I have recently tried to combine my ski and astro photography. This was one of my first attempts at blending the 2. photo stacked images of the mountains at twilight, some of the early stars, and the skier shot in almost pitch black with 2 speedlights. Let me know what you think, or any suggestions on how I could improve on it! Cheers
there is a couple things... i would change get rid of the single light streak middle rightish.
possible change the greenish hue on the mountains to a bluer hue unless you liked the effect it was giving from the sunset.
might bring the night sky down on the left side so the 2 lights (behind the mountain and the skiers light) aren't in competition.
thats it great shot
great advice. thanks a lot. I could have cleaned up the light streak, but it was a shooting star. opted to keep it in, as that's the shot I got. I like the suggestion on the lights.
yeah i figured it was a plane because of the single streak would have been awesome if it was multiple
Full marks for creativity Chris.Great shot and something you can build on.
Me likes! Maybe you could try some dodge & burn on the righthand slope to get a bit more texture and a bit more 3d-ish look (and of course the streak, Joseph mentioned).
Nice idea, are you going for personal style here? :-)
Thanks!
Yeah, its just an idea that was always in my head, finally got a chance to try it out.
Would like to try some more and see what it leads to.
I really dislike the concept of a composite image in general but will try to put that aside, at least I like your honesty, and I'll be honest as well. Do you ski at night ? What do you see ? What do you like ? I would try to convey this somehow with an image. But don't just blend the 2 so crudely. It's really really obvious it's composited here, the perspective is wrong with the skier clearly too in the foreground (maybe he's not and it's too much dodging ?), and the lighting feels weird. Also, people who like snowsports images are really picky. They put in the work, and hate composites. For a jumping shot, they'll have people flashing from different angles, they only publish stuff if the the skier actually landed it etc... (you probably know this better than me). So if you want to publish this in the future you may find a lot of pushback. Did the skier actually go down this very slope, or is he from another shot entirely ?
Well i appreciate your honesty, but it is pretty obvious you simply dont like the style.
The camera was not moved once we found the spot we wanted. That is the slope he skied down. Had 2 guys ski it for me, each took 3 runs down it in the dark.
I know its not a typical ski photo, but jts an idea i always wanted to try.
Well, I command your dedication for shooting the skier in the same exact composition, if you're gonna do a composite this is how it should be done. But the lighting on the skier looks so weird it actually makes it look like the skier is cloned in when it is not.
Yeah it is a weird shot, I can agree with that. It is an experiment for me, and it still needs a lot more practice. Hoping to take the concept, but make it a little more natural looking. I appreciate the feedback.
How did you protect your Speedlights? Where exactly are they located? Amazing shot btw!