Digital Camera World - UK (2019-10)

Photo Answers

ÁǝǣɀȸƺƏƳƺȸټɀɀƺƬȒȇƳƏɎɎƺȅȵɎƏɎ

ƏɀɎȸȒȵǝȒɎȒǕȸƏȵǝɵǝǣɎɀɎǝƺȅƏȸǸ

Good

heavens!

Our reader

Paul Byers

reat Dun Fell is 15 minutes outside

of Penrith in Cumbria. I wasn’t really sure what

to expect, but once I’d started walking to the top,

I couldn’t believe how clear the sky was. By the

time the Milky Way had risen to a point where

I could capture it, the temperature was -5 C.

My Nikon D850 and Irix 15mm lens were doing

a great job of capturing the detail of the Milky Way.

I took eight shots of 10 sec each at f/2.8 and ISO

6,400, plus two foreground frames at ISO 800 while

I light-painted on the domes to get extra detail. All

the frames were stacked and blended in Photoshop.

Our expert

Andrew James

his was only your second attempt

at astrophotography, Paul – and you’ve done an

amazing job. Certainly modern processing and the

ability of digital cameras to capture all so much

detail in low light has made astrophotography

like this much more achievable. But it still takes

a lot of effort to get to places where light pollution

is less of an issue. You also still need excellent

technique, both in-camera and in post-production,

to create eye-catching imagery.

You’ve done all these things well. It’s wonderful

to see the detail captured in the stars, and the domed

radar station makes a perfect sci-fi counterpoint.

I don’t mind the slight distortion created by the

15mm lens, but I wonder whether the sky would

benefit from a little more contrast to really make the

stars and the colour punch out of the frame. When

you zoom in there are a few little artifacts that you

should look at cloning out. But what a great shot!

G

T

Verdict

Strong technique

throughout shooting

and editing

A brilliant location

that’s perfect for

astrophotography

Boost the sky contrast

for extra impact and

really dazzle the viewer

Cloning out a few little

artifacts would provide

the finishing touch

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102 DIGITAL CAMERA^ OCTOBER 2019 http://www.digitalcameraworld.com