Tracking The Milky Way
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 ก.ย. 2020
- Today we look at using a Star Tracker to capture long exposure images of the milky way with the intention of blending in with a suitable foreground. This is a classic composite image workflow and to be honest I don't do a lot of this. Many people have asked about this though and I thought I'd tackle it here in this video.
As always I'd appreciate your feedback and maybe comments about your experience with trackers and how you go about it. Thanks so much for watching.
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I think you are the best TH-camr by a country mile, may I say you ooze the very best of a 'Tutor' (University level) with your delivery, clear speech, honest words straight from learnt experience and your personal ethos and ethics towards your craft, polished videography, and subjects/topics truley amazes me. Well done Richard Tatti!!! Your Number One Fan!!!
Your encouragement and support is greatly appreciated Phil. I'll do my best to keep my work to a high standard. All the very best my friend.
The explanation in context of the artistic point of view is very well put Richard. If I may add: One can also get stunning images without the tracker. The secret is the absence of light pollution. I sometimes cannot get punchy images despite using the tracker, simply because of light pollution far on the horizon, not visible with the naked eye. I envy you for living in that location in this regard.
Thanks so much for your valuable insights my friend. Very wise words indeed.
You’re very honest and upfront about the post processing required in these ‘glamorous’ astro photos, something many photographers keep mum about. And now i understand too that astro could be the most time consuming area of photography out there - from planning, executing to post production. this takes a ton of dedication and passion
Thanks so much for watching Ben. Yes it sure does take a lot of tine and energy. But it is worth it in the end.
I agree with your assessment of sky trackers. I've used an iOptron Skytracker Pro for several years, and have relegated it to deep space object photography only, because of the difficulties you mentioned. For photographing the Milky Way, stacking is much easier, and achieves results as good as a tracker.
By the way, stacking is also used with deep space object photography. I have stacked as many as one hundred images taken with the tracker.
Thanks heaps cowboyspook, sounds like you've got great experience in the field. Appreciate your comments.
Never get tired of watching your videos , thanks Richard 👍👍👍
I'm really pleased to hear that Brian, thanks again for watching.
Great video and I like your comments about the “artistic” nature of photography..To quote Ansel Adams: “photos are MADE, not taken.”
Thanks so much for watching my friend
Another great video Richard. Thanks for sharing. Greg
I really appreciate you watching Greg, thanks heaps.
Thanks Richard. I do like your videos and the own to earth advice you give. Like you, I also follow Peter Zelinka and also like his style of tutorials. I am a novice at astro-photography but after a few initial "tripod-only" shots and some practice with Deep Sky Stacker I decided to invest in a star-tracker. I chose the iOptron SkyGuider Pro which Peter features quite a bit in his videos. I have found this quite easy to use and, being in the northern hemisphere, straightforward to polar-align on Polaris. I am over 70 and certainly don't intend humping kit all over the place but fortunately there are a few spots (even the back-garden) where I can set up within a few feet of the car and get shots that aren't too affected by light-pollution. I still have a tremendous amount to learn as it seems to me that to get really good results you do need to be proficient with Photoshop. Until now, all my RAW post-processing has been done in Lightroom but, in my limited experience, that doesn't cut the mustard in astro. This shot was composited in Photoshop from two images captured on the South Downs in Sussex, UK, close to my home. I know there is a long way to go to match the sort of images you and other nightscape photographers are producing but I am pleased to have got this far in just a few weeks from a standing start in this genre - www.briandandridge-photo.co.uk/Night-Skies/Stars-at-Night/i-3xrgzpB/A
Thank you so much for watching Brian, I really appreciate your comments. I think it's really important to give realistic and helpful advice to people concerning the difficulties in using this equipment. But it's also very important to give inspiration and encouragement otherwise we lose the passion. I love your image Brian . .really well done my friend.
Thanks for the video Richard
No problem at all Dave, thanks for watching.
Lots of food for thought here Richard. I totally agree with you about disclosing how our images are composed. Another great informational production. Thankyou.
Thanks very much Tony. There's nothing new under the sun and I see no reason not to let people know how an image was put together. For me I find it helps people understand my mindset .. which is quite hard to do sometimes.
Excellent video Richard. Loved the basic explanation of how the tracker all goes together, that has often seemed to be assumed knowledge in other videos I've watched. Also love the Southern hemisphere explanation when most are in the northern hemisphere.
Thanks so much for watching Lauren. Yes there are always a lot of assumptions made when discussing these topics .. it's something I'm sure I'm also guilty of sometimes. I'm glad it was helpful.
Richard, I'm an old retired guy that's learned so much from you. Thanks for all your hard work. Nightscape photography is a one of my hobbies that keeps me active. Regarding sky replacement, check out some software called "Luminar 4". It has a sky replacement feature that works very well. With the click of a button, you can replace the sky of one pic with the sky of another pic. It works great, even around trees.
Thanks so much for watching Mike. Yes a few people have recommended Luminar. I know it works great for daytime shots . .not so sure about night scenes.
Wonderful work, Mr. Richard!
Unfornately, here in Brazil, a startacker is very expencive. I'm planning to make a motorized barn-door (maybe with an auto-alignment system). Best Regards!
Thanks for watching Rafael. I'll be very keen to see how you go with your barn door tracker.
Who gave this man a thumbs down what is wrong with you this man spends so much time helping others with there photography
Haha, thanks my friend. I'm sure there are professional "Thumbs Down" people trolling youtube. Really appreciate your support.
@@nightscapeimages.richard your more than welcome keep up the good work your amazing mate
Being an artist as well as a photographer, I have no problem with composites especially when you tell the viewer. If someone is trying to pass an image off as “captured in camera”, then I do. My comment about an image changes just a little from one to the other - “nice image” vs. “nice shot” (or capture).
Beautiful images Richard! 😀
Thanks very much David, I agree with your sentiments.
Great video again Richard. I love your honesty on a "real" photo and a "composition " image. I am of the same view as yourself that the artist should say which his images are. It's more art than photography in my eyes but hey some are really stunning and should not detract from the real photographic effort that goes into a composition and a standard photograph. People just should state which is which when they publish there Work.
Love your stuff Richard, I just wish you worked on the other side of the world so I could come to one of your workshops. All the best. Gary Fletcher
Hey Gary, thanks heaps for your insights, really appreciate your comments.
Once again, your tutorial is awesome and I do totally agree with your opinion on star tracker vs. Photography perspective. I also like the way you say that you are not the professional of pose process but to me you are the awesome nightscape photographer , you are making things as simple as possible.
Thanks very much my friend. Always appreciate your comments.
Another great video. I recently got a tracker for Christmas and I'm really looking forward to trying it out. I also couldn’t agree more with your thoughts on the subject. As long as you let people know, who cares how it's done. Thanks for all your time and effort into these videos. You have truly motivated me to get out and try new things. Cheers.
Good on you Brian, I very much appreciate your comments. Thanks for watching. All the best for 2021 with your tracker.
Thanks for this video Richard. You have explained things very well and the points you make are so clearly put. You are right and the techniques you describe are fine, but disclosure is key so as not to disillusion those who view our work. There are so many photos 'out there' which are clearly just representations of an imaginary world. Surely the trick here is to produce something that closely matches what is real, but produce images that inspire. I really enjoy listening and watching what you do, because I think your approach is something to aspire to.
Thanks so much Rob. Yes indeed the water is really muddy in relation to honesty with this issue. People are so good at blending images now that you really have no way of knowing the original composition . .but I guess as long as the tell the truth it doesn't really matter.
Another great video Richard, with some points well made. Beautiful images mate.
As always I appreciate your comments and support John.
Nice milky way addition to your video shot
Thanks a lot for watching Spence.
Great video Richard. I agree with you, tracking give you the chance of be more creative and obtain images with great quality (your composite photos are a good example, they are just beautiful), but I think the price to pay is to high, at least for me. It is not just the equipment, the weight, the time but the fact that the final composition, although beautiful, is not real. I know, this is art, probably I am just an old fashioned guy 😜 .
Thank you Richard for your excellent work and your passion, your are a truly inspiration for me.
There is nothing wrong with the perspective you describe. I think at heart I have the same concerns. AS I mentioned here, I'm not going to criticize anyone for creating whatever they want in their photography. Not sure it's an age thing . .although you will find the younger generation have grown up with a leaning more to the fantasy image concept .. not to mention the graphic design skills to match.
The milky way in the tracked images are stunning but far too much mucking around for me. You did a great job, Richard.
I tend to agree with you Kerry, that's why I prefer other methods for my nightscapes. Really appreciate you watching though.
@@nightscapeimages.richard It was fascinating to watch but I'll admit that I'm too old to bother 😉
@@justkerry173 Haha .. no shame in that Kerry
I’ve wanted a tracker for a couple years now. Deffo on the list. Incredible images as always!
Thanks mate. I've been enjoying your adventures also.
Thank you very much for share! Great video!
Thank you very much for watching Marco
For the moment, I just bought a Tokina 11-20 f/2.8 for my APS-C Nikon camera. My first true nightscape lens, indeed. Until now I was shooting with my 17-55 and it looked not enough wide to do that job. I love your photos, and I never thought they looked fake. For now I am dedicated to stacking nightscapes, but in the future I may be encouraged by tracking. No crime in that, only if it pretends that it is a single shot rather than a composite picture. Creativity enriches, and anything fits within it. Good job, mate.
Thanks once again for watching my friend. Appreciate your comments.
Just rewatched this video as I try to prepare for the Milkyway season. Great video just like the rest of your collection. I have a bortle 4 location over farm fields, barns, cemeteries and a lake that I go to on the weekends. For the past 3 years I have been on the hunt for better image quality. My barn door tracker appears to be working good and I have been testing my lenses for coma. I hope to try some more tracking and stacked images this year. I hope the weather cooperates this year. Cheers!
Thanks so much for watching Jim. I'm sure you'll get some great images in your travels.
Thank Richard, just cruising you tracker videos
Thanks Phillip, hope you find them helpful.
Thank you Richard for sharing your definition between photography and graphics and your opinion for tracking, stacking and blending..I would like to share National Geographic Guideline, " We want to see the world through the eyes, not through photo editing tools... If you have digitally added or removed anything, don't submit the shot" And agree on your single position tripod method..
Thanks a lot for watching, really appreciate your comments.
Thanks Richard. I have a tracker, but haven’t used it yet. This helps and makes a lot of sense.
Thanks so much for watching and leaving a comment Don
Richard, You’ve done a stellar job explaining the use of the tracker! I’m waiting on my star tracker to arrive so this video is just in time & I’m sure I’ll see it a few more times before going putting all this into practice. Thank you so for sharing your knowledge with us.
Thanks very much for watching Farhat, appreciate your comments.
Great episode Richard - much appreciated. Great sky quality certainly adds to the awe of your final images, and I agree with your guidelines about disclosure re. blended orientations, dates and focal lengths. I loved your example image blends, and practical advice. Finals results certainly look most realistic when foreground and background images are shot with similar focal length ... or at least within a factor of about 2. Hope your excellent on location workshops get up and running again soon! Jeff
Thanks heaps Jeff, very much appreciate your insights. No workshops this year unfortunately. I'm working on next year now.
Hello Richard, Great video!
Thanks very much Sharyn, glad you like it.
I love this kind of shots. I love composing and I use this technic too
Thanks a lot Torsten, really appreciate you watching.
As usual, fantastic information. Having used a tracker for a year, you nailed the biggest issue... blurred foreground. But I have to say that as long as you don’t have skinny tree branches in the foreground you can easily blend blue hour or light painted shots (of the same location) with your tracked sky. So whenever I have a really complicated foreground I use your preferred method: 10-20 10sec images for the sky and a super long exposure or light painted foreground. Finally, I have never being a fan of mixed focal length images. To me they scream “fake” and it takes away some of the beauty of the MW scene that was shot.
Thanks so much Glidden, I really appreciate your comments. I'm not sure I like the fake images either but I certainly appreciate the creativity that people come up with ... not to mention the great blending techniques some display.
Nice! Watching a new video at the end of a Long working Day (in Deutschland 🇩🇪 ).
Good on you Matthias, thanks for watching.
Wonderful 🤩🤩🤩🤩
Thank you Carole.
Great video Richard. While the results of the composite shots are brilliant to look at and the skills required to put them together impressive there is, for me personally, a nagging dubiousness about them which takes away the enjoyment of viewing them alongside those shots done without all the photoshop trickery. The "honesty" of those originals you showed before the composites just seem more enjoyable to view, more attainable to capture and for want of a better word, more satisfying. I do profess to being a bit of a luddite though. Thanks again Richard for taking the time to put these videos together so beginners like myself can learn and aspire to creating work such as yours.
I'm always very keen to read your comments and I agree with your perspective as well. Thanks again.
Awesome video mate beautiful work your images are amazing.
Thanks as always Brad mate.
Great video ! Thanks for the effort and laying out all the pros and cons. I look forward to giving the tracked MW a try before the season is over in the northern hemisphere,
Good on you Carlos, really appreciate you watching.
Great instructive video...really its good to know about trakers. I been fallowed your channel for a while.. so I prefer your method by far. Its really a art, inspirational and adventuve wày to work with it..thanks again.
Thanks as always Luis
Great video Richard. Loved the images you showed towards the end there. I am one of those that can’t be bothered hauling a tracker in my kit, but can appreciate those who specialise in night star photography needing something like a tracker for optimal images. All well explained as usual mate, great job 👍🙏
Thanks a lot Adrian. Really good thoughts as per usual. There are many methods available to us to get great images and it comes down to which works best for our particular workflow. Take care mate.
You are a wonderful person >Your works are very beautiful> I am happy to follow you
You are very kind indeed, thanks so much.
Great video, and beautiful results
Thanks very much Vikki, glad you liked it.
Nice video. Really fantastic images
Thanks so much for watching Marlon
Really interesting thanks Richard but I think I'm with you. Will stick to the single position tripod method.
Thanks for another great video 👍🏼😊
Your comments are very much appreciated Mark, thanks heaps for watching.
Fantastic work. I surely hope that the weather will start to get better soon. No sence getting wet.
Thanks for watching. I'm sure the weather will turn soon.
Great info Richard they where great shots as well.
Thanks as always Jeff, appreciate your comments.
Thanks, Richard another amazing video. I only recently got my new tracker so looking forward to getting out there and playing around and creating some new content from a different perspective. keep up the great videos and thank you.
I very much appreciate you watching Alan, thanks heaps. Hope the tracker goes well.
Really great results Richard, I have a star tracker but have used it so little due to the time and frustration involved in setting these up. The video you posted really helps answer some of my technical questions. Thanks!
I'm glad you liked it, thanks again for watching.
Loved this video mate, especially about the learning /learners & honesty as I am one myself & at present still shooting single shots, looking at a tracker in the future but I feel the next step is stacking & blending from a fixed tripod & true composition, love your work & thanks for sharing
Thanks so much for watching Kris, really appreciate it.
Wonderful images with your usual clear instructions on achieving your vision Richard. I have no reservations with blending images in post production to create a work of art. As I see it, it is only 'fake' if one used someone else's images and represented them as their own. In my opinion if it were left to the 'purists' we would still be scratching images on the walls of caves. Great work as usual!
Thanks a lot for your insights Bob . .I completely agree.
Excellent video Richard. The tracked shots have great impact but like you said foreground subjects become limited, hard lines work best to blend with.
Thanks very much my friend, yes the complexity becomes greater once you get into the foreground blending.
Thanks, Richard! I too have wanted a tracker but mainly for some deep space type images! I think you are correct, I have enough PS learning to do with just light painting images so I may leave the tracked images of the Milkyway alone and stick with multiple stacked images as you suggested! I appreciate, as always, your videos!!!
Many thanks indeed Gary
good video friend ... we must add that there are smaller tracker that fits in the palm of a hand, such as MSM rotator, logical with a lower load limit than the larger tracker, but more comfortable to take on longer walks long. greetings from Chile.
Thanks so much for watching Yvanel, yes a lot of people like that one.
Thank you Richard for another very informative video. Luckily, I don't have to carry a heavy tracker around, as I have one build into my DSLR already - the Pentax K1😊. Best from Switzerland. Andy
Very nice indeed Andy, I'd love to see that in action some time.
cool video!!!!
Thanks so much for watching
Really liked those tracked shots with the 50mm lens Richard. Different people have their preferences as to raw photography and the amount of post processing. As you say, as long as the creator is upfront about their creation and they are not trying to pass it off as something different, then there shouldn't be an issue.
Personally I can appreciate the time taken and skills utilised to produce a raw photograph just as much as those used by someone utilising software to create their image.
Thanks again Three-phase. All very good and valid comments as usual. Thanks a lot for watching.
Great video Richard, I used my star tracker for the first time since I bought it 4 months ago, took a beautiful shot of the Milkyway not far from Inverness, took some shots of the foreground prior which kinda worked ok, but was hard to align the 2. I did try for the first time like you did, I grabbed a shot of Eilean Donan Castle I had taken during blue hour and blended the tracked night sky above the castle, I'm not one for doing this and the first time ever trying it but it actually looked really cool and it is a shot I would actually print and hang on the wall, but there is always the thought in my head it's not quite real even though I took both shots. Great video as always and thanks for your hard work putting these together I know how time consuming it can be. 😁👍🏻 Stay safe Richard.
Thank you so much for your great comments my friend. I know well that feeling you describe. But I'm so glad you're getting out there ina most beautiful part of the world. Appreciate you watching.
If you have the patience- the star tracker is the way to go...The wow factor increases so much with the tracker...Really enjoy watching your channel.
Thanks again Darren. Yes the tracker adds a certain level of detail that is hard to get any other way. Of course that comes at the expense of time, money and expertise in post processing.
Класс 🙌!!!!!! Очень понятно объясняете !!!!!!! Я и сам пользуюсь sky watcher adventurer. Прекрасный трекер!!! 👍
Super 🙌!!!!!! Very clearly explain!!!!!! I use sky watcher adventurer myself. Great tracker!!!👍 Thank you for your review!!!!!!
Thank you very much as always for watching my friend.
Thank you, Richard.
I had asked you about tracking once some time ago.
I appreciate your interest in honesty of image presentations. Honesty is always best. You are a wonderful teacher and I like how you reveal in your videos the settings and how many images you stack in the foreground and sky. Do you always announce to your customers your blending of the foreground and sky images since they are usually with different focussing and different ISO, aperture and shutter settings? I agree, most people just enjoy the captured light and want it hanging on their wall.
Thanks a lot John. Yes I always tend to show my settings with all my images as this helps them better understand my methods. Of course some people don't care but others appreciate it.
Hello Guru, till I start watching your videos I was thinking astrophotography photos are created artificially but after get to know about long exposure and stacking. I came to new world for exploring the dark sky. Really amazing art work with Nightscape photography. You well explained how creative and Art work combine in to Photograph. Leaning from your videos Everytime new ideas and techniques. Really appreciate your awesome guidance.
Thanks again for your comments my friend.
I don't think there is anything wrong what you did. Replacing skies is very common now and often needed especially in architectural/real estate photography. Great shots as always. Thanks for sharing with us!!!
Your welcome Milorad, thanks as always for watching.
really interesting video Richard but a tracker is not the way i would go but photography is an art form and we use the tools available to achieve our aim ,keep up the great work love your videos even if they are about a subject im not into but find them all very interesting phill
Thanks for your comments as always Phill, always appreciated.
I watched some content with this equipment and the results are fantastic, because of the possibility of using low iso, long exposure time without leaving a trail of light or chromatic aberration, in addition to leaving no noise!
Thanks very much Robert, really appreciate you watching.
Beautiful images. Personally I praise more the originals, even when the composites look quite spectacular. My passion for photography comes from the beauty I found in nature, I always preferred to admire the beauty of the natural world over any form of art. From that starting point, for me photography will be always the art / technique of creating an image recording light. And a photograph as in Greek the light drawing. Then digital art appears so distant from photography as ballet or poetry.
Thanks for clarifying and showing the work involved in using a tracker.
Thank you so much for your very thoughtful comments Roberto.
Hi Richard
thanks for the video and insights.
I will save my money for other equipment ;-)
Thank you so much for watching and commenting as always my friend.
Oh that's cool. I wondered what a 50mm sky shot would look like on a wider shot foreground. OK, so it's pretty unrealistic lol but still so cool to see! It's still neat to see you've mixed things up even if they're not your preferred method. All the experimentation no doubt helps all around and helps you to become better at what you do.
Thanks again Wabanaki. Yes I think it's good to broaden your mind with these variations on the theme.
Great video ( as usual ) and lots of interesting points made. I too have a tracker but only use it occasionaly, as it is a lot more work and in many cases not necessary. I have similar feelings to yours regarding the ethics. At the end of the day, it is all an art form and in many cases we are trying to photograph scenery that is impossible. Therefore I don't see any reason not to use all means, be it with equipment, technique or processing, to achieve the desired result. I enjoyed the info regardng blending in seperate skies, a good idea in some situations, I will have to try this sometime ( next year, the milkyway is not so good in europe now ).
Take care, Dave
Thanks for your comments as usual Dave, really appreciated.
I've toyed with the idea of using a tracker for MW images Richard, but share the reservations that you've neatly described in this eagerly anticipated episode. I bumped into a chap the other night who'd recently down-sized to a MoveShootMove device for the same reasons and he was blown away with the results. Polar alignment using the laser seemed a doddle and the unit is highly portable. Peter Zelinka did a positive review of them and I wondered if they appeal to you?
Thanks a lot Paul. I've heard very mixed reviews of the Move Shoot Move. I'm never certain if some of the reviewers have been given a copy to review .. I think Peter's review is very valid though. Even though it's very small and light, that won't help me with the most difficult part . .editing in the foregrounds as I've elaborated on at length in this video.
Thanks a lot Richard. This has been my first season with tracker. While northern hemisphere is a bit easier for setting up tracker, the reality turned to be that it is way too cumbersome still. The very heavy tripod, the tracker, the setup time, the extra height resulted from all the mounting and the more limiting movement of the ball-head makes it really something I will reserve for deep sky and quite less for wide angle shots. The only great use I have for it is really in very high temperature nights, where the ISO must be kept to low figures otherwise noise is too much to the point it ruins even shots from finest new FF cameras. At 39C/102F degrees, even ISO 2000 is too noisy. I use the star adventurer pro too.
Good on you Zakie, I really appreciate your words of experience and wisdom. Yes those high temperatures are a killer for long exposures that's for sure.
Thanks Richard for sharing your work. I was wondering if you use a tracking device, on one of your last post with 60 sec exposure. Which is now cleared 🤣 . Just envy the clear sky of the southern hemisphere, where I in middle of a light polluted Europe really struggle. Thumbs up looking for more videos to come!
Thanks a lot for watching, really appreciated. I hardly ever use a star tracker. You may also see in some of my work where I take extra long exposures of the foreground to get more detail .. but I'm not using a tracker for those shots.
Great video as always! I use a small portable tracker minitrack lx2 you should try that one! I try to use 1 tripod position, aim for the sky leaving out as much of the horizon as possible. Next i use exact the same settings for the foreground. Then you have the same color and lighting for the sky and forground to blend these more easier. Next you can use your lightpainting ofcourse. But as you said big objects that hit the milkyway are tough and i avoid them.
Thanks heaps for watching Andre, really appreciate your comments.
THANKYOU...
Thank you for watching.
I have the Star Adventurer, but I really never use it. It can do a great job, but for me it's drawbacks are that it means carrying more stuff, more setup time and fiddling, more difficulty in blending, basically all the things you mentioned, haha. I follow an Instagram account called utahastrophotography, and the couple take tracked and blended photographs exclusively. Eric and Bry have mentioned at conferences how much trouble they have blending objects like trees. I know they can setup their equipment in only a few minutes and have their system dialed in. But for me it's still too time consuming.
Thanks a lot for your comments Tony, very true indeed. There are lots of people who love spending hours on editing each image they take .. I am not one of those people.
Really well presented Richard, really clear. Does seem to be a lot of faffing about to get an image, but as usual, you do a grand job! I cant get my head around how you would do a tracked panorama, its taken me long enough to get the hang of normal panoramas, and post processing really not my favorite thing to do either, lol. Once again, youve delivered top quality! Thanks for all your hard work
Thanks as always Suzanne. Shooting panoramas with a tracker is essentially the same as a fixed tripod. You just have to work around the fact that the mount is constantly moving (Albeit very slowly) and also the difficulty of levelling the camera for each shot.
@@nightscapeimages.richard I would struggle to get a grasp of how much overlay you would need, taking into account tracker movement. Anyway your video was so clear and explanatory, found it super helpful, but they're out of my grasp financially
Very good video about tracking. It was good to hear your experiences with tracking.
To quickly set up my small iOptron skytracker for wide angle photography in the field, I use a compass and adjust for my local magnetic difference (12 degrees for Melbourne), then I use an level app called "Level" and adjust the tracker to the required level (37.8 degrees for Melbourne). This gives me a good quick setup within a few minutes. Unfortunately my tracker only gives me about 3 to 4 times longer exposure before movement is detected in my 45 Megapixel Z7, however that is enough to drop my ISO and track between 45 to 60 seconds for a 20mm f/1.8 lens.
When I take multiple photos, I stack them in Sequator which allows you to mask the ground. Even if you do not use a tracker, you can take multiple photos and stack them in Sequator, mask the ground and get a better photo than with a single photo. Sequator is a free windows program.
I do not agree with sky replacement, I feel it is cheating. As you have stated, it must be clearly highlight that the image has had a sky replacement.
Thanks very much for your comments and great insight George. Yes I love Sequator and use it all the time.
Thanks again Richard
Really interesting .
Have to agree with the creating of an image made up from 2 different scenarios. Don’t think enough people fess up to doing it . Which is disappointing . Leaves a lot of photographers wondering 🤔
Thanks a lot Michelle. Lots of people have the skills required to create beauty out of just about anything . .it's very hard sometimes to know where the line actually is regarding reality. Honesty is always a good starting point.
Yep I think so to
Hello Richard and thanks for another interesting and informative video.
I have a Ioptron skyguider pro star tracker and I get fantastic pictures of the milkyway, but I've been hesitant to include the ground because of the difficulty it creates with blurring.
But after watching your video I am going to try it, I'll have to check that Peter Zalinka guy out, thanks for that tip !!
So you can do a panorama while you're using a tracker?
The pictures you showed looked fantastic and like you said if your honest about how you created your pictures, I think it's just another form of art. Take care Richard and I'm looking forward to your next video!!
Thanks very much Gary. Yes you sure can do panoramas with a tracker, although it's a little harder to get everything level.
Fantastic explanation Richard, I much prefer the method I've learnt from you BUT my inner creativity is getting the better of me. I'm in the process of getting out with my MSM and tracking MW's at the moment to blend into other foreground subjects. But as you've mentioned it has to be a foreground with straight edges or light enough for the select and mask to get a good selection. It's going to be challenging but I'm giving it a go. Your blending is amazing Richard and came out extremely well indeed. Can I ask if you could do a video on how you came to these results using blending methods. It would be interesting to see what kind of style you used. Thank you again for the excellent content and support. Top bloke indeed.. 🙏
Thanks as always Royston. I didn't have any magic tricks for these blends. Mostly manually rubbing out the foreground. Sometimes the select and mask works. The trick is to add some colour to the sky that matches the original sky shot. In one of these I actually manually blended the new sky over the old sky so they are both visible if you look really close near the bottom. That way the trees are not interrupted so much. It won't work for everything but it can for some.
@@nightscapeimages.richard Thank you for the advice Richard and techniques you use. I'll get my teeth into I think and get another aspect under my belt. Although your method is my preferred one. Keep well and stay safe 🙏👌🙏
Great video Richard. Thankyou for sharing your knowledge and insights.
The time lapse sections in the video are awesome! So vivid and clear. Can I ask if you sequence the shots in software using the same settings as the stacked stills using you normal method or is there another technique you use?
Thanks a lot Martin. I shoot the time lapses in the same way I'd shoot single shots and simply compile them all together. I have a number of videos regarding Time lapse. See here: th-cam.com/video/9ixlHXPk7Zc/w-d-xo.html
Hi Richard good video as ever.. Have you tried Luminar 4 to do sky replacement it dose a very good job around trees and all the small parts of a image.. that's is what I'm using works well and fast too..
Thanks a lot for watching Iain, no I haven't tried Luminar 4 but a few have mentioned it. I hear that Photoshop is also working on a sky replacement algorithm for their software.
@@nightscapeimages.richard give it a try.. it works as a add on to photoshop .. and its a one off payment for it about $130 NZD .. not a on going cost like photoshop..
Thanks Richard. Well explained, nice and easy to follow. Have you had any success with taking a foreground shot with the tracker off and then blending it with a sky shot with the tracker on? I'm battling with such a composition. Like you said, it takes Jedi level PS skills to do these things.
Thanks Neil. That is the very problem I'm talking about. That's also why I shot the sky without any foreground interruptions. It's not an easy task to blend out blurry trees for example.
One guy asked me once about blending milky way shot on top of a Nice foreground. We were on location with some difficuties to find good shot. i reply, that personnaly, i like the challenge of finding good composition with the milky way in one shot.
I think that's a very good perspective to have David .. lots of people agree with you.
I'm not ready for star trackers yet but this is some great info. You mentioned that the purist don't think this is real photography (or something along those lines). I'm in some photography groups on tv that think you're supposed to only use pictures that are straight out of camera and that you shouldn't edit them. They either don't realize that their camera edits their pictures for them based on their picture style they have selected or they just don't care. Sensors do not have the same dynamic range our eyes have. Astrophotography is a prime example of why you need to edit your pictures. A high dynamic range scene such as a bright sunset with a lot of shadows in the foreground is another example. I know I've asked you in the past but in going to ask again, have you tried using luminosity masks in Photoshop to blend your images. I know you use the selection tool sometimes.
Thanks very much for your comments Carl, really appreciated. I don't use any luminosity mask panels as such but the concept of blending based on luminosity values is pretty much what we do anyway without knowing it. Even lightroom does a pretty good job with that often.
@@nightscapeimages.richard Lightroom has gotten better with making but it's no where near where Photoshop is and I don't think they want it to be. But there's more to luminosity masks than just blending exposures. You can use it to select specific areas to dodge and burn, reduce noise in just the dark areas where there's no detail to lose, you can use them to target areas to sharpen, etc. Nick Page has a video where he showed how he uses it. I'm not quite on his level or your level but I'm learning. I'm typing by next milky way season I'll have a lot of it down. Thank you for your reply.
The lighting of that shot of the tricycle against a 'rotating' star field was awesome :) How do you minimise condensation / dew forming on the lens ? I have this issue through a long exposure but couldn't find any possible solutions in your upload history. Thanks for any help.
Thanks very much Noma. I use a lens warmer to stop the dew forming on the lens. Something like this: www.amazon.com.au/eFonto-KIWIFOTOS-telescopes-Heating-diameters/dp/B083HBXHY6/ref=asc_df_B083HBXHY6/?tag=googleshopdsk-22&linkCode=df0&hvadid=418764445326&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1634432914470732930&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9071496&hvtargid=pla-926165523011&psc=1
👏👏👏
Can you explain a little bit how to focus when doing panos? also, how you do the rows? Thank you very much.
@@paolasmith2052 Thanks a lot Paola. When shooting the night sky I make sure my focus is at infinity. As far as multi rows I will just shoot horizontally along the bottom then move the camera up and go back the other direction. If I want a higher third row I'll do the same again. See this video. th-cam.com/video/rneALKIofCI/w-d-xo.html
@@nightscapeimages.richard thank you so much. I'll watch the video😊😊
Very interesting, i have just recently purchased a tracker and keen to give it a try, just need some suitable nights. Have you tried the PS Align Pro App to align your tracker?
Thanks for watching Greg, no I haven't tried any apps to help with alignment. As you saw I'm not a regular user of the tracker . .but I'm happy with the results of my rough alignment method. Obviously if I was wanting to go further with exposure time I'd look into it more.
Im planning on one where I probably take a normal shot without tracking, a foreground shot both from the same position and then as the Milky Way moves up out of the way would track it. As I have the first shot of the stars I can line up the tracked shot where “it is supposed to be” not sure how it is going to work but I’ll give it a go.
I'm sure it will work out great. Thanks heaps for watching.
Great video as always! What tracker are you using? Beautiful images :)
Your explanations are always really enjoyable and super helpful !
Thanks a lot Sunny. I used the Skywatcher Star Adventurer.
Richard, have you tried using Luminar 4 as a Lightroom plug in. You can change a sky in just a couple of clicks.
I've not tried it Neville, a few have suggested it. I reckon it may struggle with dark night sky scenes . .but you never know.
I love your original night panoramas better than your blended tracked and non tracked images. You have some really excellent images either way. I am really considering a Sky Adventurer tracker. Have you had any hot pixel issues with you original D750 at night with long exposures? I have had problems with ISO 6400 and exposures of 15 seconds. (20 mm f1.8 lens) Obviously doing a non-tracked night sky shot. My sensor has been replaced and I have not tried it with the new sensor. Thank you for such an excellent video.
Thanks so much for watching, I really appreciate it. I didn't have any problems with my D750's but I have had a lot of hot pixels with the mirrorless Z6 Nikon.
awesome video!!, are you be able to explained to us on video how to get good milky way images with no landscape blurred on star tracker? love to see that ,thank Richard. Keep up the good work
Well that's the whole issue with trackers .. you can't "not blur" the foreground so you have to take separate images . .which is what I've done with all of these. Then blend them in photoshop.
@@nightscapeimages.richard ah, ok that make sense thank for that, have you got it on video how to separate the photos and blend them in? thanks
@@patrickwynne6666 No I didn't go into detail on the editing .. that would have taken another 20 minutes or more and the video would be way too long. Needless to say . .blending the foreground in is the hard part as I mentioned in this video . .and the main reason I don't do a lot of tracked nightscapes.
@@nightscapeimages.richard ok that is fine, thank for your time, happy clickings
Thank you Richard. I prefer non tracked images..
Thanks a lot for watching Brandi. I can totally relate to that as well.
I do compositing as a relaxing hobby. I have combined up to 15 images, some very complex, into landscapes with and without people. One of the biggest challenges is finding images where the perspectives as captured are similar or close enough to make realistic. Another of the big challenges is getting everything to work together colorwise and luminosity values in a cohesive manner.
I understand the SOC adherent's reasoning but it does sort of fall apart as even film gets post processed because the SOC negative is unusable as is. Mixing different images is beyond just minimal processing to get a captured image into printable or viewing digitally. What I struggle to understand is the need for some to try and convert others to their particular brand of photography with a religious fervor. I have found in my nearly 70 years on earth that most purists are the root cause of many of the world's significant conflicts. I believe one can be an ardent adherent to their personal tastes and methodologies but when that ardency become an obsession to "improve" everyone around them it usually doesn't end well.
Personally, I enjoy images that simply appeal to me, many times for reasons unknown. The mood an image conveys is what draws me I think but everyone is different and allowances for that make life much easier for everyone. I have little regard for busybodies whether they are of the social or political kind and will avoid them if possible. I am not afraid of conflict when needed but I have never found a purist to be of much value in my life.
Beautiful images Richard, "fake" or not! 😂 i look forward to every Friday afternoon when I get the notifcation you published a new video.
Thanks so much for your very insightful comments my friend. I agree with your sentiments. Now that technology is catching up to peoples vision we can now get on with creating artistic pieces that once were absolutely impossible.
Towards the end of the video, I saw a Photoshop study where you blended the sky with the floor photo, man. Do you have a video of how you combine two photos together?
I haven't yet recorded that video . .I will get to it at some stage.
Do you do stacked/ tracked panoramas? How would you work tracked and stacked with alignment in post processing
I have done a couple .. but they are a lot of work. You will always need to do a separate foreground exposure when using a tracker whether stacked or not. So it's a photoshop job. Panorama software won't align a blurry foreground.
Hey big bro, thank you for video. You shoot the sky with a 50 mm lens, but you draw a lens with a wider range of 24 mm on the floor. You shoot with a 50 mm lens, you just take the sky into the frame? Because otherwise, when shooting differently with two lenses, there will be ground photography in both frames, and when combining the sky and the ground photo, the ground frames in the two different lenses will not exactly match each other? How are you doing here? I don't know if I can explain it.
I'm erasing the sky from the foreground image so the sky from the back one shines through.
Super, never thought you would ever use trackers :-). I still think stacking generates high quality prints, any higher quality thru tracking is probably necessary if you intend to significantly enlarge the image for reproduction and than when you do that you are composting images which unless you are very proficient with Ps there would always be an element of it looking fake
Totally agree with that Chetan. I have had no trouble enlarging 24 mpx files a fair amount for printing.