Digital Photographer - UK (2019-12)

There are some tried-and-tested ways

to make the night sky sparkle

Processing the night sky

Editing your work is subjective, and when it

comes to the night sky, that’s twice as true. A

lot of people may ask you whether your photo

accurately represents what you could see

with your naked eye, and the answer is almost

always a resounding ‘no’. Your camera picks

up more light than your eyes do, so much so

that any attempt to photograph the stars will

inevitably result in a photo that’s as much

a creative composition as any other kind of

manual photography. If you want to keep

the night sky looking as natural as possible,

the JPEG that your camera produces is your

finished image. Happy? Almost certainly you

won’t be. Nightscapes are about playing with

light, and editing software will help you extract

as much as possible from the RAW image

data to produce an impactful composition.

Here’s how to process an image of the Milky

Way using Adobe Photoshop, and its lessons

apply to all night-sky photography.

1

Flatten the image With the RAW

image opened in Photoshop, find the

Lens Correction tab and tick the ‘Enable

profile correction’ option, which will correct

geometric distortion and vignetting in the

corners of the image.

4

Contrast and exposure Upping the

Contrast slider to +50 makes the Milky

Way really stand out, while a slight boost to

the exposure at +0.20 brightens the galaxy’s

core still further.

2

White balance and tint This is

largely a matter of taste, but while

cameras tend to overcook the night sky

and give it an orangey hue, you do need

some colour for the Milky Way. So a colour

temperature of around 3700K and a tint of

+10 work well here.

5

Dehaze, highlights and clarity

The Milky Way’s outer brightness is

dampened by pushing the Dehaze slider to

about +40 and brightened at its centre with

the Highlights slider at +30. Use the Clarity

slider to bring out the stars or flatten them –

it’s your choice.

3

Black and white levels To darken

the sky, take the Black levels slider down

to about -50. The Whites slider at +40 brings

out the Milky Way’s light.

6

Final adjustments Some backlighting

of the wooden frame in the photo has

turned slightly orange during processing,

which is fixed in the HSL Adjustments tab.

Noise reduction can also be applied; try

pushing the luminance to around +20 to

soften the image.

Maximising the

Milky Way

400 billion stars have never

looked so good

Below

Final edit

Processing is

really important if

you want to show

the Milky Way

as a bright and

colourful object

9

1

3

2

AFTER

All images © Jamie Carter

40

TECHNIQUES

Therearesometried-and-testedways

tomakethenightskysparkle

Processing the night sky

Editingyourworkissubjective,andwhenit

comestothenightsky,that’stwiceastrue.A

lotofpeoplemayaskyouwhetheryourphoto

accuratelyrepresentswhatyoucouldsee

withyournakedeye,andtheanswerisalmost

alwaysa resounding‘no’.Yourcamerapicks

upmorelightthanyoureyesdo,somuchso

thatanyattempttophotographthestarswill

inevitablyresultina photothat’sasmuch

a creativecompositionasanyotherkindof

manualphotography.If youwanttokeep

thenightskylookingasnaturalaspossible,

theJPEGthatyourcameraproducesisyour

finishedimage.Happy?Almostcertainlyyou

won’tbe.Nightscapesareabout playing with

light,andeditingsoftwarewillhelp you extract

asmuchaspossiblefromtheRAW image

datatoproduceanimpactfulcomposition.

Here’showtoprocessanimage of the Milky

WayusingAdobePhotoshop,and its lessons

applytoallnight-skyphotography.

1

FlattentheimageWiththeRAW

imageopenedinPhotoshop,findthe

LensCorrectiontabandtickthe‘Enable

profilecorrection’option,whichwillcorrect

geometricdistortionandvignettinginthe

cornersoftheimage.

4

ContrastandexposureUppingthe

Contrastsliderto+50makestheMilky

Wayreallystandout,whilea slightboostto

theexposureat+0.20brightensthegalaxy’s

corestillfurther.

2

WhitebalanceandtintThisis

largelya matteroftaste,butwhile

camerastendtoovercookthenightsky

andgiveit anorangeyhue,youdoneed

somecolourfortheMilkyWay.Soa colour

temperatureofaround3700Kanda tintof

+10workwellhere.

5

Dehaze,highlightsandclarity

TheMilkyWay’souterbrightnessis

dampenedbypushingtheDehazesliderto

about+40andbrightenedatitscentrewith

theHighlightssliderat+30.UsetheClarity

slidertobringoutthestarsorflattenthem–

it’syourchoice.

3

BlackandwhitelevelsTodarken

thesky,taketheBlacklevelssliderdown

toabout-50.TheWhitessliderat+40brings

outtheMilkyWay’slight.

6

FinaladjustmentsSomebacklighting

ofthewoodenframeinthephotohas

turnedslightlyorangeduringprocessing,

whichisfixedintheHSLAdjustmentstab.

Noisereductioncanalsobeapplied;try

pushingtheluminancetoaround+20to

softentheimage.

Maximising the

Milky Way

400 billionstarshavenever

lookedsogood

Below

Final edit

Processing is

really important if

you want to show

the Milky Way

asa bright and

colourful object

9

1

3

2

AFTER

All images © Jamie Carter

40

TECHNIQUES