Milky Way and Snake River

Hello everyone.

Shot this at 1:00 AM at the Tetons. A 30sec exposure at 2.8. I used a

flash light to illuminate the fog that was coming off of Snake River. Would

love some critiques as I am very new to night photography.

Thank you

Paul

This is absolutely great. Those colors in the foreground and the details below are such a wonderful compliment to the show in the sky. You are showing the universe that lies eons away and the special life that exists close under water. This is one of my favorite astro shot that also blends landscape fabulously.

Terrific again!

Best

+Lalit

This is really something special. Your equipment and the 2.8 lens is a big help. The center horizon really works well here since it is the great "dividing line" between heaven and earth. The sky, even with the blur of the exposure time is really incredible and the water by flashlight really balances the image. Therefore I must get out there and try some of these shots again and again, myself.

Hi Paul, some interesting method with good result.

I like that you explain the way of working

Br/ Roger

Picture of excellent quality and superb aesthetic. Very amazing details at f/g and sky created very balance state and the use of flash ( i think secon curtain ) is a good creative choice. Bravo. Max rate.

Hamid.

Excellent work,an outstanding image,hard work and good technique produce results like this image,best rating,Harry

Superbly processed, it's a fantastic shot!

Lovely.  It would be a good photo without the flash, but what you did with the lighting makes it unique and wonderful.

Stunning, I am speechless (how you managed technically) and enjoying viewing. Highly innovative (the use of the flash to illuminate the foreground is one major highlight here in the truest sense - of course the tack sharp parts of the Milky Way and their reflections etc. as well) and aesthetic as well. BR / Volker

Wonderful image!  Keep them coming.

Mike

Very innovative! Technically astute and magical. Compliments.

Wow! I really like this shot! Definately into my favorites! I really like the colors, awesome job

Kristen

Amazing!

Absolutely stunning image Paul! I don't think you need any advice regarding night photography. This is a wonderful image. The stars are incredible, and the flashlight lit foreground is gorgous too!

All the best,
Neil

Fabulous work and I prefer this one over the vertical.

Well Done!

You nailed this one. Love the refection of the mountain and stars in the water. My only niggle would be to darken the lower grass a bit, or crop it, I love the underwater grass though.

Great capture! Fantastic colors and great lighting.

The only "critique" I may offer is to post a larger version -- an outstanding capture like this one deserves to be seen in a larger format!

I don't have a critique but a couple of comments.

First, Majestic!

Second I would darken the foreground considerably.

Stunning image. I find though that the vegetation above water is a bit too bright/distracting. I'm curious how high an ISO did you use to get the stars so well exposed? I would have thought that a 30 sec. exposure would have created slight star trails already, but yours are tack sharp it seems. I'm just curious how to go about getting similar results.

Hi Paul,

Posting this image small prevents many viewers from seeing the star trails due to the 30 second exposure.

Whether you used 16 mm or 35 mm , the trails are apparent.

This is NOT a negative point , since the results are quite beautiful anyway. It is the fact of Nature, that the stars move E to W  due to the  Earth's rotation.

For those wanting to image the stars at night without any trails, follow this guide:

A 50 mm lens can produce trailing after 5-6 seconds exposure unless you are shooting near the North Pole. Then longer exposures can be taken.

Therefore, to get sharp star points in 30 seconds, the lens has to be reduced to a focal length of 10 mm or less. Short focal length Fisheye lens are excellent for this type of work, too.

A lens that is not well corrected will show flaring and distortions, comatic aberration and more as the field of view becomes larger. Using a smaller format camera or a camera with larger pixels  like 6 to 10 megapixels) will assist to disguise these effects. Otherwise, the lens needs to be stopped down which greatly reduces the amount of starlight forming the image and less stars are seen.

Higher ISO settings will produce white points (not stars) and when this "noise" is eliminated, so are some of the fainter stars, too.

Best Regards, Mike