Photoclubalpha

As mentioned previously my friend and I went to Lick Observatory on July 2, 2019 (New Moon day or around it).
We stopped at a spot a Lick Observatory Volunteer suggested. Though much to learn, I managed to few half decent
shots. IMnotsoHO.
Any/all feedback is much welcomed and appreciated.









I even tried a Panorama in that darkness

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Well, you certainly should be proud, Sury.
They indeed are good shots of the Milky Way. Quite an impressive amount of comets or airplanes out there as well. Lots of action going on that we mostly miss because of city lights, unfortunately. To think that we could easily see the Milky Way every dark night and enjoy like ancient times is beautiful.

Thanks for sharing,
Yildiz

Sury

Impressive

Ossie

Yildiz,
Thank you very much. Unfortunately, they are all planes.
Ossie, thank you.

With best regards,
Sury

An excellent start. I see some hints of post production (maybe). What lens?
Most important, what do you think of the shots and what do you do next?

JT,
Thank you. Yes, there is post production, the usual clarity, blacks, whites, contrast and exposure.
Given my previous attempts, I am quite happy with the results though not fully satisfied.
I used CZ24-70f2.8 and CZ24f2 prime.

As for next steps, travel to an area that has better dark sky, like Sierra Nevada Mountains (Eastern California),
and try a Tamron 15-30 or CZ16-35 or a UWA prime lens. Though most sites I researched recommended 1.8 or faster,
I am convinced wider angle is preferred over speed of the lens. We (my friend on a Canon 5DMIV) have been shooting
at less than 20 sec around 1000 iso without star trails. So speed of the lens could be an additive rather than a subtractive element.

Here is an example of CZ24f2 at f2 and 15sec exposre and iso 400. You can see the faint traces of Milkyway. Perhaps I could have gone to 3200 iso and obtained a better definition. At 24mm, I am looking at 20sec max exposure without star trails (500/fl rule).

Good stuff Sury. Your comments track with what I understood to be the best way to capture these types of images. Composition always matters and for me it seems that focal length depends on how much sky you want to show versus foreground. The 20 second rule worked for me so I would adjust iso to get there. Lastly, I focused my post production efforts on the parts of the sky that I wanted to accentuate.That would minimize that rim of light that you see at the transition between land and sky.
All the best.
JT

RX1 35mm f2.0 iso 1600 @20 seconds.

JT,
Nice one. Thanks for the suggestion on accentuating the interesting part of the sky. I was doing LR tweaks.
Perhaps I should try a couple on PS.

Sury

You can "dodge and burn" in Lightroom.

I haven't figured out how to do it in a small area.
I have been applying graduated filters and I am able to do it either length wise or breadth wise.

Sury

Brush tool with clarity and contrast.
JT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60jVSCdU_s4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVIBHhsSsdE

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Thank you for the links, JBTaylor.
I learned a couple of things from these video tutorials myself as well.

Yildiz

jbtaylor wrote:Brush tool with clarity and contrast.
JT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60jVSCdU_s4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVIBHhsSsdE

JT,
Thank you for the links. I applied some suggestions in the first video to my friend's image with better results. I haven't applied it to my images yet.

Sury

YouTube rules.
JT

Found this as well.
JT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1Kfr8RG3zM