Pillars of Light

Image Critiques Nightscape & Astro Critiques
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Pillars of Light-Enhanced-NR.jpg
Pillars of Light-Enhanced-NR.jpg5606×3737 2.9 MB

Critique Style Requested: In-depth

The photographer has shared comprehensive information about their intent and creative vision for this image. Please examine the details and offer feedback on how they can most effectively realize their vision.

Self Critique

Being we do not get to see the Aurora’s in the middle of the country very often, I have only shot them twice this year (May and October). I played around with camera settings using ISO 320 - 1000 with varying exposures.
I am very happy with this image which was shot on a Canon EOS-R and Tamron 10-24 mm Di II lens at ISO 320, Tv - 30 sec, f/4.0, and 13 mm focal length. I wanted the scene to include the foreground mountain ridge and the roadway to add a varying POV of the night sky in the mountains. Unfortunately, my aspect ratio was stuck at 1.6 crop with this lens, (never has before), and I really wanted full frame for most of my shots.

I am looking for additional suggestions as to point of view, camera settings, etc. I have pulled information from several photographers about ISO, and I can honestly say, I do not like shooting higher than 1000 because of the noise, although I know I can use the in-camera function for noise reduction for both high ISO and Long-exposure.

Creative direction

While shooting the night sky and the Aurora’s in particular, I really love capturing the pillars, and I feel I have accomplished that in this image. My vision for these type of images are really to capture the light and colors which are difficult to see withe the naked eye, plus being able to share these images with others who may have witnessed this and share our experiences and excitement with being able to see these.

Specific Feedback

Looking for any constructive feedback regarding the Aesthetics and Technical aspects. Also welcome any feedback on Conceptual and Emotional. Without compromising the image specifically, the light in the lower left of the frame was from the lighting in the church along the highway and I wonder if cropping it out or using AI to remove it would be beneficial.

Technical Details

Camera / Settings: Canon EOS-R, Tv 30 sec with Intervolometer shutter release, ISO 320, f/4.0,
Lens: Tamron 10-24 mm Di II VC HLD f/4.5-4.5 with focal length of 13 mm (manual focus and VC off)
This image is stacked with two images and utilized Lightroom to make adjustments. Photo is not cropped as it was already cropped with the camera to 1.6.

Description

While following the news and checking my Aurora apps to see when and where I could capture the Aurora’s this night, I quickly drove an hour from my home to the area. First I stopped at Lilly Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park and the place was packed. Too many iPhone/Android people and the parking lot was lit up like a football stadium while people were arriving or leaving. None of those shots turned out the way I would have liked. After about 45 minutes to an hour, the clouds came over and obliterated the show. I then decided to drive back down the road to the Chapel on the Rock along the highway and wait out the clouds. It paid off.

Around 2150 hrs, the clouds began to break and the show was back on, with purples, blues, reds and some greens. I also captured the chapel lit up with the Aurora’s overhead as well, but looking towards the NE over the ridge, this was the image I saw. Although I could see some color with my eyes, it was truly the work of the camera that brings this fully to life. I am completely in awe of our planet and solar system and recently have added astrophotography to my shooting likes.

Critique Template

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  • Vision and Purpose:
  • Conceptual:
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  • Composition:
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  • Depth and Dimension:
  • Color:
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A very nice image – you had a dramatic view. I like the horizon line and the detail of orange and clouds near the horizon.

I was much more on the fringes of the display, a little NW of San Francisco, and without a very low horizon. You were on the edge of getting star trails at 30 sec, but they look good at the size here. With the newer high-res cameras and lenses many people choose to limit exposure times to more like 10 sec., but with f/4 that will push ISO maybe more than desired.

I have never used in-camera NR – LR’s new Enhance has been wonderful for astro for everything I have done so far. If it isn’t working well, going to PS and using Topaz (with the best choice of the “models”) is usually excellent.

For my taste, the contrast (and thus saturation) seems just a bit high here – but just a very small bit – but that is purely artist’s choice.

I would have cloned out the lights from the church. For me they are too close to the edge and emphasize the wide angle distortion, which is one of my pet peeves, so take my view FWIW.

The crop issue is a camera setting somewhere in the menus.

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The aurora changes its shape very quickly. I think that you could have recorded more structure in the aurora by using a shorter exposure time at a much higher ISO. I used 2 seconds exposure at ISO 3200 with an f/1.8 lens. As Diane mentioned, Lightroom’s Denoise does an excellent job reducing the noise from high ISO images. Next time, I would suggest experimenting with various exposure times and ISOs.

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Todd,

Wonderful photograph of the Aurora, your efforts paid off nicely. I would not crop anything from the image, as I like the composition as it is. No need for AI to remove the light on the Church, just clone it out as the surrounding area is all black anyway.

I do not see much noise in the image, at least not at this presented size. Making a print is a whole other story though. I do find that the LR or CR noise reduction does a pretty good job with noise, you just have to find the right amount so as not to obliterate the actual detail.

Its hard to determine the right amount of color saturation especially when your eyes can’t see it well enough to make any rational judgement. I like what you presented and it looks quite awesome.

5

Wonderful color Todd, and nice job catching those pillars. I too would clone out the lights from the chapel.

With the black taking up that much of the foreground, it would be nice if there was just a hint more detail there. That can be challenging, and you’d have probably needed to shoot a second shot with a longer exposure and blended the two.

6

Hi Diane,
Thank you for the detailed info and suggestions. I figured out the reason my crop aspect wasn’t working. The lens I was using only allows for cropped sensor settings and not full frame, although it had never done that before, so wonder if I need to update the firmware…

I thought about cropping out the lights from the church, so I may go back and try that at well. Shooting at 1000 ISO was an option and I could have and made changes either in LR or in Camera with reducing Long-Exposure noise or High-ISO noise reduction as well.

I am definitelty keeping my eyes on the sky and through my Aurora app to see when the next storm(s) will be…

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Thank you, @John_Williams . I am going to work on the lights and clone those out.

I have a few images that I might be able to stack and see if the foreground can come out a bit more as well. Love that idea!

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Hi @Youssef_Ismail ! Thank you for the suggestions and the review :slight_smile:

Using a lower ISO, helped with reducing noise in the image since I was using ISO 320. Lower ISO and longer exposure, does have its risk for star trails. As @Diane_Miller , @Keith_Lisk have mentioned, Higher ISO and short exposure with the updated AI Technology may have helped as well.

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In-camera high-ISO NR is not applied with LR. It works with Canon DPP and I assume for shooting JPEGs. In-camera long-exposure NR could be worth testing but it has a drawback in the extra time needed to take the second frame, and it becomes more helpful with exposures of minutes instead of seconds. Those long exposures obviously don’t work for moving stars. LR will remove hot pixels and other NR approaches may be better.

You could probably bring up a bit more detail in the FG if it suits your vision.

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