Field Of Dreams

[multiweb (Marc)]

That's a very nice contrast between the sky and the field. Great shot.

[matt34 (Matt)]

Great Shot Greg. I personally like the pano better.

About what time was the shot taken? Looks like you have a great balance with the moon and the sky, just wondering if the moon was low in the horizon or high in the sky.

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by CapturingTheNight

To answer your queries, this is real, in that yes I was standing in the middle of the field in waste high canola at 2am in the morning, cold and soaked to the bone from the dew on all the plants, to capture these constellations in this position at this location that I have been wanting to shoot for years. The light from a last quarter moon was illuminating the landscape and washing out all but the brightest stars. The only "genetically modified" component of this (I can't speak for the actual crop ) is the halo's around the brightest stars. I wanted to emphasize these to make the image stronger, otherwise it would look even more like a shot taken during the day with a few white dots in the sky. To do this I used a diffusion filter in front of the top part of the lens during the exposures. I of course did not want the same effect on the crop, horizon line, and windmill, so a little bit of masking in post production was needed on a few areas to bring back some sharpness. Then there was just a few contrast and levels adjustments.
So I guess it depends on how you define a composite or fake image versus "real", but that's a 5,000 word essay for another time.............

I cropped the original pano down to a standard 3x2. I thought it had a better composition. Which do you prefer???
"Big Sky Dreams"
Attachment 147839

Hope this explains it all.

Cheers

That explains it well and confirms your standing as a masterful nightscape photographer

I love the full pano - it's brilliant, it has a dreamy the universe is very simple yet vast, complex and amazing feel to it

Thanks for the explanation

Mike

[colinmlegg (Colin)]

Looked great on my iphone and even better at full res. Cracking shot mate

[h0ughy (David)]

the wideview is the winner for me - so much to see

[rogerg (Roger)]

The first shot is excellent, as per my comments on facebook.

The panno is great also. I think the first is still more art than photo, than the panno is. It is tempting to include that extra sky and make it a panno which people tend to prefer these days, but I think one of the winning aspects of the original was that it didn't have to be a panno to prove its self. The composition of the first is more striking I think, and involves the viewer more where as I feel less "in" the panno.

[jonathandael]

Wow! Great technique and foresight! I prefer the first one too. The pano needs further "pano" cropping from the left, and if possible canvass extension on the right to balance it out.

Care to share the exact location of that windmill?

[CapturingTheNight (Greg)]

Thank you all so much again for the great feedback and thoughts on the cropped version versus the panorama I really appreciate it.

Originally Posted by jonathandael

Care to share the exact location of that windmill?

I can't sorry. Requires private property access permission and is not really shootable from the road.

[Peter Ward]

I would have gone for a low key treatment...and kept the pano format.

but, hey, great concept, masterfully handled.

[iceman (Mike)]

This beauty is now IOTW.

[alexch (Alex)]

Beautiful and masterfully executed image, Greg! Especially so with the real "hardware" softening filter! You did squeeze the most out of the bright Moon

Cheers,
Alex

[batema (Mark)]

I think they both look beautiful and it makes me want to get in the caravan and head west.

[CapturingTheNight (Greg)]

Thank you so much again everyone Really appreciate the great feedback

Originally Posted by matt34

About what time was the shot taken? Looks like you have a great balance with the moon and the sky, just wondering if the moon was low in the horizon or high in the sky.

I forgot to answer this in my last reply sorry. This set of images was taken at about 1am. The moon was fairly low down in the west and was about an hour or so away from setting.

Originally Posted by iceman

This beauty is now IOTW.

Awesome! Thank you so much Mike

[dutch2 (Ingrid)]

Fantastic image. Almost feels like we are there.
I'm not sure which I prefer, they are both great images.

[Antu]

Stunning image ! And yes, panorama looks very impressive indeed.

[rcheshire (Rowland)]

That's really effective. Love the composition.

[pmrid (Peter)]

Beautiful image. The cropped version has great appeal but the windmill has moved more towards the centre of the image and to my eye, the proportions are wrong. I preferred it when, in the original, it was more to the left of frame.

But wherever it is, the colour and other composition elements are terrific.

Peter

[CapturingTheNight (Greg)]

Thank you so much for the great feedback and critique once again everyone

[White Rabbit]

Lovely image, beautifully balanced with Orion, Pleiades and the windmill.

Thats one for the wall.

Well done on IOW.

[MortonH]

Wonderful image. If only Orion was the right way up