The unreachable "star"

Image Critiques Weekly Challenge
1

This is my first semi serious “star” photo. Inspired by an article I saw about how the moon and 5 planets are all lining up about now. And also the many exquisite night photos I’ve seen here on NPN. First I reviewed the images here on NPN to get a feel for settings/equipment I might use. Also read some introductory articles about astrophotography and got some more basic info for where to begin. At 4:50am today I braved the morning sky in our back yard of the Texas hill country. This was my first photo.

stars-DSC_8627
stars-DSC_86272700×2079 1.09 MB

Even I can see there are many things that could be better, but I really like it.

What technical feedback would you like if any?

It was 72 degrees, humidity was 84% and scattered clouds (mostly what we call “morning stratus”). Also, although we live “semi remotely” however, there is still ambient lighting around. Because of our location I didn’t believe I would see the moon and all the 5 planets, still I was hoping for something. The moon was still too low - it is just below the tree line. So what I’d like to know is; what did I do wrong? Or how could I have made this a better photo? I did some minor adjustments in LR/PS - cropped out a telephone pole on the right, slightly increased the exposure, texture, clarity, sharpening and noise reduction. Any and all comments are encouraged.

What artistic feedback would you like if any?

All thoughts, comments and suggestions are welcome

Pertinent technical details or techniques:

Nikon D7200, f/3, 18 sec., iso 1000, 27mm - taken at 5:02

Thanks

Re-post

stars-DSC_8627-revised
stars-DSC_8627-revised2400×1878 1.05 MB

minor adjustments to lighting and sharpening/noise reduction

and just for fun . . .another photo taken at 5:18 with a little more clarity.

stars-DSC_8642
stars-DSC_86422400×2029 1.31 MB

All thoughts and comments encouraged and welcome. Thank you.

2

Linda, I don’t think you “did anything wrong” here. This is a good looking “night” sky. If you had a clear sky, there would be more stars. Those thin clouds also reflect the ambient light from the ground, so the sky is not totally dark. You are very unlikely to get all 5 planets in the same photo, since they are usually scattered around the sky. The trees make a good foreground. That super bright bit is an interesting addition because of the halo around it and the streaks coming from it. Is that the moon? I like it’s position, just above the trees. This is a very good first night sky shot. BTW, you jumped the gun on the posting opening for this WC by around 12 hours. :wink:

3

oops, sorry Mark. Should I remove and re-post later?? Thanks for your thoughts tho’. I did realize I wouldn’t get all 5 planets, and think this one might either be Mercury or Mars from what I read.