The Tetons Under the Milky Way

Image Critiques Weekly Challenge
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1

Star Reduction Single.jpg
Star Reduction Single.jpg2048×1365 2.59 MB

Unprocessed Single.jpg
Unprocessed Single.jpg2048×1365 1.57 MB

Satelites Marked Single.jpg
Satelites Marked Single.jpg2048×1365 2.32 MB

Stacked.jpg
Stacked.jpg2048×1365 2.04 MB

Critique Style Requested: Standard

The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.

Description

I have an old friend, both in age and duration of friendship, who is also a photographer. He has since had to move back to the east coast from here in Bozeman. He comes back every fall and we go shooting in Yellowstone and the Tetons. He had never shot the Milky Way before, so we hoped for a clear night while in the Tetons. Our wish was granted! It was such a thrill to coach him through settings and then hear his gasp when the first image popped up on his lcd screen.

Specific Feedback

I usually stack for noise reduction in my Milky Way images. I included the stacked one but I think my favorite is the single image. It was a lot of work to reduce the effects of light pollution from the town of Jackson and to remove all the satellites manually. The stacking process removes them automatically, but it also adds blur to the clouds. I used Topaz Denoise and Topaz Sharpen on the single, but not on the stacked. Curious to hear your preference on both the processes and the way I’ve changed the color temp in the sky from the original. Also curious about how you like the star reduction version vs the one without reduction which is the one with the satellites marked.

Technical Details

Nikon D850
Sigma Art 20mm 1.4
ISO 4000, f/2, 13 seconds

The processing details are included in the feedback window above

2

You deserve accolades for the amount of work you put into this!! It is a lovely composition with the mountains and clouds balancing the MW. The reflection of the mountains is wonderful! I like the color of the light pollution! It gives a nice extra bit of interest. It may be partly an optical illusion but it feels like the horizon is sweeping up to the left.

For my taste there could be less cyan in the first post. I prefer the colors in the one with the meteors marked. I think with some careful selecting you could have leeway to combine a stacked image for the sky with a regular frame for the FG, clouds and mountains, although I don’t find anything to complain about in the stacked clouds.

How wonderful that you could share this experience with your friend!!

3

Paul, kudos are in order for how much processing was involved in making this informative display. I’m with you in preferring the sharper clouds in the single, but do feel like the colors and luminosity in the stacked version better fit my expectations for how a night time photo will look (clearly subjective). It’s also great that you had water in Jackson Lake. For my visit in spring of 2022, Jackson lake was a river on with no water backed up behind the dam!