[iceman (Mike)]

Originally Posted by gregbradley

Really nice Mike. I agree I prefer the 2nd one slightly better - as you say slightly better balanced. Was that the Nikon 14-24mm you used?

How did you pick up the sand dunes - was there a moon?

Greg.

Thanks Greg, appreciate the feedback.
Yeh it was the Nikon 14-24mm. I think I was at 14mm, but can never tell because the EXIF data doesn't come through on the Canon.

I was surprised at the amount of light on the sand dunes, but there was no Moon. I think it was either natural illumination (star light?) or enough residual non-direct light around to allow them to be picked up. Of course ISO6400 with the 6D and 20s exposures certainly help capture whatever light there was.

Originally Posted by mbaddah

Great shots Mike! Well done.

Thanks for the feedback!

Originally Posted by Rod771

They're both very nice Mike!

The second one is very well balanced but I quite like a shot that has lots of astronomical goodies, as in the first.

I love how Venus is sitting just above the horizon.

Well done

Thanks Rod - I tend to agree with both points. As a pano, you want lots of interest and the first one has that. But as a standalone shot, the second one feels better.

I was rushing to capture Venus before it set

Originally Posted by rogerg

nice mike

I wonder with my pano's about the variation of brightness and colour, in wide vertical bars across the image. I haven't yet decided if they are a processing artifact of the pano stitching or legit. The extra light around Venus is obviously legit, but going down and up in brightness as moving right of venus? I'm not sure.

Yeh I think you're right - I think it's a combination of both sometimes, but often it's probably the vignetting as H has said below. I applied the lens profile for the Nikon but it mustn't have been a completely flat field, so when stitched it highlights the differences.

Originally Posted by RB

Oh that's awesome mate !!!
Lovely work.

Thanks RB!

Originally Posted by Larryp

Beautiful photo, Mike. I prefer the crop, too

Thanks Larry.

Originally Posted by Jay-qu

Wow, truly a beautiful shot..

Many thanks!

Originally Posted by naskies

Beautiful, Mike! I prefer the second crop too.

Thanks mate, appreciate the feedback.

Originally Posted by Antu

Nice composition, Mike ! My only could would be regarding the colors. In current representation there is too much red, in my opinion Looks like flaming skies

Thanks Yuri - I need to re-balance the colour. After looking at it on my work laptop today it was way too magenta, but I thought it looked right on my home laptop. Will need to play a bit more.

Originally Posted by Octane

Torn between the two. I like the one without the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds as it is balanced, but, then, you miss out on those goodies in the crop!


I resolve this by using Peripheral Illumination Correction via DPP. I play with the slider (the value will be different for each focal length you shoot at as the vignetting is a function of both the aperture and of the focal length) until the corners of the image are as bright as the centre. Then, off to Autopano Giga and it stitches seamlessly.

H

Thanks for the feedback, H!