TIFF from SLS in Photoshop.
Critique Template
Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.
- Vision and Purpose:
- Conceptual:
- Emotional Impact and Mood:
- Composition:
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- Depth and Dimension:
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- Lighting:
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- Technical:
I think the silhouette works here, although I do always like to see a little detail in the foreground. I kind of want to see more foreground than just the thin strip across the bottom just to balance the image a bit. If you look at my images you’ll see I probably like my foreground lighter than some folks do. I think the tones in the sky are good. I do think the core of the MW would look better shifted slightly to the left, but thats mostly because I have another personal preference, and thats to see more of the Dark Horse Nebula! It’s also to make that right side feel less crowded. Have you ever tried star reduction? There’s an action you can add as a plug in to Photoshop that really helps soften the look of the stars and helps reveal more detail in the core. I do love dead trees and like this image a lot. As a side note, I use SLS in almost all of my images. I try RAW and TIFF and usually settle on TIFF, but sometimes RAW looks better. In raw I use 10 and 10, but for TIFF I try to use a 1:3 ratio, usually 10 and 30.
Thanks Paul, all great points. My only limit is that nothing was cropped. I created a landscape image with a foreground taken at blue hour, which I will share.
(I resisted adding the foreground here as a result of the number of hours it tool me to mask the foreground in my landscape image. I had to use the clone tool to remove the blue halo in my blend. In am certain there is a moe efficient way and I am exploring options.)
I am not aware of the star reduction plugin for PS. Can you point me to the source?
It’s so tough to get even lighting with artificial lights, isn’t it? Here’s a link for Mini-Stars. It shows up in the “Actions” panel in Photoshop. I typically use level 5, but sometimes 3 or 4.https://www.photographingspace.com/product/ministars/
Your first image is technically very nice, with wonderful color and detail, excellent stars and low noise. I love the silhouetted FG and think for that case that you have a perfect amount of base. There is a glitch just in from the right edge in the core – a hard edge from some sort of overlapping issue – from movement during the stack??
I am with @Paul_Holdorf on wanting the most interesting part of the MW not to be crowded off the right edge of the frame. It would have been lovely to have the wonderful trees reaching up into the core, but I don’t know how much of a challenge that is for SLS, or if you were able to move to the left.
The second image has interesting light painting. It is better done from farther offstage, but that may require an assistant and cell service or a walkie-talkie. It has a lot of noise in the lower sky and the MW is pushed way too far off to the right. It would be a great opportunity to unify the trees and the MW with some overlap. If you want more FG here, just add canvas at the bottom and use one of the fill methods.
Hi Diane – Thank you for your comments. I didn’t even notice the hard edge to the right – this is easily mixed.
With respect to framing the Milky Way, in retrospect, I should have rotated my camera towards the right. When I took these photos, I was planning on two more nights of shooting but was thwarted by wildfires burning in Stanley, Idaho.
The low position of the Milky Way in the sky was a matter of planning. I had total darkness between 10 PM and midnight, after which the moon was rising about 20-deg left of the Milky Way. I was not shooting during a new moon. On again, in retrospect, I should have stayed linger to really see the impact the moonlight on my image, but I was planning on additional nights of shooting and I was in Idaho fo work and needed to be awake at 5 AM the next morning:)
The lighted foreground is not from light painting. I am attempting to blend a blur hour photo taken at 9:30 PM with the dark sky image. This photo integration proved to be challenging due to the blue background of the blur hour image. I was able to create a clean mask around the tree, but I was done in by the shrubberies! I then introduced a linear gradient via a clipping mask from the base of the image moving upward to suppress the blue haze. I know in my heart there is a better way to do thin in Photoshop, but I could not figure it out over the weekend. (I’m 3 years from retirement – this silly work thing is cutting into my photography time.)
Thanks again for you inputs – they are very valuable to me.
Attached is the blue hour image.
I can certainly relate to the frustrations with things like clouds, smoke and schedules interfering. It’s difficult enough when things go as planned.
The blue hour FG was a good idea and it blended well. I look forward to your future explorations, both for shooting and processing!
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Thanks Diane. I am headed out to the Nightscrapers Conference at the end of September in Kanab, UT. I hope to learn a lot and have the opportunity to shoot the night sky almost every night I am there.
Super!! Best of luck with it – hope we’ll see some great results!
