OBX Shipwreck Milky Way with MSM tracker - finally learned to do a composite

[SquarePeg]

This photo is a composite of the sky using a tracker (really my first time using it with clear skies) and the foreground taken at the same time/location. This is the first milky way composite I've done. Finally got around to figuring this out. It's not perfect but I like it so far. Definitely open to suggestions. Next time I will take a much longer, much lower ISO photo for the foreground. I really had no idea what I was doing when I took these. I was so excited that I got a good shot with the tracker that I almost forgot to take a foreground shot! These were taken with the Fuji XT2 and 14mm 2.8

Sky is ISO 3200, f/4, 240 seconds using the MSM tracker
Foreground is ISO 4000, f/4, 30 seconds



Ocean Pursuit Milky Way by SharonCat..., on Flickr

 

[The Barbarian]

Very nice, particularly for a first go at it.

 

[MitchP]

Wow! That is amazing! At some point I want to learn astrophotography too

 

[PJM]

Darn nice for first try. I have high expectations for the next one

Did you make it back in time to enjoy our blizzard?

 

[slat]

Nice for a first try. Looking forward to more.

 

[bulldurham]

Two things: First, your foreground shot should have been shot at 15 to 20 seconds. 30 was too long for that focal length and ISO. Second, 240 seconds was just right for sharpness and clarity....but.......it needs some denseness.

I just opened it in ACR (LR has the same editing features), and in the masking selected the subject which gave me just the boat, then tweaked the sliders until I had a good color and light balance. Next, I selected the sky with a mask and tweaked those sliders until I felt I had a good tonal balance between the fore and sky. Nothing special else was done in PS other than lowering the opacity of the ACR layer and a tiny bit of back brush dodging.