I played with @Igor_Doncov’s idea to reduce the magenta, and I like the result. I was playing in another image and experimented with creating a mask using the Difference layer mode to isolate the stars, and applied it to this image to have them pop out more. This is what I came up with:
The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
This is the same tarn and mountain as my prior image, but with a different composition and taken just over an hour earlier. @James_Lorentson, @Steve_Kennedy, and I all headed to different places for this dawn, and I spent my time with this tarn. (Well, until I “washed” off the camera that is.) I should have been there even earlier to get a better image of the stars, but at least a fair amount are visible if you squint closely. My field of view wasn’t quite as wide as in the prior image, so I did take a stab at changing the perspective to straighten the trees.
Specific Feedback
I’ve purposely kept this on the darker side to reflect the feel of the Blue Hour. Does that work?
All thoughts and comments appreciated.
Technical Details
NIKON Z 7II
NIKKOR Z 14-30 f/4S at 18.0 mm
This is a blend of four images, one for the stars and the others for depth of field:
One image at 1/15 sec. at f/5.0 and ISO 2500
Three images at 1/15 sec. at f/5.0 and ISO 1600
This looks very good John. I think it does lose some vibrancy due to the time of day but bringing that back changes the mood you’ve so carefully created. I thought initially that I saw a magenta cast but when I tried to change it the late evening atmostphere started to go. It looks like you used a daylight white balance for this shot.
Thank you for your thoughts Igor! I used the automatic ISO setting when I shot this, and the camera chose a Temperature of 6200 and a tint of +19. I played with a Daylight setting, but it was REALLY blue. I can see moving this just a tad more green though; you don’t really expect a lot of magenta at that time of day. (I don’t have a lot of experience shooting the blue hour, but I’ve noticed the camera will sometimes move an image more magenta than I would expect.) Thanks for the suggestion.
I think this is more cohesive than your last image of the same place, John. I generally shoot Auto white balance and the camera will sometimes change the WB between one shot and the next even if the shots are only 1 second apart. Strange. I shoot Nikon also but I’ve seen this same thing with other camera makers as well. I think the white balance looks great though. I feel like there could be more natural magenta in these types of shots in blue hour so your initial image works just fine for me and that foreground is slightly more colorful as a bonus. That little island shines in this image.
This shot came out great! The colors on the island really anchor the image. I agree with David’s comments on the color cast. The revised image also looks great, but to me, the colors look more like post sunrise rather than blue hour.
John: I really like what you’ve done here with this subject. I do prefer this to the earlier post but both are excellent. Superbly crafted image. >=))>
