Brilliant! I spend weeks editing an astro photo and in the end, all the pushing and pulling on the stars has ruined the image. What a great workflow, both in the field and in post.
Wonderfull tutorial! I took a bunch of notes and now I feel more confident to get out and get more milky way shots. You’re a gift for many of us amateur photographers, thank you!
Thanks Richard, very well explained and just what I was hoping to see, now all I need is for the rain gods to go elsewhere then I can get out and practice
Excellent and very informative video. Learn a new way of putting the star back using another method. Thank you I and just did an edit of a lone tree image today..
Absolutely brilliant video thank you so much! Took so many notes. Purchasing my first star tracker this year really looking forward to getting out there!
Really informative video Richard, many thanks. I will be watching this a few times to get to grips with the techniques and reprocessing a few of my images 😀
Really enjoy these full process videos thanks Richard. It's invaluable information and your run through is always easy to follow. Awesome final image too.
All I can say is "thank you". I took notes going through your tutorial. There were some important tips you provided. Several that I picked up is to group the foreground layers and work on them separately before bringing in the adjusted sky layer. Another is to have an ambient image to help with the process. The final key tip was using the blend mode for the stars. Some of that I have been doing but your tutorial was so clear and simple on how to approach it. Much appreciated!
Richard, you certainly have the knack for explaining things in easily understood language. I watched this once and then grabbed some images I took while practicing stacking the other night. I stepped though the video a second time and was amazed at the result. Thank you again!
Thank you Richard for this very simple edit with amazing results, It looks like I have been taking the long way around for star reduction, definitely going to give that Star Exterminator program a try.
Yes I've tried all the other methods and prefer this one. Much cleaner. Strictly speaking it's not even star reduction to be honest .. but it gives a similar result.
Thank you, Richard! Question 1: Without an astro-modified camera, would the image be similar except for not giving color to the red nebulas? Question 2: How does your astro-modified camera affect photographing the tree or daytime images?
Excellent questions. I only use the astro moded camera for shooting at night. I have other cameras for daytime use. It won't render the daytime colors the way we like, but at night with light painting I can get fairly close using the gel on my torch and in post processing.
Another great reference video for which I'm pretty well in sych with. I'm going to try stopping down to F5 for the foreground lighting, though to see if I can improve the blending and overall lighting.
@@nightscapeimages.richard I think also when you "Lighten" the layers, the darker background with F5 will not influence the overall blending. I sometimes find that you can see the edges of the mask as the top layer is too light. For this reason I've been sometimes using a luminance mask to get a better cut-out (mask). Trees with leaves tend to be the biggest challange even in calm weather. Makes it even worse, when you forget to take the base shot without lights 🙂
Great content without being over-the-top. I'm always curious about the workflow of others in PS and we all do things slightly differently to achieve the comparable end results. Living in the western North Dakota/eastern Montana region, I have been scoping out similar subjects to incorporate into night compositions and the approaches you've shared are spot on. Thanks!
Thank you Richard! I have been using a similar workflow, but you bring a level of refinement that I have been looking for. Thanks again, and I'll be putting this to work on my images!
@@nightscapeimages.richard where can I get a link of all your tutorials in one place please? Your videos and the knowledge you impart are priceless. Thank you and God bless.
@@ujjwaldatta6713 There are many Playlists listed on my youtube channel. But perhaps you could start here: th-cam.com/play/PLAYKmqkUeSM9yi-P7iTDM94IAFCazTSTG.html and then here: th-cam.com/play/PLAYKmqkUeSM96MzmcTwVxT7Ccps5zhWOJ.html
I've been using your blending for sometime and it was game changer. Obviously not for every shot but always on my mind the possibility when at the field
Hi Richard. Thanks for the very informative video, as always. After watching this, I downloaded the trial version of starXterminator. But I found that when it works, it works well, but 50% it gave complete black or white results. But the star reduction and reintroduction of stars worked well even if I reduced stars with Astro panel.
Having a SkyGuider myself, I really enjoyed this video Richard and the opportunity to follow along with your workflow. Great to see you incorporating some deep sky techniques such as star removal, and I look forward to your latest series with interest. Thanks mate 👍.
Great job of explaining your process Richard. I use Luminar 2018 so there are differences I have to work around. I've just taken delivery of an ioptron Skyguider Pro but haven't had the chance to take it out. Fun times ahead!!!!
Another fantastic tutorial Richard. The only comment that I would make is....... you have highlight of what looks like a distant light source. My eyes go right too it when i look at the image.??? What do you think.?
Excellent video Richard, very well presented and easy to follow. I've been blending light painted foregrounds in my night images for about 10 years now and the techniques keep evolving as the software improves, so you never really stop learning. Love your channel and I reckon your content on this style is second to none. Keep up the good work mate!
What a fantastic video. Having followed you for a few years now, I love the way your methods evolve logically with new software developments, such as the Photoshop Sky Replacement facility. I'm going to watch it again, now, with a notebook. As ever, your delivery and explanation is the best. Even I can understand it! This video gives a new perspective on the editing process, and for me, is the best yet!! Thanks, Richard, for such high quality and educational content.
An awesome instructional video as always Richard, from now on I'll be able to put your workflow into practice having recently moved over to LR PS, as Capture One couldn't handle half of what you do, the blending for example. I sometimes took extra shots when out in the field thinking the software would eventually catch up so I can revisit some of my older work now and practice the skills you have so expertly displayed for us to follow. Thanks for putting this together and for further building our global Astro community.
@@nightscapeimages.richardFirst, it’s better to stack photos to remove noise, then remove stars, etc. as in your video, I think it will be an interesting protocol. )
Hey there Richard, I really, love your photos!! I wonder if you might address white balance, in more detail, in one of your videos. I seem to be having a hard time wrapping my head around that part of the process. Thank you for all your videos, they are very enjoyable.
I really appreciate your kind comments Brian. I usually set my white balance somewhere between 4000k and 4800k, but with this modified camera that all goes out the window as it's set to show a lot more reds in the image. I will discuss it further in a future video.
Stunning image Richard, and educational as always. Hoping my editor of choice, Affinity Photo, introduces a sky replacement feature soon too as it certainly makes life easier. I also include Nik Collection's colour effects pro in my workflow. They have some amazing tools for improving contrast, detail etc which work really well in astro images.
Great video Richard as always, very useful information, thanks for that. I would like to see how you make the polar alignment of your iOptron in south hemisphere, as I'm also in south, I have avoided purchasing one because I believe it is very hard to correct align the tracker in non so dark skies in south hemisphere. Another point, have you already tried the Starnet (that's free) star removal instead of the Starxterminator for separating the stars? I wonder if Starxterminator could have some advantages over Starnet.
I use the in optional in-built ipolar camera to align the tracker. It's very quick and easy to use. I originally did try Starnet but found it to have more artifacts than StarExterminator. Also it isn't a direct plugin into photoshop. Other than that they are quite similar.
Yes that's a very good question. I often do this stacking of multiple layers with tracking as it gives you a better signal to noise ration and therefore less noise in the final image. On this occasion I decided to try long exposure noise reduction on a single image to test the result. It was pretty good. But I've also shot quite a few single tracked images without any LENR and they are good also.
Fantastic image Richard, and a fantastic tutorial. Always very useful to see you tackle different types of edits. If you don't mind me asking, do many of your images feature a separate sky image with a sky replacement such as this one? And do you find it gives a better result? It certainly seems to be a much neater way of blending the sky and foreground. I find lining up the light painted foreground with the silhouetted foreground (from the sky image) can be the most frustrating part of the editing process ... quite often I will have a slight misalignment, no doubt due to minor movements in the tripod during shooting. In any case, thanks again for all the knowledge you pass our way, it's so very much appreciated.
Thanks for your kind words Brendan. I only ever use this sky replacement method when I'm using a star tracker. For all other images I'll use my tried and true fine art light painting and blending from a fixed tripod. Yes it's really important to keep that tripod steady between all the shots.
@@nightscapeimages.richard ah ok, that makes sense in relation to using the star tracker 👍🏻 And yes, I guess it all starts with taking proper care when using the tripod. Thanks again, without a doubt I've picked up most of my astro knowledge from your excellent tuition.
Excellent as usual, many thanks Richard. I have been making use of the Adobe sky replacement tool, and I am getting some great results with it, but what do you think of it?
Great video Richard. Not sure you’ll see this comment as your video is a year old now. I just purchased my first star tracker and look forward to using your techniques in processing. One question; how did you get your finished sky into the sky replacement section in photoshop. Cheers.
Thanks so much for watching David. When you first enable the Sky Replacement feature you'll see a little arrow which opens a collection of your own images. If you haven't put any of your own images in there yet then look for a small arrow which opens up another dialogue box. At the bottom of this box you'll see a tiny + sign. This opens your files on the computer and you just search for the one you want to use. See this video at 25:10. th-cam.com/video/_2Zp1CyFic4/w-d-xo.html
@@nightscapeimages.richard Excellent thanks. The southern sky's are hard to align lol. Looks like I need another piece of gear :) PS I really appreciate your vids.
Thank you for this video ...I always learn so much from you and love your teaching style ! Quick question: when you were editing the starless sky image you opened the camera raw filter to do the adjustments there instead of using layers in photoshop. Is there a learning message for me here to do this, or is that simply personal choice? TIA 😊
Thanks so much for watching Theresa. I will often use both .. in fact I did in this video. The Camera Raw filter is the same interface as Lightroom and it's a very good way of adjusting multiple parameters quickly. For more complex adjustments I'd probably use Adjustment Layers. I guess it is personal choice but for a fairly simple edit such as this one I think the Camera Raw filter is a good option.
The "Colour Dodge" is simply a blend mode. It doesn't actually reduce the stars. By taking the stars out of the original and creating a "Starless" image which can be edited without affecting the stars is the key. When I reintroduce the stars I can use a number of blending modes. . you will notice that they have slightly different characteristics. The Photokemi plug ins I used last time are more specifically targeting making the stars smaller. Sometimes I like to keep the main stars larger rather than reducing the size. I've found the method shown in this video the simplest so far.
Hi Richard, I'm not sure why you bothered to edit the ambient sky image when you were intending to do a Sky Replacement in Photoshop? When I use this tool, I find that it removes the sky exceptionally well in 99% of the images. How does editing the ambient sky image help with the final image if you replace that sky for the final image? As usual, a great informative video which is much appreciated. 😁👌👍
Thanks Geoff. When applying the sky replacement image it gently blends the new sky over the old sky . .so in effect there are some pixels still showing from the old sky. That's why it's important to try and match the colour and luminence of both skies as much as possible. So I notice often that when using the original noisy sky, part of that image shows through .. particularly along the horizon .. this is impossible to fix later. So if I do some minor edits regarding noise reduction and particularly colour balance etc . .it blends better and you end up with a much cleaner final image. As an example. Often I've shot extra long exposure foregrounds at maybe 2 minute exposures to get a good amount of light on the foreground. This obviously introduces star trails into that image. When I add the tracked sky over the top of that exposure the remnants of the star trails are clearly visible and need to be carefully edited out .. otherwise you will still see the faint star trails from the original. Hope that makes sense.
@@nightscapeimages.richard Thanks Richard, Do you use the Fade Edge and Shift Edge sliders in Sky Replacement? I find that they work very well and the transition from the ground to the sky blends really well. I have experienced some stars showing through but that depends on the where you adjust the Fade Edge and Shift Edge sliders to.
@@geoffsharpe6456 Yes I do use those sliders . .and the other sliders all the time Geoff. The mask that photoshop creates fades off at the edges and that's how we see the remnants of the layer underneath. The beauty of this program is that it isn't a hard edge and that gives a realism to the blend that is hard to get using alternate methods.
@@nightscapeimages.richard I was more evaluating my post processing skills because even in darker skies, I’m not « there » yet to make it look so amazing 😻
Are you using a no name. USB DEW heater off Amazon? If so, are the actual red wires exposed where they enter the actual heater band? I think I can see this. I have this issue. I put a glob of hot glue there to keep the wires from separating.
You have very good eyes Mike. Yes the wires have come out a bit from the cover. Still works fine but I do make sure there is no tension on the wire. Hot glue is a great idea.
Actually I have terrible vision haha. Just acutely aware, since I have the issue. I commented to the Amazon vendor, but received no reply. I have a collection of 12V "Dew Not" heaters. This USB 5V allows smaller battery packs. I use several combinations depending. Talent Cell has 12V, 9V (camera Dummy Battery), and USB. Otherwise a "NPF" on a plate that has 7.4, and 12V "ports".
I have my white balance in camera set to 3300k and the green tint plus 1.5 or something close to that. Each camera brand may be a bit different though.
Very enjoyable and informative. But having a star tracker for the camera, Light Room, Photoshop and a paid add on for photoshop takes the do ability away from most viewers.
Thanks so much for watching. I'm sure there are plenty of people who don't wish to invest a lot into their hobby to get these results. Plenty of others are ok with that. It's always about what we want to spend our time and money on. This video is made for those who want to do this type of shooting.
Brilliant! I spend weeks editing an astro photo and in the end, all the pushing and pulling on the stars has ruined the image. What a great workflow, both in the field and in post.
Thanks so much for watching Mike, really appreciate it.
Just watched it again Richard, several time ... Going to go through a couple of my pics and see what happens .. :)
Glad you found it helpful.
@@nightscapeimages.richard .. I'm sure I will have to go through it several more times .. :)
Now I'm sitting comfortably for this one Rich!!
Haha, well don't get too comfortable mate ..!!!!
Absolutely brilliant. Such an insight into the process. Not everyone would allow us to see "behind the curtain" like this. Thank you.
Very kind of you to say. I appreciate you watching.
Richard, you are very lucky with the dark sky’s down there, thanks for sharing steps, you always do a great job!
I really appreciate your great support Antonio, thanks for watching.
Thank you Richard, that was very interesting and now all I have to do is go shoot and have a go at that editing.
Thanks so much for watching Ian
Richard, thank you for sharing your extensive knowledge, I have learned so much watching your channel.
My pleasure Frank. I appreciate you watching the channel.
Fantastic tutorial, Richard!!! Fired up to go for my own first tracked and blended MW shot. Will be referencing this for editing, for sure. Thank You!
Thanks so much for watching Martin, really appreciated.
Brilliant video as always Richard, looking forward to trying out my (move shoot move) when the darker skies return in Scotland 🏴
Thanks as always for watching. I hope you get some amazing images in your amazing homeland.
Another brilliant tutorial Richard, fully detailed, nice speed and easy to understand. Thank you, my friend, 🙂
You're very welcome Les. I'm pleased you enjoyed it.
Great video as usual Richard!! Amazing edit and tutorial, will be coming back to it
Thanks very much for following along Mariusz. Really appreciated.
super work and tutorial. thank you so much Richard
You're very welcome Suman, thanks for watching.
Nice tutorial Richard, only took a couple of night shots so far, but I cannot justify spending £350.00 on a Sky Tracker. Cheers mate..
All good Russell. You can get wonderful images without a tracker. Thanks for watching.
Wonderfull tutorial! I took a bunch of notes and now I feel more confident to get out and get more milky way shots. You’re a gift for many of us amateur photographers, thank you!
I'm really pleased you found it helpful Steve.
Thanks Richard, very well explained and just what I was hoping to see, now all I need is for the rain gods to go elsewhere then I can get out and practice
Good on you Nick . Thanks so much for watching mate.
Great video as always Richard 👍🏻
Thank you for watching Gurdeep
Excellent and very informative video. Learn a new way of putting the star back using another method. Thank you I and just did an edit of a lone tree image today..
Thanks so much for watching again Virat
Now I want to go try this! Good job!
Thanks as always for watching Wayne
Thanks for sharing. Amazing work
Thanks so much for watching again.
Richard, that is absolutely mind boggling....you might have convinced me to get a tracker!!
Well you never say never Carmel. Just keep in mind that the actual taking of the images takes a whole lot longer with a tracker than a tripod.
Again a fantastic and inspiring video :-)
Thanks so much for watching Niels
Incredible work flow Richard and a stunning result 👌🌌
Thanks for watching Garry, really appreciate it.
@@nightscapeimages.richard it’s not difficult watching a master at work 😉👍
@@garrydelday5816 Thanks again Garry
Fantastic Richard!!!
Thank you so much for watching my friend.
Absolutely brilliant video thank you so much! Took so many notes. Purchasing my first star tracker this year really looking forward to getting out there!
I'm really pleased you found it helpful Max. Thanks for watching.
Really informative video Richard, many thanks. I will be watching this a few times to get to grips with the techniques and reprocessing a few of my images 😀
Thanks for having a look Andy. I'm glad it's helpful.
Totally fantastic brilliantly explained, what an insight into blending and stare reduction Totally onboard THANK YOU
Thank you so much for your very kind comments Mark.
Great tutorial Richard, I always pick up something new with your videos. Fantastic image too by the way.
Thank you again 👍
Thanks for your kind words Dennis, really appreciated.
Really enjoy these full process videos thanks Richard. It's invaluable information and your run through is always easy to follow.
Awesome final image too.
Thanks a lot Mark. Always appreciated mate.
All I can say is "thank you". I took notes going through your tutorial. There were some important tips you provided. Several that I picked up is to group the foreground layers and work on them separately before bringing in the adjusted sky layer. Another is to have an ambient image to help with the process. The final key tip was using the blend mode for the stars. Some of that I have been doing but your tutorial was so clear and simple on how to approach it. Much appreciated!
Thanks so much for your kind comments, I really appreciate you watching.
Hello Richard, Nice explanation. I like these kind of video’s. Its more work than i expected. Give it a try on my own using the gimp.
Thank you so much for watching Jan. Yes it's a lot of work but the flow gets easier when you do a lot of it.
Richard, you certainly have the knack for explaining things in easily understood language. I watched this once and then grabbed some images I took while practicing stacking the other night. I stepped though the video a second time and was amazed at the result. Thank you again!
I'm really pleased you enjoyed it Philip . .and even more that you were able to apply it to your own images.
Another great video 🖖
I'm glad you liked it Gavin.
Great video Richard. I learned a heap from it. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience mate. Top work as always 👍🙏
Very kind of you Adrian. Thanks for watching mate.
Great video! Should be clear skies here in the UK tomorrow hopefully use some of your tips! 🤙🤙
Thanks for watching Daniel. I hope it goes well mate.
Thank you Richard for this very simple edit with amazing results, It looks like I have been taking the long way around for star reduction, definitely going to give that Star Exterminator program a try.
Yes I've tried all the other methods and prefer this one. Much cleaner. Strictly speaking it's not even star reduction to be honest .. but it gives a similar result.
Thank you very much really enjoyed this video
I thank you very much for watching Janette.
Brilliant tutorial Richard & outstanding image, this is something I’ll definitely need to try out
Thanks a lot for watching Alasdair. Always appreciated.
Very interesting video. Always is so great to view the post production method. Thanks a lot for it.
You're very welcome Luis. Thanks again for watching.
Thank you, Richard! Question 1: Without an astro-modified camera, would the image be similar except for not giving color to the red nebulas? Question 2: How does your astro-modified camera affect photographing the tree or daytime images?
Excellent questions. I only use the astro moded camera for shooting at night. I have other cameras for daytime use. It won't render the daytime colors the way we like, but at night with light painting I can get fairly close using the gel on my torch and in post processing.
Thanks Richard for another fabulous video, a great photography lesson and PS. Thanhs Richard
You're very welcome Mario, appreciate your support.
Another A Class video Richard, I have adopted your workflow and it works amazing! Thanks again for sharing :) Well done as always.
Thanks for watching Alan. You're getting some amazing images mate.
Excellent tutorial Richard and stunning results.
Thank you so much for watching Tony, really appreciated.
I absolutely need to try some of the things in here. Great video. Thanks.
Thanks so much for watching Ben.
Another great reference video for which I'm pretty well in sych with. I'm going to try stopping down to F5 for the foreground lighting, though to see if I can improve the blending and overall lighting.
It makes a big difference to the sharpness of the foreground Rob
@@nightscapeimages.richard I think also when you "Lighten" the layers, the darker background with F5 will not influence the overall blending. I sometimes find that you can see the edges of the mask as the top layer is too light. For this reason I've been sometimes using a luminance mask to get a better cut-out (mask). Trees with leaves tend to be the biggest challange even in calm weather. Makes it even worse, when you forget to take the base shot without lights 🙂
Hi Richard, great video. Most of it was known to me but I still picked up a couple of good tips. Looking forward to more similar videos.
Thanks heaps for watching David, always appreciated.
Thanks for great editing experience. It was awesome!!!!!!
Many thanks for watching Milorad.
Thanks for the informative video Richard, you always produce quality
Thanks as always Suzanne
Great video Richard, love the simplicity of the processing
Thanks a lot Eric. That's always my intention.
Awesome Richard, learning a bunch from your videos.
Thanks so much for tuning in David, really appreciated.
Very nice!
Thanks Jorge
Great content without being over-the-top. I'm always curious about the workflow of others in PS and we all do things slightly differently to achieve the comparable end results. Living in the western North Dakota/eastern Montana region, I have been scoping out similar subjects to incorporate into night compositions and the approaches you've shared are spot on. Thanks!
Thanks so much for watching Johnnie, really appreciate it.
One of the best tutorial
I'm really pleased you enjoyed it Jeck.
Thank you Richard! I have been using a similar workflow, but you bring a level of refinement that I have been looking for. Thanks again, and I'll be putting this to work on my images!
Thanks so much for looking Blake
Your videos are simple and very helpful. Thank you.
Thank you for watching my friend, really appreciated.
@@nightscapeimages.richard where can I get a link of all your tutorials in one place please? Your videos and the knowledge you impart are priceless. Thank you and God bless.
@@ujjwaldatta6713 There are many Playlists listed on my youtube channel. But perhaps you could start here: th-cam.com/play/PLAYKmqkUeSM9yi-P7iTDM94IAFCazTSTG.html and then here: th-cam.com/play/PLAYKmqkUeSM96MzmcTwVxT7Ccps5zhWOJ.html
@@nightscapeimages.richard awesome. Many thanks 🙏🏻
Amazing how far the post processing game has come in the past decade. Great video as always Richard!
Yes no doubt about that Dominic. I'd say even in the past couple of years ..!!!
I've been using your blending for sometime and it was game changer. Obviously not for every shot but always on my mind the possibility when at the field
Thank you for watching as always Raphael. Always appreciated.
Terrific! This one goes into the Reference file.
Thanks again for watching my friend.
Fantastic Richard, thank you so much
You're very welcome Paul
thank you for a great video, I enjoy all you videos
And I always enjoy your comments Phillip . .thanks so much for watching.
Amazing Video Richard. Thank you so much!
You're very welcome Manjul. Thanks for watching.
Great informative video! And ofc the photo is amasing as usual!
Thanks so much for watching my friend.
Hi Richard. Thanks for the very informative video, as always. After watching this, I downloaded the trial version of starXterminator. But I found that when it works, it works well, but 50% it gave complete black or white results. But the star reduction and reintroduction of stars worked well even if I reduced stars with Astro panel.
Thanks for watching Hemant. I''ve not had that issue with StarXterminator.
Super helpful!!!!! THX!!!!
Thanks so much for watching.
N8ce work Richard
Thanks as always Jeff
Having a SkyGuider myself, I really enjoyed this video Richard and the opportunity to follow along with your workflow. Great to see you incorporating some deep sky techniques such as star removal, and I look forward to your latest series with interest. Thanks mate 👍.
You're very welcome Paul. I'm loving the sky guider pro.
Cool 👍
Thanks for watching.
Fantastic tutorial Richard! The final result was outstanding mate, thank you for sharing!
Hey Colin, thanks so much for watching mate.
Great job of explaining your process Richard. I use Luminar 2018 so there are differences I have to work around. I've just taken delivery of an ioptron Skyguider Pro but haven't had the chance to take it out. Fun times ahead!!!!
Good on you Darrell. I'm sure you'll get heaps of great images using it.
Another fantastic tutorial Richard. The only comment that I would make is....... you have highlight of what looks like a distant light source. My eyes go right too it when i look at the image.??? What do you think.?
Yes you are right Frank. It's a distant house I think . .I could have removed it for sure.
very nice!!
Thanks for watching, really appreciated.
Excellent video Richard, very well presented and easy to follow.
I've been blending light painted foregrounds in my night images for about 10 years now and the techniques keep evolving as the software improves, so you never really stop learning.
Love your channel and I reckon your content on this style is second to none.
Keep up the good work mate!
I very much appreciate your support my friend. Thanks heaps for watching.
What a fantastic video. Having followed you for a few years now, I love the way your methods evolve logically with new software developments, such as the Photoshop Sky Replacement facility. I'm going to watch it again, now, with a notebook. As ever, your delivery and explanation is the best. Even I can understand it! This video gives a new perspective on the editing process, and for me, is the best yet!! Thanks, Richard, for such high quality and educational content.
You are very welcome as always Simon. I appreciate your encouragement as always.
An awesome instructional video as always Richard, from now on I'll be able to put your workflow into practice having recently moved over to LR PS, as Capture One couldn't handle half of what you do, the blending for example. I sometimes took extra shots when out in the field thinking the software would eventually catch up so I can revisit some of my older work now and practice the skills you have so expertly displayed for us to follow.
Thanks for putting this together and for further building our global Astro community.
I'm pleased you find it helpful Carl. There are always new methods and new ideas coming to the for. . thanks again for watching.
Is it possible to do star removal on one single frame without a star tracker, or do stacking and apply these processing skills?
Yes indeed . .you can do star removal on one single frame. The reason people do stacking is to reduce noise in their images.
@@nightscapeimages.richardFirst, it’s better to stack photos to remove noise, then remove stars, etc. as in your video, I think it will be an interesting protocol. )
Hey there Richard, I really, love your photos!! I wonder if you might address white balance, in more detail, in one of your videos. I seem to be having a hard time wrapping my head around that part of the process. Thank you for all your videos, they are very enjoyable.
I really appreciate your kind comments Brian. I usually set my white balance somewhere between 4000k and 4800k, but with this modified camera that all goes out the window as it's set to show a lot more reds in the image. I will discuss it further in a future video.
Stunning image Richard, and educational as always. Hoping my editor of choice, Affinity Photo, introduces a sky replacement feature soon too as it certainly makes life easier. I also include Nik Collection's colour effects pro in my workflow. They have some amazing tools for improving contrast, detail etc which work really well in astro images.
Thanks so much for watching Greg. Yes I'm sure Afinity will add that at some stage.
👌👌👌👌👌👌👌💖
Great video Richard as always, very useful information, thanks for that. I would like to see how you make the polar alignment of your iOptron in south hemisphere, as I'm also in south, I have avoided purchasing one because I believe it is very hard to correct align the tracker in non so dark skies in south hemisphere. Another point, have you already tried the Starnet (that's free) star removal instead of the Starxterminator for separating the stars? I wonder if Starxterminator could have some advantages over Starnet.
I use the in optional in-built ipolar camera to align the tracker. It's very quick and easy to use. I originally did try Starnet but found it to have more artifacts than StarExterminator. Also it isn't a direct plugin into photoshop. Other than that they are quite similar.
Thank you, Richard!
What benefit, if any, would be gained if you joined 3 or 4 or more tracked images as you do with untracked images of the stars?
Yes that's a very good question. I often do this stacking of multiple layers with tracking as it gives you a better signal to noise ration and therefore less noise in the final image. On this occasion I decided to try long exposure noise reduction on a single image to test the result. It was pretty good. But I've also shot quite a few single tracked images without any LENR and they are good also.
Great instructional video love it.
Do you use the Astro mod camera for the tree images as well?
Jim
Thanks so much for watching James. Yes in this case I used the same camera for all the shots.
Fantastic image Richard, and a fantastic tutorial. Always very useful to see you tackle different types of edits. If you don't mind me asking, do many of your images feature a separate sky image with a sky replacement such as this one? And do you find it gives a better result? It certainly seems to be a much neater way of blending the sky and foreground. I find lining up the light painted foreground with the silhouetted foreground (from the sky image) can be the most frustrating part of the editing process ... quite often I will have a slight misalignment, no doubt due to minor movements in the tripod during shooting. In any case, thanks again for all the knowledge you pass our way, it's so very much appreciated.
Thanks for your kind words Brendan. I only ever use this sky replacement method when I'm using a star tracker. For all other images I'll use my tried and true fine art light painting and blending from a fixed tripod. Yes it's really important to keep that tripod steady between all the shots.
@@nightscapeimages.richard ah ok, that makes sense in relation to using the star tracker 👍🏻 And yes, I guess it all starts with taking proper care when using the tripod. Thanks again, without a doubt I've picked up most of my astro knowledge from your excellent tuition.
@@brendanlynch7296 Thanks Brendan. Always happy to help when I can.
Excellent as usual, many thanks Richard. I have been making use of the Adobe sky replacement tool, and I am getting some great results with it, but what do you think of it?
I think it's an excellent tool Roy. I now use it for all my tracked nightscapes.
Richard, you will never know how pleased I am to read your reply. :) :)
Great video Richard. Not sure you’ll see this comment as your video is a year old now. I just purchased my first star tracker and look forward to using your techniques in processing. One question; how did you get your finished sky into the sky replacement section in photoshop. Cheers.
Thanks so much for watching David. When you first enable the Sky Replacement feature you'll see a little arrow which opens a collection of your own images. If you haven't put any of your own images in there yet then look for a small arrow which opens up another dialogue box. At the bottom of this box you'll see a tiny + sign. This opens your files on the computer and you just search for the one you want to use. See this video at 25:10. th-cam.com/video/_2Zp1CyFic4/w-d-xo.html
@@nightscapeimages.richard thank you
Excellent thanks. How do you polar align your guider in the southern sky’s.
Thanks for watching Jimmy. I have the ipolar camera built into the sky guider pro. It makes the whole process very simple.
@@nightscapeimages.richard Excellent thanks. The southern sky's are hard to align lol. Looks like I need another piece of gear :)
PS I really appreciate your vids.
@@ageprevention Thanks Jimmy
Thank you for this video ...I always learn so much from you and love your teaching style ! Quick question: when you were editing the starless sky image you opened the camera raw filter to do the adjustments there instead of using layers in photoshop.
Is there a learning message for me here to do this, or is that simply personal choice?
TIA 😊
Thanks so much for watching Theresa. I will often use both .. in fact I did in this video. The Camera Raw filter is the same interface as Lightroom and it's a very good way of adjusting multiple parameters quickly. For more complex adjustments I'd probably use Adjustment Layers. I guess it is personal choice but for a fairly simple edit such as this one I think the Camera Raw filter is a good option.
@@nightscapeimages.richard Thanks 😊
Hi Richard, in which video do you cover the StarXTerminator plugin? I found the result it provides amazing. Thanks.
Thanks for watching Jorge. See this video: th-cam.com/video/mZKD67ff3Tk/w-d-xo.html
good friend video .... the nikon Z6 camera, can expose more than 30, 60 or 90 seconds without the interval timer?
Thanks for watching. Only the Z6ii has the extended shutter longer than 30 seconds option. The camera I used here is the original Z6.
Fantastic.... How can i get the Plug in-RC Astro ?
Here is the link: www.rc-astro.com/StarXTerminator/
@@nightscapeimages.richard Thanks
"Color Dodge" is the way you reduce the stars?
I have remembered you used the plug in to reduce the star in last tutorial?
Which one is better?
The "Colour Dodge" is simply a blend mode. It doesn't actually reduce the stars. By taking the stars out of the original and creating a "Starless" image which can be edited without affecting the stars is the key. When I reintroduce the stars I can use a number of blending modes. . you will notice that they have slightly different characteristics. The Photokemi plug ins I used last time are more specifically targeting making the stars smaller. Sometimes I like to keep the main stars larger rather than reducing the size. I've found the method shown in this video the simplest so far.
@@nightscapeimages.richard I totally got what you explained , I will try this method then. Thanks
Hi Richard, I'm not sure why you bothered to edit the ambient sky image when you were intending to do a Sky Replacement in Photoshop? When I use this tool, I find that it removes the sky exceptionally well in 99% of the images. How does editing the ambient sky image help with the final image if you replace that sky for the final image? As usual, a great informative video which is much appreciated. 😁👌👍
Thanks Geoff. When applying the sky replacement image it gently blends the new sky over the old sky . .so in effect there are some pixels still showing from the old sky. That's why it's important to try and match the colour and luminence of both skies as much as possible. So I notice often that when using the original noisy sky, part of that image shows through .. particularly along the horizon .. this is impossible to fix later. So if I do some minor edits regarding noise reduction and particularly colour balance etc . .it blends better and you end up with a much cleaner final image.
As an example. Often I've shot extra long exposure foregrounds at maybe 2 minute exposures to get a good amount of light on the foreground. This obviously introduces star trails into that image. When I add the tracked sky over the top of that exposure the remnants of the star trails are clearly visible and need to be carefully edited out .. otherwise you will still see the faint star trails from the original. Hope that makes sense.
@@nightscapeimages.richard Thanks Richard, Do you use the Fade Edge and Shift Edge sliders in Sky Replacement? I find that they work very well and the transition from the ground to the sky blends really well. I have experienced some stars showing through but that depends on the where you adjust the Fade Edge and Shift Edge sliders to.
@@geoffsharpe6456 Yes I do use those sliders . .and the other sliders all the time Geoff. The mask that photoshop creates fades off at the edges and that's how we see the remnants of the layer underneath. The beauty of this program is that it isn't a hard edge and that gives a realism to the blend that is hard to get using alternate methods.
@@nightscapeimages.richard great further explanation of the technique a bonus tip Richard! thanks mate.
@@carlreid4161 Any time Carl
Very interesting content. I kinda do that but my Milky Way doesn’t turn out that good !
We have very dark skies down here in Australia Carole . .that makes a lot of difference to the final result.
@@nightscapeimages.richard
I was more evaluating my post processing skills because even in darker skies, I’m not « there » yet to make it look so amazing 😻
@@carolelabrecque2799 Don't be too hard on yourself Carole. It all takes time to refine these skills.
Correct me if I'm wrong but the inbuilt noise reduction only removes hot pixels?
Some cameras have amp glow which seems to be improved with LENR also John. I usually don't use it but thought I'd give it a go with this image.
👍
Thanks for watching.
Are you using a no name. USB DEW heater off Amazon? If so, are the actual red wires exposed where they enter the actual heater band? I think I can see this. I have this issue. I put a glob of hot glue there to keep the wires from separating.
You have very good eyes Mike. Yes the wires have come out a bit from the cover. Still works fine but I do make sure there is no tension on the wire. Hot glue is a great idea.
Actually I have terrible vision haha. Just acutely aware, since I have the issue. I commented to the Amazon vendor, but received no reply. I have a collection of 12V "Dew Not" heaters. This USB 5V allows smaller battery packs. I use several combinations depending. Talent Cell has 12V, 9V (camera Dummy Battery), and USB. Otherwise a "NPF" on a plate that has 7.4, and 12V "ports".
What wb do you use for your ha camera?
I have my white balance in camera set to 3300k and the green tint plus 1.5 or something close to that. Each camera brand may be a bit different though.
@@nightscapeimages.richard cheers Richard
Very enjoyable and informative. But having a star tracker for the camera, Light Room, Photoshop and a paid add on for photoshop takes the do ability away from most viewers.
Thanks so much for watching. I'm sure there are plenty of people who don't wish to invest a lot into their hobby to get these results. Plenty of others are ok with that. It's always about what we want to spend our time and money on. This video is made for those who want to do this type of shooting.
Not simple
Practice makes perfect.