My first attempt at night photography

[Recty]

It was interesting...

The biggest problem is I did this tonight which was a full moon. There is so much light that the sky looks super bright plus the landscape looks like it's full daytime. I like the pictures but it isnt what I was wanting, I wanted really dark landscape.

In about two weeks, if it's clear out, I'm going to try again. I've been wanting to try this for a month or two now but this has been the first nice clear night.

Anyway... I'm pretty happy for it being my first attempt. I definitely learned some things already so next time I head out I should be better prepared.

7 minute exposure... Notice a freaking plane flew right through my shot, how dare that pilot...

30 minute exposure... ANOTHER plane in the shot. And some yahoo pulled right up and left his lights on for a little while.

 

[temperatepuffer]

I think the first one is the better of the two.

 

[dendronepthya]

Pretty good start I think Would you get the look you are going after with maybe a 3 min shutter rather than a 7-30 min?

 

[BlueCorn]

That's definitely the idea. A few tips that I teach during workshops.

1. Use a cooler color temperature. Adding a slight blue cast to the image helps the viewers brain immediately connect that it's a night shot. Many of these types of exposures end up looking like "daylight with stars."

2. For star trails you'll have better result on nights with no or nearly no moon. To get really pronounced trails you need to start getting up into the 20-30 minute exposure range. If you've got much more than a crescent moon the foreground will blow out before you can achieve that.

Cool stuff.

Cheers

 

[Recty]

Pretty good start I think Would you get the look you are going after with maybe a 3 min shutter rather than a 7-30 min?

I dont think so, the look I want is long star trails, so I need the long shutter speed. Yes, the shorter exposure would help with dimming the foreground but would make it so I wouldnt get the star trails I want.

I basically need to go out on a night that doesnt have a huge stinking full moon, I picked the worst night possible to go out

 

[Recty]

1. Use a cooler color temperature. Adding a slight blue cast to the image helps the viewers brain immediately connect that it's a night shot. Many of these types of exposures end up looking like "daylight with stars."

2. For star trails you'll have better result on nights with no or nearly no moon. To get really pronounced trails you need to start getting up into the 20-30 minute exposure range. If you've got much more than a crescent moon the foreground will blow out before you can achieve that.

Cool stuff.

Cheers

Hmmmm, I like #1. I never thought of that.

#2 - For sure... I realized that while I was out last night. It sucked, we got all geared up (my wife came) for the 20 degree weather, hot chocolate and all, and then after my first picture I realized WOW, the ground is going to be lit up like crazy. I realized I wasnt going to get the effect I wanted but I wasnt going to leave since we had gotten all ready for the effort

Question about CS4... if anyone knows and I suspect someone does

If I make a mask and block off all the parts of the image I want effected by the mask, then I apply the mask, all that work I've done painting on the mask is applied but then if I want to apply another mask, I have to repaint the whole thing again.

Is there a way to copy the mask so I can apply it to different mask types without having to repaint every single time?

Like for instance, I wanted to up the contrast and add some blue to the sky. Each of those is a separate mask, so I had to do the contrast, apply that mask, then do the blue channel, apply that mask. For each mask I had to block out the ground. I'd really rather just be able to copy the pattern I put into the mask and paste it into another mask.

I hope that made sense!

 

[IPT]

I don't have PS in front of me but I think if you control/click on the layer in the channels palete (the mask layer) it will create a selection based on the mask you made.

 

[am3gross]

cool! where were the pics taken at?

 

[the_rider]

You can copy the layer with the mask, then slide the mask to another layer. It will duplicate the layer+mask, then you can either slide the mask off or apply another effect to your layer.

Select the layer you want then ctrl+J

Not sure if my explication are clear ?

 

[Recty]

Thanks guys. I'll give it a shot when I'm back home and see if I can copy the mask like I want.

 

[BlueCorn]

Another way that might be more efficient is to create a folder, attach your mask to it and then put your adjustment layers under the folder. That way you're using one mask on all of the layers. It's more efficient than using multiple copies of the same mask.

 

[fooseball08]

wow those pics are crazy cool... where geographically did you take them... that dosent look like the alaska i have seen

 

[Recty]

wow those pics are crazy cool... where geographically did you take them... that dosent look like the alaska i have seen

Yep, I took them right outside Anchorage, about halfway to Girdwood.

 

[fooseball08]

My grandparents just got back from a cruise up to alaska and the pics they took were more wooded along the coastline, , but i have no idea where they were taken, none the less great shots

 

[fooseball08]

so the white lines in the sky are from??? the earth moving and the stars not???

 

[t5Nitro]

^ Right. The camera was recording everything during his exposures, including where the stars were when he started the picture and where the stars ended as he was done with the picture.

The two noticeable streaks are from planes he said. Easy enough to clone out though afterward.

 

[IPT]

Foose - your Grandparents images are probably from more in the South East where the cruises stop. Like Sitka and Ketchican. Very temperate there. We can be wooded here too but my guess is Grant was along the Turnagain arm where it is not really like that.

Grant - assuming you used your mask on an adjustment layer just hold the mouse over the little icon on the left of that layer and control click. That will give you the little crawling ants of the selection. If you now make a new adjustment layer it will automatically use that selection.

 

[Rhizo]

Beerguy Jr? I think so...

 

[Recty]

Grant - assuming you used your mask on an adjustment layer just hold the mouse over the little icon on the left of that layer and control click. That will give you the little crawling ants of the selection. If you now make a new adjustment layer it will automatically use that selection.

I'll give this a shot. I was control clicking last night on my mask in the layers section, which was indeed highlighting the area I masked, but then when I would merge that mask it would take the selection away, so I wasnt able to use that same selection on the next mask I wanted... I'll try messing with it some more tonight. Maybe the key is I need to start a new adjustment layer without merging the other one down.

Do most people use multiple adjustment layers without merging? I just realized that makes more sense... I always do an adjustment, merge, do another adjustment, merge... so on and so forth. If I had them all lined up at once it would probably be, if not easier, at least a little better if I ended up wanting to change something.

 

[Recty]

Beerguy Jr? I think so...

Heh, not yet, although his work is definitely inspiring.