Still a novice night photographer, so any critiques, suggestions, dislikes, whatever greatly appreciated.
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
Nikon D800, Tokina 17-35 @ 17mm, 30 sec @ f/4, ISO 6400
If you would like your image to be eligible for a feature on the NPN Instagram (@NaturePhotoNet), add the tag ‘ig’ and leave your Instagram username below.
My brother Ed and I like to go to Little Hunter’s Beach in Acadia to practice our night shooting because it’s quiet, no one’s around and it’s very peaceful listening to the tide ebb and flow amongst the cobblestones.
There was just a sliver of moon, but with the 30 sec exposure it was enough to lesson the visibility of the milky way, and lighten the hillside as if it were daytime. I had to darken the hill with a curves layer. I forgot to enable in camera noise reduction so had to lay it on heavy in post, so quite a bit of sharpness is lost.
Beautiful night sky image. That sliver of moon sure threw out some light!. I think this came out great combining with the rugged coast line and cobblestone beach.
I’m no night photography expert either - consider myself a novice. Only enough to discover that going the full 30 seconds the stars start to stretch. Not really noticeable in these web presentations, but certainly at 100% when processing. I try and get down to 15-20s tops. Not a nit, just observation and comment.
Only two minor suggestions. I know you said you toned down the light - I was back off the red saturation just a smidge - although I do like that contrasted against the very pretty blue of the night sky. The only other small suggestion would be to clone or otherwise deal with, the lighter tree trunks near the left edge and the little bright rock on the left edge as well near midline. No biggie though.
Very nice. I guess the pines were blocking the moon in the foreground. I don’t do this kind of thing but stacking may help with the exposure challenges. Beautiful image.
TY
Mike, it’s amazing how much light even a sliver of moon throws off. I like the composition a lot, it’s a nice balance between, cliff, cobblestones, sky and water. And the moon nicely fills the negative space on the right. My only nit on composition is that I would crop or clone away the tree trunk right at the left edge, it is an eye magnet. I would also reduce the red saturation in the cliffs.
This moonlight is so bright that you might have been able to shoot at a lower ISO than 6400, and help you avoid having to use such heavy noise reduction. The NR looks okay in the cobbles, but seems too strong in the cliff/trees, and I think has softened the stars some too. If you use luminosity masks, I’ve had good luck applying noise reduction to a darks selection, like TK Darks 2 or 3. This will reduce noise in the sky, but maintain crispness in the stars (they are not selected by D2).
This is beautifully done, Ed. I’m also a novice when it comes to night photography, but I like the look of this image. The subtle moonlighting on the landscape adds interest to the land. The night sky looks great to me and I like the blue tone. This conveys the peaceful feeling that you described.
