This is from Hemsedal, Norway two weeks ago during a massive solar storm. The entire sky was full of the aurora, which is unusual this far south. This is a north facing view, and a quarter moon is present to the left of the image.
Type of Critique Requested
Aesthetic: Feedback on the overall visual appeal of the image, including its color, lighting, cropping, and composition.
Conceptual: Feedback on the message and story conveyed by the image.
Emotional: Feedback on the emotional impact and artistic value of the image.
Technical: Feedback on the technical aspects of the image, such as exposure, color, focus and reproduction of colors and details, post-processing, and print quality.
Specific Feedback and Self-Critique
I would like to make this image as good as possible for printing on metal or acrylic. I have used a SpyderX calibrator for the edits.
Technical Details
Sony a7iii
Sigma 14mm Art Lens
ISO 3200
f /1.8
1 second
Hi Amber, Terrific image. I can’t comment on the printing side, but I love the colors and feeling. It also looks pretty clean for an ISO 3200 image. Nicely seen.
A beautiful scene for sure. The Aurora patterns are really nice.
You asked about printing on metal or acrylic. I think that would be a great medium for this image. I would want the image to really pop so I think it needs some adjustments for exposure overall, some selective adjustments to bring out the stars showing and a touch of work on the foreground snow covered mountains. I don’t know what processing software you use and how familiar you are with luminosity masking. I made a few adjustments to push it where I’d want it for printing. Here’s the result.
Stunning – what an amazing sight! The lens gives excellent stars in the corners, and I love seeing the Big Dipper! I do like the added tonal contrast that @Keith_Bauer brought out. But honestly, I don’t love the hilltops. The rugged detail and contrast there just competes with the sky, for me. I wanted to see what it looked like with the contrast and detail there brought down. I overdid it just to see the effect, and I stared with your original and probably overdid the sky – but here’s a quick comparison. It could be done much better on the raw file and refined in PS. I should have darkened the blues in the UL region.
Amazing image of the Aurora. I would like to see more of the mountains. If re-framing would cut out the essential part of the Aurora, you might want to take another photo that included more of the landscape.
