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
I like the dynamic water flow in the setting of a static sky image. This was my very first attempt at low level lighting for a night scene and will pose my technical concerns below.
Creative direction
This was more of a technical experience for me since I have never attempted night time lighting myself. I wanted to see if I could do it.
Specific Feedback
I feel that I left the foreground too bright. The last thing I am going for is to make this feel “fake”. In reality, it was a stunning and serene night with the sound of the water flowing and the Milky Way slowly rising over the scene. The sky and foreground were darker is actuality. I struggle with how bright to make the image when preparing it for printing so when it is printed, it isn’t too dark.
Technical Details
Sony aRV, 24mm lens
FG: f 2.0, 120s,ISO 800 Denoise in LR
Sky: f2.0,8s,ISO 6400,Pro Softon-A filter : 20 light frames, 5 dark frames stacked in Starry Landscape Stacker
Composited in PS
Lighting: Lume cube panel mini 3900K, 1%
Description
This location was first chosen by my local photo club. The night we went as a group, no MW was visible due to smoke in the sky from Canada. I decided to return a few nights later because I really liked the location and as stated above, I wanted to increase my skill set by attempting to light the foreground.
Before I get to the image, I’ll start with your last statement. If you are finding your prints too dark, that’s an issue that has been settled with monitor calibration. It’s too much to go into here but there is lots of information online. Your prints should match your screen in overall brightness, although of course they won’t have the exact look of an illuminated screen. A good (normal) histogram is a starting guide.
To the image – I think you could tone down the FG considerably. The hills show some ambient light (moonlight?) which might be enough for the FG water. Do you have exposures where you shot with no light or varied the amount of lighting?
The lower park of the sky feels much too bright. It might be light pollution, but if you brightened it, I’d recommend backing off on it. You have a hint of structure there. You might do better with ISO 3200. The upper part of the sky looks much better. If going to a lower ISO gives too much vignetting, that can be corrected with a lens profile in LR/ACR.
It looks like there may have been a hint of some clouds?
You have a start here on a good subject. I would suggest trying it without the filter, too, next time. The blue halos are not everyone’s cup of tea. The individual exposures are a lot of work but worth some exposure bracketing. I hope to see more experimentation – light painting can be very cool.
Thank you for your suggestions. I was so focused on setting up low level lighting that I didn’t take any images without it. Lesson learned. The lower part of the sky was a result of light pollution but I may be able to tone it down. I will definitely decrease the exposure of the FG image. I really like getting all of this insight!
Ellen
