Good heavens!
This reader’s second attempt at astrophotography hits the mark
Our reader Paul Byers
Great Dun Fell is 15 minutes outside of Penrith in Cumbria. I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but once I’d started walking to the top, I couldn’t believe how clear the sky was. By the time the Milky Way had risen to a point where
I could capture it, the temperature was -5 C. My Nikon D850 and Irix 15mm lens were doing a great job of capturing the detail of the Milky Way.
I took eight shots of 10 sec each at f/2.8 and ISO 6,400, plus two foreground frames at ISO 800 while I light-painted on the domes to get extra detail. All the frames were stacked and blended in Photoshop.
Our expert Andrew James
This was only your second attempt at astrophotography, Paul – and you’ve done an amazing job. Certainly modern processing and the ability of digital cameras to capture all so much detail in low light has made astrophotography like this much more achievable. But it still takes a lot of effort to get to places where light pollution is less of an issue. You also still need excellent technique, both in-camera and in post-production, to create eye-catching imagery.
You’ve done all these things well. It’s wonderful to see the detail captured in the stars, and the domed radar station makes a perfect sci-fi counterpoint.
I don’t mind the slight distortion created by the 15mm lens, but I wonder whether the sky would benefit from a little more contrast to really make the stars and the colour punch out of the frame. When you zoom in there are a few little artifacts that you should look at cloning out. But what a great shot!
Verdict
Strong technique throughout shooting and editing A brilliant location that’s perfect for astrophotography Boost the sky contrast for extra impact and really dazzle the viewer Cloning out a few little artifacts would provide the finishing touch