Milky way PP tips / advice please!

Hi everyone, I took some MW pics earlier this week and am slightly underwhelmed by them and am wondering how best to go about processing them.

Here are a couple of examples:


This is pretty much as the raw file.


This is one with some processing done


And this is with somewhat more emphatic PP done, but I am not happy with it.

These are single shots, but I believe I can get better definition from my MW shots, I would appreciate your advice.

I am using PhotoShop Elements 9.

Mark_A
.
A thread of photos from SmartPhones ..
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/64212858

You should read the tutorial on clarkvision.com. He shows how to do it using Photoshop, (among other programs).

And do all this work in 16-bit mode, only converting to jpg at the end. (You are shooting RAW, right?)

David

DavidWright2010 said:

You should read the tutorial on clarkvision.com. He shows how to do it using Photoshop, (among other programs).

And do all this work in 16-bit mode, only converting to jpg at the end. (You are shooting RAW, right?)

David

Click to expand...

That tutorial was amazing for me when I first started. I've since deviated from what he describes as the "natural" color of the sky to something I like much better. So just a word of advice for the OP, don't let his opinions limit your creativity. But if you use the tutorial for a while, you will learn a lot about how each slider impacts the image in a more predicable way than just playing around on your own or even watching videos where they begin with images from true dark skies.

DavidWright2010 said:

You should read the tutorial on clarkvision.com. He shows how to do it using Photoshop, (among other programs).

And do all this work in 16-bit mode, only converting to jpg at the end. (You are shooting RAW, right?)

Click to expand...

Hi David,

Thanks for that link, I just had a brief look and it seems interesting!

eta: yes I am shooting raw.

Mark_A
.
A thread of photos from SmartPhones ..
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/64212858

knight427 said:

That tutorial was amazing for me when I first started. I've since deviated from what he describes as the "natural" color of the sky to something I like much better. So just a word of advice for the OP, don't let his opinions limit your creativity. But if you use the tutorial for a while, you will learn a lot about how each slider impacts the image in a more predicable way than just playing around on your own or even watching videos where they begin with images from true dark skies.

Click to expand...

Hi knight427,

Thanks for that. So far I am flailing about testing different settings and I see other people's milky ways and I know they are doing something different.

Hopefully I can make something more with the images I already shot.

Any advice on suitable Nikon lenses?
Almost the first thing I found reading that interesting website is that my Nikon 20mm f2.8 isn't as suitable for night photography as I had thought. Because the aperture wide open is quite small in mm terms.

So just wondering if anyone has recommendations for Nikon wide lenses suitable for night photography? I am off to browse and see what I can find.

Mark_A
.
A thread of photos from SmartPhones ..

Mark_A said:

Hi everyone, I took some MW pics earlier this week and am slightly underwhelmed by them and am wondering how best to go about processing them.

Here are a couple of examples:


This is pretty much as the raw file.


This is one with some processing done


And this is with somewhat more emphatic PP done, but I am not happy with it.

These are single shots, but I believe I can get better definition from my MW shots, I would appreciate your advice.

I am using PhotoShop Elements 9.

Mark_A
.
A thread of photos from SmartPhones ..
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/64212858

Click to expand...

_________________________________________________________

Further to the other posts Are you using Deep Sky Stacker or Sequator to stack multiple images ? - here are the links

Do a foreground exposure or bracket at ISO 100 or the lowest possible then let the camera go in auto to record as many sky images as you want.

http://deepskystacker.free.fr/english/index.html

Sequator has a ground freeze option and is faster many say its images are not as robust a DSS - YMMV

Stick with it - its lie golf so to speak - more practice and study and suddenly you are landing things near the green, then on it etc.

--https://sites.google.com/site/sequatorglobal/

Best Regards, Rodger
Save Lives - Be an Organ or Stem Cell Donor.
Quaecumque vera

Rodger in Edmonton said:

Rodger in Edmonton wrote:

Click to expand...

Rodger in Edmonton said:

_________________________________________________________

Further to the other posts Are you using Deep Sky Stacker or Sequator to stack multiple images ? - here are the links

Do a foreground exposure or bracket at ISO 100 or the lowest possible then let the camera go in auto to record as many sky images as you want.

http://deepskystacker.free.fr/english/index.html

Sequator has a ground freeze option and is faster many say its images are not as robust a DSS - YMMV

Stick with it - its lie golf so to speak - more practice and study and suddenly you are landing things near the green, then on it etc.

Click to expand...

Hi Rodger,

Thank you for your response.

At the moment I am doing single shots.

I will go and have a look at your links, thanks for that.

Mark_A
.
A thread of photos from SmartPhones ..

Mark_A said:

Rodger in Edmonton said:

_________________________________________________________

Further to the other posts Are you using Deep Sky Stacker or Sequator to stack multiple images ? - here are the links

Do a foreground exposure or bracket at ISO 100 or the lowest possible then let the camera go in auto to record as many sky images as you want.

http://deepskystacker.free.fr/english/index.html

Sequator has a ground freeze option and is faster many say its images are not as robust a DSS - YMMV

Stick with it - its lie golf so to speak - more practice and study and suddenly you are landing things near the green, then on it etc.

Click to expand...

Hi Rodger,

Thank you for your response.

At the moment I am doing single shots.

I will go and have a look at your links, thanks for that.

Mark_A
.
A thread of photos from SmartPhones ..
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/64212858

Click to expand...

The more quality frames the better for increasing signal to noise ratio - keeping the " good stuff" and punching down " the bad stuff"

Many Milky Way shots you see as " single frames" wonders are a composite of multiple shots taken, then stacked and post processed in specialized software or Photoshop etc. to bring out the detail the eye does not see.

There are as many recipes as cooks - learn the basics and develop your own style.

As the other poster noted - check the tutorial links - often the pre processed results are not impressive at all - ex camera or ex stack , but it will shock you what beauty lurks behind those " muddy images".

You will make quick progress.

--
Best Regards, Rodger
Save Lives - Be an Organ or Stem Cell Donor.
Quaecumque vera

Rodger in Edmonton said:

Rodger in Edmonton wrote:

Click to expand...

Rodger in Edmonton said:

The more quality frames the better for increasing signal to noise ratio - keeping the " good stuff" and punching down " the bad stuff"

Click to expand...

Aha, yes I have seen this multiple exposure thing, I guess I just thought I would need a star tracker tripod mount to do it.

Rodger in Edmonton said:

Many Milky Way shots you see as " single frames" wonders are a composite of multiple shots taken, then stacked and post processed in specialized software or Photoshop etc. to bring out the detail the eye does not see.

Click to expand...

Will have a play with the one you recommended.

Rodger in Edmonton said:

There are as many recipes as cooks - learn the basics and develop your own style.

As the other poster noted - check the tutorial links - often the pre processed results are not impressive at all - ex camera or ex stack , but it will shock you what beauty lurks behind those " muddy images".

Click to expand...

The main takeaway I have from the tutorial pages so far is that despite me thinking it was, actually my 20mm f2.8 lens might not be as suitable for this sort of thing as I thought it was :-/

Rodger in Edmonton said:

You will make quick progress.

Click to expand...

Hope to, thanks for the tips and encouragement

For the moment there is a lack of clear night skies here, hoping for a break in the weather.

Mark_A
.
A thread of photos from SmartPhones ..

Mark_A said:

Hi everyone, I took some MW pics earlier this week and am slightly underwhelmed by them and am wondering how best to go about processing them.

Here are a couple of examples:


This is pretty much as the raw file.


This is one with some processing done


And this is with somewhat more emphatic PP done, but I am not happy with it.

These are single shots, but I believe I can get better definition from my MW shots, I would appreciate your advice.

I am using PhotoShop Elements 9.

Mark_A
.
A thread of photos from SmartPhones ..
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/64212858

Click to expand...

Mark,

Like one of the previous posts, I also started with Clark's advice, but since the color of the sky is rather an artistic decision, I've departed from the reddish looking to more blue-ish.

I'd recommend that you check Wayne Pinkston's work, you'll find him on 500px and flickr, and he has some advice online and tutorial that you can purchase.

--
Igal
.
.
500px, Instagram, https://www.flickr.com/photos/9516824@N07/

zurubi said:

Mark,

Like one of the previous posts, I also started with Clark's advice, but since the color of the sky is rather an artistic decision, I've departed from the reddish looking to more blue-ish.

I'd recommend that you check Wayne Pinkston's work, you'll find him on 500px and flickr, and he has some advice online and tutorial that you can purchase.

Click to expand...

Hi zurubi,

Thanks for your comment. At the moment I would settle just for a strong cloudy milky way rather than what I am getting thus far ! I will take a look at Wayne Pinkston's work, thanks for the tip.

Mark_A
.
A thread of photos from SmartPhones ..