Silhouettes & Southern Cross and Pointers

[rogerg (Roger)]

Originally Posted by gregbradley

That is very nicely done Roger. I appreciate the difficulty here of matching the foreground with the moving stars. Did you have the foreground as a separate layer?

Yes, lots of layers

Simplistically:
- A layer for the full stack of 21 frames
- A layer for the first half (10) frames
- A layer for the second half (10) frames
- A layer for a single middle frame

Then it's a case of manually blending them with masks to leave you with only the silhouettes from the one frame, with the full 21 stack showing where no trees cover the stars ever, and using the two half stacks to paint back through the stars which would otherwise be covered by blurred silhouettes in the full 21 stack. So, while it's a stack of 21, there's a lot of areas where only data from 10 is showing. Hope that makes sense. Lots of manual editing around the silhouettes to bring through what I wanted and didn't want in order to achieve the effect.

I find the exact technique used varies quite a bit depending on the shot. I don't always do the split frame thing for example, and I often instead use an initial stack of unaligned frames for the silhouettes. I find I need to take all possibilities on the night and then see what works best for the shot in Photoshop.

Often one of the hardest steps is colour matching all the different stacks and layers so the blends aren't obvious.

Originally Posted by gregbradley

I like the soft glow of the bright stars. Did you defocus these halfway through the exposure?

I use a real (on-camera-lens) filter for diffusing, I find it gives the most aesthetically appealing result in all but a few exception cases.

Originally Posted by gregbradley

Nice effect. It accentuates them nicely. I take it you didn't smear Vaseline all over your lens! Perhaps one of those
glow filters?

No vaseline eeek! I have gel's I'm planning to use for light painting but haven't used any in this shot.

Thanks!
Roger.

[alexch (Alex)]

Masterfully planned, executed and processed image. I agree with all the comments about DM awards - it should do rather well.

Originally Posted by rogerg

I use a real (on-camera-lens) filter for diffusing, I find it gives the most aesthetically appealing result in all but a few exception cases.

Roger.

I was looking at "fog" filter for awhile now, which one do you use?

Cheers,
Alex

[rogerg (Roger)]

Originally Posted by alexch

I was looking at "fog" filter for awhile now, which one do you use?

I use Cokin filters. This one is the P086. I bought them years ago (10 maybe?) when I was using film and still use them. Not what H would recommend but they seem to do the job for me

Edit.... it might not be P086. I'll have to check at home some time. It's the P series I use, but not sure on exact filter code.

[StephenM (Stephen)]

A stunning widefield image Roger! Great stuff.

Cheers,
Stephen

[iceman (Mike)]

Congrats on such a stunning image, Roger. I hope you do well with it.

It's now IOTW.

I might have to get one of those fog filters!

[Greg Bock (Greg Bock)]

Great shot of a familiar area to make it more interesting Roger, well done.
Fog filters??? don't need 'em here in SE Qld, we have plenty of moisture and dew here to do the job instead!!

[stardust steve (Steve)]

Congrats on a fine IOTW. Love how the other stars are small and pin point whilst the Southern Cross is big, bright and beautiful.

[PeterM]

Roger that is just a very lovely image. Just showed it to some work colleagues who love it and they would buy it as a print! Frame it and get it into the shops and local markets around Oz.
If Bockie and I can make lots (and lots) of $ and pay for our astro gear from astro busking many years ago then you could easily pay for your new mount in no time.

PeterM

[Park123 (Stu)]

Top shot Roger

looks great


Stu

[rogerg (Roger)]

Wow, thanks everyone! I'm surprised by the response! It's like I have a record that has gone platinum!

Originally Posted by StephenM

A stunning widefield image Roger! Great stuff.

Cheers,
Stephen

Thanks Stephen

Originally Posted by iceman

Congrats on such a stunning image, Roger. I hope you do well with it.

It's now IOTW.

I might have to get one of those fog filters!

Thanks Mike! Wow, a IOTW!! A first for me Thank you

Originally Posted by Greg Bock

Great shot of a familiar area to make it more interesting Roger, well done.
Fog filters??? don't need 'em here in SE Qld, we have plenty of moisture and dew here to do the job instead!!

Sorry to laugh Greg .. but I just have to If it helps, it's been annoyingly partly cloudy here for the last two weeks .. 2 weeks.. hmm, no, that probably won't help you, sorry ... well, what can I say, come to WA? (ps, that's my way of hopefully getting us some rain ... maybe I've jinxed it now...)

Originally Posted by stardust steve

Congrats on a fine IOTW. Love how the other stars are small and pin point whilst the Southern Cross is big, bright and beautiful.

Thanks Steve It is nice having the diffusion much more evident on the large stars, more so than the small ones, agree.

Originally Posted by PeterM

Roger that is just a very lovely image. Just showed it to some work colleagues who love it and they would buy it as a print! Frame it and get it into the shops and local markets around Oz.
If Bockie and I can make lots (and lots) of $ and pay for our astro gear from astro busking many years ago then you could easily pay for your new mount in no time.

PeterM

Thanks Peter

I have been selling a selection of my astro photograph since 2003 .. not sure I will ever be able to make it pay for the telescope though one day maybe or maybe I need to buy smaller telescopes.

Originally Posted by Park123

Top shot Roger

looks great


Stu

Thanks Stu Shame there's no SN visible in it

[multiweb (Marc)]

Nice framing Roger and congrats on IOTW. One for the cool wall.

[rogerg (Roger)]

Originally Posted by multiweb

Nice framing Roger and congrats on IOTW. One for the cool wall.

Thanks Mark If only I had larger walls

[iceman (Mike)]

Or more cool?

[beren]

Congrats Roger beautiful image......Dryandra reserve is a great place.

[naskies (Dave)]

Well done and congrats on IOTW! I especially like the big glowing orbs of the Southern Cross & Pointers.

[Geoff Scott (Geoff)]

Roger, you're a very patient Man. Very nicely done.

[rogerg (Roger)]

Originally Posted by beren

Congrats Roger beautiful image......Dryandra reserve is a great place.

Thanks Yeah, good for daytime and nighttime photography .. no sleep while there

Originally Posted by naskies

Well done and congrats on IOTW! I especially like the big glowing orbs of the Southern Cross & Pointers.

Thanks

Originally Posted by Geoff Scott

Roger, you're a very patient Man. Very nicely done.

I always think I'm not patient enough actually. I come back from getting some photo's (like this weekend just gone) and find I'm telling myself "why didn't you spend more time doing more!" .. my wife thinks I'm too hard on myself. I can't help but think I waste good opportunities

[Greg Bock (Greg Bock)]

yes Roger, you are too hard on yourself.

[hotspur (Chris)]

congrats on IOTW-best one I've seen for ages

[rogerg (Roger)]

Originally Posted by Greg Bock

yes Roger, you are too hard on yourself.

One day I will learn

Originally Posted by hotspur

congrats on IOTW-best one I've seen for ages

Thanks Chris, much appreciated