A Mono Milky Way

[JimFox]

I went after the Perseids meteor shower, and as mentioned in a previous thread it was a bust as I knew the moon was rising too early. But, I figured I could still just get in some regular star or Milky Way shooting before the moon did rise.

So on the 2nd night I got to Mono Lake after dark. I prefer to set up while it's still light out, so getting there while it was dark was going to be an extra test in getting the new Sigma 14mm f1.8 set up. I manually set up the focus to match what I had used up in Tuolumne Meadows the night before where I was able to focus before it was dark. I did an educated guess as to the exposure settings, set up a composition about 12 feet away from these tufas with the still brilliant Milky Way in the comp, and took the shot. It was just a hair dark, raised the ISO a notch, and then took this image.

So far I am really liking the new Sigma 14mm f1.8. Even at f1.8, I still had enough DOF to get everything in focus in one shot. I quickly processed this one last night, but I think I am liking the way it looks.

All comments are welcome!

Jim

 

[Ryan10]

Great composition. I like that there is a left vs right going on here and that the MW is not lined up down the middle. Processing looks fantastic! I'm not a fan of overdoing the MW, and I believe you've made it pop without going overboard.

Detail looks fantastic on the sky. The image is too small for me to be certain, but the top corners, maybe 5%ish, of the image looks a little soft with some swirl. Any coma?

 

[AlanLichty]

Wow - the MW is a seriously popular subject as of late but I am not at all suffering from fatigue in seeing more. I am surprised at the DoF you got for f/1.8 - nice result.

 

[BarryHamilton]

That's very nice. I don't often like Milky Way shots, as they usually feel a little forced, but this feels very natural and very nice!

 

[JimFox]

Great composition. I like that there is a left vs right going on here and that the MW is not lined up down the middle. Processing looks fantastic! I'm not a fan of overdoing the MW, and I believe you've made it pop without going overboard.

Detail looks fantastic on the sky. The image is too small for me to be certain, but the top corners, maybe 5%ish, of the image looks a little soft with some swirl. Any coma?

Hey Ryan,

Thanks so much! I am glad you like the look of this. Trying to keep Milky Way and star shots looking natural can always be a bit of a struggle for balance as we want to push it a bit to get some nice contrast, but we don't want to push it so much it looks fake.

As for the lens, I will be doing a few more shots with it, and I do want to do a hands on review of it. There is no coma at all in any corner. There is a bit of stretching of the stars in the corners, but it's no worse then any other 14mm. There is a bit of softness in the corners, but that's the same in every 14mm when it's wide open. But I do think at f2.8 it's sharper then the Samyang 14mm f2.8. Not by a lot, but it is. But shooting it f1.8 is why I got it, so I am fine with the slight softening in the corners. And worse case scenario, if for some reason the corners just came out too soft.... I can just crop it to 16mm and be fine.

So far I am really liking this. I am pretty sure I will be shooting up in Yosemite this weekend, unless I go back to Mono Lake again, so I will be shooting it again with some stars and the Milky Way. Hopefully I can set up some test shots with it.

Jim

 

[Ben Egbert]

Very nice jim. You have the foreground exposure just right for my taste and the MW is well done.

 

[JimFox]

Wow - the MW is a seriously popular subject as of late but I am not at all suffering from fatigue in seeing more. I am surprised at the DoF you got for f/1.8 - nice result.

Thanks Alan, glad you like it!

Yeah, the DOF is much more then you would imagine. A big part is still the shooting at 14mm. At around 12 to 14 feet, the DOF starts at near of 6 feet and extends to Infinity. So it's all about being smart about how close you get to the foreground objects.

Jim

 

[MayD]

This is a sweet image.

 

[Martín el Escocés]

Smashing shot, Jim. I'm not much of a star shooter (in any sense) but I like the gradual sweep through the picture from the left hand side to the MW and beyond. Sounds like a little bit of pre-preparation worked well for you.

 

[Timmeh]

Very nice Jim! The consistent blue sky and light pink at the horizon really work well, and I'll echo Martin's observation that my eye cleanly moves from left to right across the frame.

Tim

 

[Travis Rhoads]

Very nice work here Jim...when you told me you were heading to Mono to shoot the MW, I won't lie...I was envious. I think your processing is spot on, not overdone. Great news about the DoF on the Sigma 14, sounds like a great lens. This image might be most excellent a little earlier in the year when the MW is not as vertical in the sky, stretching out more across the frame. An excuse to go back?