Selfie under the milky way

I wasn't looking for critique.
 
Yo Jake, thanks for that link, that guy has some good advice for editing!
 
. . . This photo was taken at 10,000 feet in the high Sierras, on top of a mountain, pitch black skies...have you ever tried to capture the milky way in such conditions?? . . .
Yes I have, and in the Sierras.
I have been doing astronomy and astrophotography, off and on, for 45 years.
I often did astrophotography at/near Golden Trout Camp just south of the New Army Pass, Mt. Langley, Cirque Peak, Cottonwood Lakes area.
Take Whitney Portal road out of Lone Pine and 3 miles down the road hang a left on Horseshoe Meadows road to the trail head and hike in.

I moved to Iowa about 10 years ago.
I lived in Coronado, CA from 1971 to 1982.
I moved to Tucson from there.
While I was in Tucson I was active in the local amateur astronomy community and volunteered at the Flandrau Planetarium on the campus of the U of A.

By the way, when the center of the Milky Way galaxy is up that high in the sky it can't be 'pitch black'. In fact if you looked closely you would have noticed that that part of the sky is bright enough that you, trees, and such cast a faint shadow.
 
Last edited:
What camera/lens were you using?
Really nice photo btw :)
 
. . . This photo was taken at 10,000 feet in the high Sierras, on top of a mountain, pitch black skies...have you ever tried to capture the milky way in such conditions?? . . .
Yes I have, and in the Sierras.
I have been doing astronomy and astrophotography, off and on, for 45 years.
I often did astrophotography at/near Golden Trout Camp just south of the New Army Pass, Mt. Langley, Cirque Peak, Cottonwood Lakes area.
Take Whitney Portal road out of Lone Pine and 3 miles down the road hang a left on Horseshoe Meadows road to the trail head and hike in.

I moved to Iowa about 10 years ago.
I lived in Coronado, CA from 1971 to 1982.
I moved to Tucson from there.
While I was in Tucson I was active in the local amateur astronomy community and volunteered at the Flandrau Planetarium on the campus of the U of A.

By the way, when the center of the Milky Way galaxy is up that high in the sky it can't be 'pitch black'. In fact if you looked closely you would have noticed that that part of the sky is bright enough that you, trees, and such cast a faint shadow.

Would you mind sharing some of your great milky way shots??
 
Would you mind sharing some of your great milky way shots??
I made those images some 40 years ago. They are B&W negatives in cold storage in AZ.
I have no plans on having my film negatives digitized.
So you're out of luck.
 
First off, I didn't explicitly ask for C&C, however with that said I don't mind constructive criticism. I laughed because it's really easy to talk about technicalities when you're sitting behind a desk in Iowa. This photo was taken at 10,000 feet in the high Sierras, on top of a mountain, pitch black skies...have you ever tried to capture the milky way in such conditions?? :biglaugh:

This was my second time trying a shot like this, and I tried it using various parameters, but ultimately I sacrificed certain aspects for others. For instance, yea there are slight star trails, but ONLY IF YOU VIEW IT ZOOMED IN, but I chose 30 second exposure because the enhanced milky way colors/detail was what I wanted with the photo, as opposed to going for the most round stars I could capture. Second, this photo is heavily edited in Photoshop, and I was in no way trying to create a 'realistic' photo of the milky way. When you are standing out there on a mountain you can only see a faint whisp of the milky way, thus anything you capture with long exposure is so different from the naked eye, and I personally with these shots go for a more artistic approach. Lastly, sure, some of the stars are blown out, whatever.

It's a good shot and I like it. However why the hostility and attitude? See the note at the top of the session:

"A gallery for sharing photos of the people in your life, from informal portraits & candids, to your home studio shots or street photography. Post for discussion and feedback, including general critique."
 
First off, I didn't explicitly ask for C&C, however with that said I don't mind constructive criticism. I laughed because it's really easy to talk about technicalities when you're sitting behind a desk in Iowa. This photo was taken at 10,000 feet in the high Sierras, on top of a mountain, pitch black skies...have you ever tried to capture the milky way in such conditions?? :biglaugh:

This was my second time trying a shot like this, and I tried it using various parameters, but ultimately I sacrificed certain aspects for others. For instance, yea there are slight star trails, but ONLY IF YOU VIEW IT ZOOMED IN, but I chose 30 second exposure because the enhanced milky way colors/detail was what I wanted with the photo, as opposed to going for the most round stars I could capture. Second, this photo is heavily edited in Photoshop, and I was in no way trying to create a 'realistic' photo of the milky way. When you are standing out there on a mountain you can only see a faint whisp of the milky way, thus anything you capture with long exposure is so different from the naked eye, and I personally with these shots go for a more artistic approach. Lastly, sure, some of the stars are blown out, whatever.

It's a good shot and I like it. However why the hostility and attitude? See the note at the top of the session:

"A gallery for sharing photos of the people in your life, from informal portraits & candids, to your home studio shots or street photography. Post for discussion and feedback, including general critique."

I'm glad you like it bro!
 

Most reactions

New Topics

Back
Top