Hello Giulio, I am also a beginner in astrophotography (about 4 months into it), but anyway, here are my 2 cents:
This is certainly a very good quality shot already! The milky way is very clearly visible even though the photo is not post-processed. There is some light pollution, but it isn't much of a problem since the air seems quite dry. I really like the overall clarity and sharpness of the photo.
I wonder what settings, camera and lens you have been using ?
I don't care so much for the foreground and the middleground of the image. Let's just say it could be more interesting. If I were in this location, I'd walk over to the side of the hay roll that is facing the milky way (to block the back light as much as possible) and place the camera close enough to the ground to not have the distant hill behind the trees in the picture. Don't know if that's possible at all.
The image could also be used to create a composite with a more enticing fore- and middle ground. This is something that I am currently looking into, maybe even combining the milky way sky with a photo shot by day that is 'nightified' in photoshop. I shot some milky way pictures last night, suffering from an utterly uninteresting foreground.
Hi Chris, thanks so much for the time you took to write your reply. I really appreciate.
The image is actually a composite, composed by the following layers:
1. the sky: processed by aligning and stacking together 7 shots using Siril. This was done to eliminate noise (I shoot with an entry level APS-C camera). Each shot was taken with the following settings: 15mm, 15'', ISO 3200, F/2.8.
2. light painting on the foreground from camera left
3. light painting on the foreground from camera right
4. light painting on the field behind the hay roll from camera left
5. light painting on the field behind the hay roll from camera right
Layers 2 to 5 were all single shots taken with the following settings: 15mm, 5'', ISO 400, F/2.8. They were processed by decreasing the white balance, pulling the exposure down a full stop and shifting greens toward yellows.
My tripod was already at the lowest position. The trees in the midground were quite tall and distant - 100 meters or so,... I am not sure lowering the camera would be enough to hide them.
The hills, instead, are much much further away - 12-14 Km.
I like this shot; the light hitting the hay stack is very cool, and the composition is pretty sound. Tbh I think the only issue here is defining a stronger subject. You seem to already have a technical grasp on exposing and post producing this style of shot. As far as the sky goes, you can always selectively play with light and see where that takes you.
Hi, thanks. I would like to include some people in my next picture. Unfortunately, when I took this one I was alone and my only light source was my mobile phone.
Composition-wise, it's great. Nice job placing the hay bale to counter the milky way.
Have you already teased detail out of the file, or did it look something like this out of camera? If not, I would definitely try to pump up the exposure, clarity etc. and see what you can get. It's a bit flat and underexposed. Otherwise a great start.
Hey Scott, thanks for the feedback. I did actually decrease the exposure in the lower part of the frame, because it loooked unnatural to me. But it should be matter of raising a little bit the opacity of that layer in the composite to restore it.
Regarding clarity: i will also try to increase a little bit local contrast (is that what clarity stands for, right?)
The stars definitely pop more, and you even brought some out that you couldn't see before. As for the exposure, I'm not sure how much data you're working with but you could possibly "push" more out of the milky way. Brighten levels/exposure and add contrast and maybe see how it looks? It's just a tad faint!
Hello Giulio, I am also a beginner in astrophotography (about 4 months into it), but anyway, here are my 2 cents:
This is certainly a very good quality shot already! The milky way is very clearly visible even though the photo is not post-processed. There is some light pollution, but it isn't much of a problem since the air seems quite dry. I really like the overall clarity and sharpness of the photo.
I wonder what settings, camera and lens you have been using ?
I don't care so much for the foreground and the middleground of the image. Let's just say it could be more interesting. If I were in this location, I'd walk over to the side of the hay roll that is facing the milky way (to block the back light as much as possible) and place the camera close enough to the ground to not have the distant hill behind the trees in the picture. Don't know if that's possible at all.
The image could also be used to create a composite with a more enticing fore- and middle ground. This is something that I am currently looking into, maybe even combining the milky way sky with a photo shot by day that is 'nightified' in photoshop. I shot some milky way pictures last night, suffering from an utterly uninteresting foreground.
Hope this comment can be somewhat helpful.
Chris
Hi Chris, thanks so much for the time you took to write your reply. I really appreciate.
The image is actually a composite, composed by the following layers:
1. the sky: processed by aligning and stacking together 7 shots using Siril. This was done to eliminate noise (I shoot with an entry level APS-C camera). Each shot was taken with the following settings: 15mm, 15'', ISO 3200, F/2.8.
2. light painting on the foreground from camera left
3. light painting on the foreground from camera right
4. light painting on the field behind the hay roll from camera left
5. light painting on the field behind the hay roll from camera right
Layers 2 to 5 were all single shots taken with the following settings: 15mm, 5'', ISO 400, F/2.8. They were processed by decreasing the white balance, pulling the exposure down a full stop and shifting greens toward yellows.
My tripod was already at the lowest position. The trees in the midground were quite tall and distant - 100 meters or so,... I am not sure lowering the camera would be enough to hide them.
The hills, instead, are much much further away - 12-14 Km.
Cheers
Giulio
I like this shot; the light hitting the hay stack is very cool, and the composition is pretty sound. Tbh I think the only issue here is defining a stronger subject. You seem to already have a technical grasp on exposing and post producing this style of shot. As far as the sky goes, you can always selectively play with light and see where that takes you.
Hi, thanks. I would like to include some people in my next picture. Unfortunately, when I took this one I was alone and my only light source was my mobile phone.
Did you do the light painting with the mobile phone?
Yes. Is there anything wrong with it? 😅
Nah, just thought it was a clever alternative to using a pro light.
Composition-wise, it's great. Nice job placing the hay bale to counter the milky way.
Have you already teased detail out of the file, or did it look something like this out of camera? If not, I would definitely try to pump up the exposure, clarity etc. and see what you can get. It's a bit flat and underexposed. Otherwise a great start.
Hey Scott, thanks for the feedback. I did actually decrease the exposure in the lower part of the frame, because it loooked unnatural to me. But it should be matter of raising a little bit the opacity of that layer in the composite to restore it.
Regarding clarity: i will also try to increase a little bit local contrast (is that what clarity stands for, right?)
adding local contrast did a great job... thanks for the tip. What about exposure now?
The stars definitely pop more, and you even brought some out that you couldn't see before. As for the exposure, I'm not sure how much data you're working with but you could possibly "push" more out of the milky way. Brighten levels/exposure and add contrast and maybe see how it looks? It's just a tad faint!