Center of the Milky Way

Any an all critque/ratings are welcome. Is the composition with the

tree and horizon appropriate? How about exposure and color? This

was on a fixed tripod using maximum practical exposure times to

prevent star trails. I shot Kodak RG 1000 with no push. Would a

barndoor tracker make it better? Thanks.

I like it. The composition seems fine. Its a great view of the milky way. Those stains in the sky are clouds or part of the milky way?

Marcio, thanks for the comment. The darker areas are dust clouds blocking light from the milky way.

I guess to answer your question, they are both part of the Milky Way and clouds.

I never imagined that you can get such a clear image of the milky way without a telescope... As I was a kid, I used to take shots of the stars trails, but never could get one like this.

 

Seems to be a little grainy -that obvious for the ISO 1000 film you've used. This grane confuses with the stars. For sure you'll get a better shot with a lower iso film and with a tracker.

I think the photo works...I was drawn to it right away. If I were to be hypercritical, I'd say that the foreground objects such as the tree could benefit from being larger in scale...and perhaps finding another camera angle where another recognizable shape would appear on the right. I'd also perhaps opt for a slightly shorter exposure to minimize the star trails, or an equatorial mount. Great colour!

Thanks for the comment. I used ISO 400 for the Leonids. Hopefully the grain will be much less. I was afraid a slower film at only 33 seconds wouldn't bring out the colors and depth. I am considering building the tracker this winter.

I think it's a nice Milky Way photo as is. A barndoor tracker will obviously allow you to bump your exposure into the realm of many minutes, but I'll point out the obvious -- if you use the tracker the sillouette of the ground will blur, ruining the effect....

I think the trees on the right would have been better to emphasize than the trees on the left. They look like a family starting with the smallest the moving to the biggest. The shot is really nice and I was also drawn to it.

I used to have blast making fixed shots of the milky way with Konica 3200 and my 50mm 1.4 or 135mm F2. 30 seconds was enough to burn most nebula firmly into the film.

 

The grain doesn't bother me because I know how difficult and cumbersome tracking can be. However, if I had one complaint it's that the image is too light in general and you are washing out detail. Increase the contrast of this shot and darken it a bit. You'll be amazed at the increase in detail.

Great Color

Thanks Scott. I'll try that. I appreciate all ot the comments from everyone.

I love stars;~}

Fantastic

I love the contrast between the trees and the galactic backdrop. It feels like our planet was tossed hundreds of light years to the center of the galaxy.

 

Wow! Cool effect! The dark edges detract a little though.

Incredible. Congratulations on pulling this off.