I live in Upper Michigan north of the 45th parallel and despite our 21:45 sunsets through a good portion of the summer I find it to be a good time for Milky Way photos. The weather is right. My family has a cabin on a small lake and it is a great place for astrophotography as it is quiet and still at night. When I went out to take this shot I was hoping to see the Milky Way but was surprised by the amount of airglow. I have captured it on film before but have never seen it fill the sky the way it did here. Definitely a nice addition to the photo.
Specific Feedback Requested
I always have a difficult time with noise in Astro shots. This one is a little better than some but i notice it. This is also one of my first few shots with a Skywatcher Star adventurer mini. There is movement and blurring in the lakeshore but I left it because I didn’t feel it detracted too much from the photo because it was not the focus of the shot. I do have a non tracked foreground that I could combine in with the tracked background.
Technical Details
Sony alpha with Tamron 17-28 at 17mm. 114 sec F2.8 ISO 1250. Tracked with Star Adventurer Mini. Edited in Lightroom. I brought up the shadows black and contrast but did not adjust the color at all. In detail I adjusted noise reduction to 32.
I am not a huge fan of composites, but this sky shot is so amazing that I am expecting to see the perfect sky reflected in the water. If you have the foreground shot, I think it would make this photo absolutely amazing. Great capture!
I miss seeing night skies like this! Even in our small town, the smallest of state capitols, it is no longer possible to see this kind of light. I agree with Matthew that the sky is so spectacular it deserves to be paired with an equally sharp reflection. Also, consider cloning out the red and green lights on the shoreline. Enjoy more of your nigh rambles!
I’m not big on composite either, but seems to be accepted practice in some circles for tracked photos? I just decided to keep it the way it was. as far as the reflection goes, I might have been misleading in my foreground comment. This is the reflection that I got when I took the shot. It’s a decent size lake so it was about as smooth as it was going to get. Thank you for the feedback and hope you have a good day.
Thanks John! The sky where I took this is Bortle 3 and you can see the light of the nearest town at the horizon on the left. The reflection is about as still as it gets for the lake, but I did try another pass at it and remove the lights. That does take away some distractions. Have a great day.
