Collecting thoughts - composite Aurora?

JimFox

Moderator
Staff member
Love that angel aurora!

My first impression is the lit up ground is too bright. It's pulling my eye away from the aurora. It might be a tough balancing act, but I would darken the ground more, especially the very bright parts.
 

AlanLichty

Moderator
Jaw dropping scene - I like what you have done with this. For my eyes the village and the mountain are the focus and the aurora is an amazing decoration in the sky. Not sure I would want to darken the village.
 

Peter Michal

Well-Known Member
I'll provide some details later, but I'd be interested in anyone's impressions before I do that.

View attachment 73101
Excellent scene Kyle..brilliantly done as it is! The village with the hill is a wonderful gem in this photo and the aurora over the village is a lovely bonus. I like this kind of night photography very much, because it is a realistic scene, from my point of view, much stronger than the sky full of stars.. and those red houses make my feeling even stronger.
(Maybe I'd take a slightly wider lens to see more of the village on the right side of the photo. But I don't know if the composition would then lose this charm..)
Bravo Kyle!
 
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Kyle Jones

Moderator
Thank you all for responding. I think you all answered my first question, which was "is this believable?". The image is a composite. I captured the base image of the village and mountain on a clear night in Lofoten in early February. There wasn't a hint of aurora in the sky. I captured the aurora during the big solar event from my home in Montana. I thought it might be fun to blend them, especially since I didn't see any aurora in Norway that reached this far up into the sky.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this, as I don't have any interest in presenting composites as "real". That said, I do think it works.

Love that angel aurora!

My first impression is the lit up ground is too bright. It's pulling my eye away from the aurora. It might be a tough balancing act, but I would darken the ground more, especially the very bright parts.
I do think some taming of the highlights makes sense. I didn't spend a lot of time on this one trying to bring them under control since I haven't decided what I want to do with this. As noted above, I was curious if people with a good eye would immediately realize this wasn't real.

Jaw dropping scene - I like what you have done with this. For my eyes the village and the mountain are the focus and the aurora is an amazing decoration in the sky. Not sure I would want to darken the village.
I agree on the focus, and I wouldn't want to lose that. Thank you for your thoughts!

I am with Alan on this. I like it as is. Stunning scene.
Thank you Jameel!

Excellent scene Kyle..brilliantly done as it is! The village with the hill is a wonderful gem in this photo and the aurora over the village is a lovely bonus. I like this kind of night photography very much, because it is a realistic scene, from my point of view, much stronger than the sky full of stars.. and those red houses make my feeling even stronger.
(Maybe I'd take a slightly wider lens to see more of the village on the right side of the photo. But I don't know if the composition would then lose this charm..)
Bravo Kyle!
Thank you Peter. This scene is somewhat challenging as there are several bright lights and, say, "unattractive" elements further to the right.
 

JimFox

Moderator
Staff member
Hey Kyle, thanks for sharing the behind the scenes of this one. And I understand your not sure what you want to do with this. If nothing else it's a great exercise in blending.
 
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