Wilcannia River Gum + Repost

Image Critiques Nightscape & Astro Critiques
1

_MG_6394 Wilcannia Gum tree V4a small.jpg
_MG_6394 Wilcannia Gum tree V4a small.jpg1500×1000 1.66 MB

Critique Style Requested: Standard

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

Description

This photo is from near Wilcannia (NSW Aus), an old paddle wheeler port on the Murray Darling river system. The Darling River is in the foreground of the background trees. The Darling is very sick, a beautiful pea green from agricultural runoff and lack of water flow. The broken tree is approximately 500 years old and is (to me ) very humanoid of feature, lamenting the current state of affairs. However, there is hope. The government is buying back water allocations and the broken boughs of this old tree provide sanctuary to all sorts of creatures. Where there is death, there is life and hope.

Specific Feedback

I painted the tree with a torch and merged 4 photos to get more even lighting and achieve noise reduction. I am unsure whether the lighting is too bright.

Technical Details

Canon 90D, 10mm lens, ISO 6400, F3.5, 10 sec. 4 frames merged by hand to even the lighting and reduce noise. Separately merged the stars of those 4 frames by hand to achieve pin points instead of streaks. This also reduced sky noise.
Edited in PSE

I have altered the photo as suggested. Sky chrominance noise is reduced as per ACR and de saturation. I have dimmed the tree and it now does not look (to me) like a rabbit caught in headlights. I have also burnt in the LR corner. Diane, thank you for your suggestions.

_MG_6394 Wilcannia Gum tree V4b small
_MG_6394 Wilcannia Gum tree V4b small1500×1000 1.56 MB

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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Very nice idea! I love this sort of intimate landscape night shot. We usually think of nightscapes that feature a spectacular event or light show, but the simple beauty of night and its special light is an equally worthy subject.

For me, I think a little less light on the old tree could be good, as I think the BG trees to the left are lovely, reaching up to the patch of sky.

A very nice job of shooting and merging exposures – the result looks completely natural to me. The large-scale color mottling in the sky is probably a sensor artifact – it is not unusual. I suspect the color noise reduction in the raw converter may not help it much, but worth pushing. (I don’t know what capabilities you have with PSE.) The saturation on the sky could probably just be lowered a bit.

Another idea is a gentle burn on the ground below the tree roots on the right. That could give a nice bit of framing.

All in all, a wonderful post! And this looks like your first post – welcome to NPN! I look forward to more of your work and comments on other work!