I had planned this for about a month. The new moon (aka dark skies) would be tonight. I also knew the angle, time and location of the galactic center of the milky way and when it would be visible. I figured where to go to capture it so, off I went.
I drove north of Flagstaff to Bonito Park near the entrance of Sunset Crater Monument. I got there just after sunset, with enough light to set the tripods up and get my focus set. I then went back to the car and waited in relative warmth until the rise of the center.Just before the center was to rise, I walked back out to the tripods and took a few shots then a car came around the road in the middle of my exposure. Piff. I thought a ruined shot but upon reflection in the post processing phase, I thought that maybe I should have used my flashlight (torch) to light paint the foreground a bit. I'll post some without tomorrow.
Beautiful night shot. Sometimes it get into the frame of something amazing which creates a shot, other times something destroys it. But we gain experience and spend a nice time. Good luck.
Thank everyone for all of the most kind comments and favs. I was bound to get some light pollution as this meadow is ringed by the road which goes into the monument. I do believe that perfection is really a myth - gives me all sorts of 'outs'😇. I will try to remember light painting at night next time.
@byrdlip Most grateful for the link and name of the software as well as a general thank you so very kindly. I use the Photopills app for exposure info but the other side of the coin is a huge kettle of fish isn't it? I will enjoy watching his videos on YouTube.
@bubblequeen Thank you so much but, it was a fisheye lens. I actually did try a lensball shot but it was nothing short of a disaster. I need a huge amount of practice with night shots and lensballs. I am looking forward to trying Milky Way lensball shots when it's warmer at night😁
This looks great to me- the only thing I might have done if I was fortunate enough to get a shot like this would be to douse that bright light on the right by either cloning in some of the dark silhouette black into that area or lowing the exposure in that spot only. Of course I see a couple comments above that like it, but I think it draws attention away from the stars. Great shot!
October 19th, 2020
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If you take multiple images and stack the images, you can almost always take the headlights out of the image.
Sorry for the plug, but Nightscape images ( https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-KNiVo4X76cJIMphH1lEdA) from australia has some interesting tips on stacking and light painting. He uses Sequator for stacking, there are others.
Thank everyone for all of the most kind comments and favs. I was bound to get some light pollution as this meadow is ringed by the road which goes into the monument. I do believe that perfection is really a myth - gives me all sorts of 'outs'😇. I will try to remember light painting at night next time.