Hi everyone, in this start to finish edit, I want to talk Milky Way. Preconceiving the shoot, the gear you’ll need, and what I think is the best method to photograph the milky way. After we cover the capture, I’ll process two images, one that I captured using a star tracker and one with a still camera.
On September 11, 2020 at 6:37 am lawrence.duhon wrote:
Great video! Where can I find the links that are usually on the bottom of YouTube videos (since this is being viewed from the On1 Plus website)?
Also, have you ever considered using a drop-in CLS filter like this one to reduce city light pollution? https://www.astronomik.com/en/clip-filter/xl-clip-filter-nikon-vollformat-d800-d810-und-d850.html It may not be available yet for Nikon Z cameras, but the idea is the same– especially with ultrawide lenses that can’t take a filter.
On October 3, 2020 at 1:24 pm Hudson Henry replied:
Ha, I’m just working on testing one that I got from a Kickstarter Campaign. 🙂 It’s always at http://www.hudsonhenry.com/atslinks Look at the lighting and night photography section.
On September 13, 2020 at 5:13 pm Kenneth Scheepers wrote:
Great tutorial, thanks Hudson.
On October 3, 2020 at 1:25 pm Hudson Henry replied:
So appreciate that Ken!
On September 14, 2020 at 10:22 am David Price wrote:
Great tutorial, nice to see that you deliberately left the mistakes, the fault detective work, and the back tracking to correct the mistakes, in the final video. Good learning points. Because if we see the same issues whilst we are editing our own images. Then we too will have an idea of what we might have done wrong, and how to go back and fix it.
If you edited the video, so that it all ran perfectly, with no mistakes, then it might be a bit dispiriting for the rest of us. 🙂
Best wishes David Price
On October 3, 2020 at 1:25 pm Hudson Henry replied:
warts and all is my usual motto for just that reason David. 🙂
On September 17, 2020 at 5:28 am Håkan wrote:
Hi Hudson,
Great video tutorial as always.
I’m looking to get the “Star Tracker” but are bit confused if I need the “ball head”?
If I get away with just the “Rotator + star pointer”.
My tripod already has a ball head!
Regards
//Håkan
On October 3, 2020 at 1:28 pm Hudson Henry replied:
You know I’m a huge advocate of pan and tilt or Fluid heads for the abllity to make fine adjustments to tilt and pan without loosing level. THat’s especailly true lining up the weight of the star tracker, ball head, camera and lens above. Yes you need a head to line up the star tracker below, then another one atop the star tracker to compose. A pan tilt or fluid head is better below and a ball head is essential above. You can’t set up the upper head level, so you need the flexibility of the ball head. This is one of the only times I use a ball head. You can see links to all that stuff at http://www.hudsonhenry.com/atslinks
On September 20, 2020 at 11:36 am Georg Kohr wrote:
Hi Hudson,
Great lesson as well for a beginner as for an advanced.
However, a I really would like to have the link for the cosy star-tracer. It seems to be small and pricy.
Thanks for providing the link?
On October 3, 2020 at 1:29 pm Hudson Henry replied:
You bet Georg. It’s at http://www.hudsonhenry.com/atslinks in the lighting and night photography section.
On September 22, 2020 at 8:02 am Levin Barrett wrote:
Thanks Hudson for doing this great video. I have been requesting this topic a few times via ON1 feedback requests and it is great that you guys are listening. I purchased the MSM tracker 2 months ago but we have been in Covid lock down ever since and I can’t get out to use it yet. Busting to try it! I have been doing this type of astro work for a while now and it turns out the process I was using is the same as you have in this video. However I have been having a major issue that I have even taken to support without success but the issue is clearly visible in your video. Try it for yourself in your studio and it is more apparent in real life.
When you create the stamped layer, did you notice the stars completely change. It happens about 2 seconds after the stamped layer appears in the layers panel. Before creating the layer, the stars outside the milky way are visible but not too bright and the milky way is the prominent feature. After the stamped layer is created (or the layers are flattened) suddenly the surrounding stars double in brightness and previously invisible stars are also suddenly bright. Suddenly there are double the number of stars and the milky way is lost in this field of extra bright stars. It’s like a combination of increased brightness and dynamic contrast layer suddenly appears.
I find this to be disastrous to the sky and virtually ruins the entire image. Do you have any idea what is going wrong here? You mention shortly after that step that you now have a higher resolution preview. Could that be part of the issue?
I would really appreciate your feedback on this as I am so close to walking away from ON1 as this is a major issue for me. If I do this process in Photoshop, nothing changes when I flatten the layers and the image looks great but it is sooo much harder to do this in photoshop. Otherwise I LOVE ON1 but given that half my photos are nightscapes, there’s half the time I can’t use ON1. Desperately after your thoughts on this.
On October 3, 2020 at 1:33 pm Hudson Henry replied:
I find that the preview changes in develop on the stamped layer, but if I go into browse and zoom into a 100% or print it, that sort of rapid load view that is distorted is gone. It also seems better in 2021 than 2020 for me. If that’s not the case for you, then I’d ask support to get help. Another option might be to not create a stamped layer. Just click done, have it save and then export a full res PSD to work on from the layered file? I know it’s an extra step, but it might help until the situation is solved.
On October 1, 2020 at 11:07 pm Victor Boase wrote:
Thanks Hudson. I had some images from a Milky Way shoot to try out your approach.
The issue of colour caste from town lights is a perennial issue that I have found hard to combat I have tried the temp slider in the Basic module and colour enhance filters with some success, but stumbled on a better solution. I found that the local adjustment colour range mask is very good used in conjunction with the temp sliders. I just use the eye-dropper on the colour cast and then play with the temp slider to cool the colour, apply tint and lower saturation. It also takes care of any yellow in the MW.
I have also found it is worth playing around with blend modes (the lighten group) in conjunction with the colour enhancer filter, the curve filter and even local adjustments.
I also had a composite to do and your example helped a lot. Had a big wrestle with making a mask for trees and shrubs on the horizon of my base image. Had to apply a lot of contrast and burn the edges to make a silhouette.
Thanks for your time and effort.
On October 3, 2020 at 1:34 pm Hudson Henry replied:
Great to hear Victor. Yep, some images are definitely harder than others. I did a tricky one in PR2021 of sea stacks with trees atop them in my latest YouTube vid. I caused me to rethink my shooting approach a little. You might check that video out too.
On October 20, 2020 at 12:15 pm babette munting wrote:
Thank you Hudson. Your tutorials are so helpful. Even as I am still a novice, opening my night sky photos is better than Christmas!
Someone else had a question about exporting and loosing some of the quality in composite photos. Mine don’t gain light and contrast but become less distinct….any other suggestions for exporting?
I now want to get a star tracker but will check out your gear video first as I am a bit confused about the set up.
Can you tell me the name of the little circular constellation at about 1 o’clock above Venus? I can never see it in the sky and then so enjoy finding it in my photos!
thanks again!
On October 23, 2020 at 12:46 pm Hudson Henry replied:
Just be sure to set you quality to 100%, sharpen for screen and use sRGB for exports to share on the web. I’m not sure what’s going on for others. Mine look fine when I export.
I honestly don’t know which constellation that is. I often use the app Stellarium to check out constellations, stars and planets when I’m out shooting though. It’s amazing. 🙂