Astro? But Thought Better.

[Brian]

Being new to putting your pictures out there can be kind of intimidating. One of the things I really like about Focal World is the fact that I can get really good ideas from the more experienced photographers out there.

I had thought of posting this in the Astro section, but I would really like to get some feedback on this one. I know I am partial to it since it's my son in the picture (and I took it).

This is my 10 year old watching the International Space Station fade away to east of my house. And one of two trees within a mile of my house.

I'd really like to know what you guys think. Being somewhat new, I'd really appreciate some feedback. If you think it just flat out stinks, feel free to say so. I'm pretty tough, and can take it.

 

[Kyle Jones]

I do think it is nice as is, although as we've defined it I think this is a landscape shot rather than astro (because it includes the ground). I'm not sure if any of the these ideas will make the photo "better", but here are some things I'd look at if it was mine:

• I'd look at cropping a little off the top and off the left. There's a lot of empty space on the left and cropping some off might space the visual mass (I love that concept) thoughout the image. In this case the tree, your son, and the space station
• I might try darkening the hills in the background a little to better give the feeling of night
• I might also try darkening the lower part of the sky
• Just for fun, I might try brightening (dodging with a yellow brush) the lighter parts of the tree to add texture
• Maybe try reducing the saturation of the blue in the snow
• For a future shot, I'd work on trying to keep your son still to prevent the blurry hands.

Again - those are ideas to play with. I do really like this as is.

 

[Brian]

I do think it is nice as is, although as we've defined it I think this is a landscape shot rather than astro (because it includes the ground). I'm not sure if any of the these ideas will make the photo "better", but here are some things I'd look at if it was mine:

• I'd look at cropping a little off the top and off the left. There's a lot of empty space on the left and cropping some off might space the visual mass (I love that concept) thoughout the image. In this case the tree, your son, and the space station
• I might try darkening the hills in the background a little to better give the feeling of night
• I might also try darkening the lower part of the sky
• Just for fun, I might try brightening (dodging with a yellow brush) the lighter parts of the tree to add texture
• Maybe try reducing the saturation of the blue in the snow
• For a future shot, I'd work on trying to keep your son still to prevent the blurry hands.

Again - those are ideas to play with. I do really like this as is.

Awesome. Thanks Kyle. I really appreciate the thoughts. The blur of the arms definitely sticks out to me as well. I knew it would be tough to keep a 10 year old still for that long. I'll work in the rest of your ideas. Good info. I appreciate it.

 

[JimFox]

Hey Brian,

A couple of quick thoughts on this as Kyle already covered some great points.

First, the Astro forum is for stars, planets etc. only. If it does have any ground in the image, then it needs to go into the Landscape or Cityscape (if you took with a City foreground).

One thought here, and this is with the ability of hindsight and perhaps a general tip for anyone else. But when shooting like this with a person, especially a young person who has to pose, it would be a good idea to do one or two really high ISO shots that can then have a really fast shutter speed, ie 5 or 10 seconds depending on the light. Even if you have to run a little extra NR on them, at least they are sharp from being still. A little noise is always better then being blurry from movement. Then, in Photoshop, you could blend just the person (your son) or maybe even just the parts where there is movement in the lower ISO shot for the stars and ground.

Also, if you were planning this ahead of time, you could have taken some shots of him right after sunset when there is more light with the idea that if needed, you could blend in the sharper parts from the earlier image into the image shot later with the stars.

Thanks for posting this in here Brian, it's so ironic or funny that you did because just a few hours ago Ben and some of us were talking about how we can get more people using the Critique forum, and bam.... here you post this. So thanks, you have awesome timing!

 

[Brian]

Hey Brian,

A couple of quick thoughts on this as Kyle already covered some great points.

First, the Astro forum is for stars, planets etc. only. If it does have any ground in the image, then it needs to go into the Landscape or Cityscape (if you took with a City foreground).

One thought here, and this is with the ability of hindsight and perhaps a general tip for anyone else. But when shooting like this with a person, especially a young person who has to pose, it would be a good idea to do one or two really high ISO shots that can then have a really fast shutter speed, ie 5 or 10 seconds depending on the light. Even if you have to run a little extra NR on them, at least they are sharp from being still. A little noise is always better then being blurry from movement. Then, in Photoshop, you could blend just the person (your son) or maybe even just the parts where there is movement in the lower ISO shot for the stars and ground.

Also, if you were planning this ahead of time, you could have taken some shots of him right after sunset when there is more light with the idea that if needed, you could blend in the sharper parts from the earlier image into the image shot later with the stars.

Thanks for posting this in here Brian, it's so ironic or funny that you did because just a few hours ago Ben and some of us were talking about how we can get more people using the Critique forum, and bam.... here you post this. So thanks, you have awesome timing!

Thanks Jim. I don't actually have PS/LR. I refuse to pay them their extortion money. It just kind of ticks me off. I do have a program where I can add two photos, so thats a good idea. Although, the thought of combining pictures has always kind of bothered me. I'm not sure why, maybe I'm just old and set in my ways.

I'm glad I can help with using the Critique forum. I'm sure I will have plenty of usage for it. Seems like a great place to learn and get ideas.

 

[Ben Egbert]

Brian, thank you so much for posting this image in critique, it's a perfect place for it. A good image with good potential that could use a few tweaks, as well as some tips for next time. You have already gotten some great advice and I can't think of much to add, but you may get some good ideas from the articles section where we have several articles dealing with night time photography.

https://www.focalworld.com/index.php?articles/night-time-noise-reduction.45/

https://www.focalworld.com/index.php?articles/photographing-moonrise-or-moonset.24/

https://www.focalworld.com/index.php?articles/photographing-the-stars.18/

 

[JimFox]

Thanks Jim. I don't actually have PS/LR. I refuse to pay them their extortion money. It just kind of ticks me off. I do have a program where I can add two photos, so thats a good idea. Although, the thought of combining pictures has always kind of bothered me. I'm not sure why, maybe I'm just old and set in my ways.

I'm glad I can help with using the Critique forum. I'm sure I will have plenty of usage for it. Seems like a great place to learn and get ideas.

Hey Brian, I am there with you. It's why I am still using just Photoshop CS6, as I don't want to use the CC version and have to pay a monthly ransom.

There are other very nice photo editing software out there, and a lot of them have been improved a lot since Adobe went to the Cloud route. For me, being able to do Layer Masking is key and something I would have to have in anything I use to edit. So if you know of some other editing programs that do allow layer masking too, that would make for a great alternative.

 

[Brian]

Brian, thank you so much for posting this image in critique, it's a perfect place for it. A good image with good potential that could use a few tweaks, as well as some tips for next time. You have already gotten some great advice and I can't think of much to add, but you may get some good ideas from the articles section where we have several articles dealing with night time photography.

https://www.focalworld.com/index.php?articles/night-time-noise-reduction.45/

https://www.focalworld.com/index.php?articles/photographing-moonrise-or-moonset.24/

https://www.focalworld.com/index.php?articles/photographing-the-stars.18/

Thanks Ben. The biggest problem with the my pic, is that I only had about two minutes to grab it (max). No doubt combining would be the way to go. It was kind of an odd time in the evening. It was actually so light out still that I didn't even know if I'd be able to see the ISS. I glanced at the first article and they look great. I'll definitely take some time to read them. Thanks for the suggestions. I appreciate all the help I can get.

 

[Brian]

Hey Brian, I am there with you. It's why I am still using just Photoshop CS6, as I don't want to use the CC version and have to pay a monthly ransom.

There are other very nice photo editing software out there, and a lot of them have been improved a lot since Adobe went to the Cloud route. For me, being able to do Layer Masking is key and something I would have to have in anything I use to edit. So if you know of some other editing programs that do allow layer masking too, that would make for a great alternative.

I purchased Luminar a little while ago. It's still pretty far above my head, but I'm getting there. I have so much to learn.

Here is a link to Jim Nix's youtube page. He seems like the Luminar magician. It might give you some idea of what it's capable of.

https://www.youtube.com/user/jimnix17/videos

 

[Mike Lewis]

This is a very cool shot, and you have already gotten lots of good feedback on things to try. But I am with you, often the chance for taking an image is fleeting, and all those ideas that require multiple shots at different settings, taken over a period of time, are not practical. Heck, many times I am shooting in a location that I have traveled to, and I will be there perhaps just that once, with a group of non-photographers, so it is a one time chance without much ability to pre-plan.

As for Lightroom and Photoshop CC, I hear ya, but I looked at it a different way. For $10, I get these 2 super capable software packages, upgraded in perpetuity, to use. I view it like subscribing to a magazine, or paying for cable (and I know I get more usefulness out of my LR/PS subscription than I do out of my cable subscription, which of course costs a lot more.) I don't know about you, but I consider it one of the best $10 purchases I make each month. I know I waste the same amount of money or more on other stuff each month.

But as mentioned above, there are also other great packages out there if you cannot get past the subscription idea. I would look at Luminar, or possibly DxO Optics Lab 2 (I used an earlier version before I started using LR/PS.)

Anyway, this is a fun shot, keep posting stuff - I look forward to more stuff from you.

ML