First off, many thanks for all the kind comments and favs on Emperor last week.
This is Avebury Stone Circle with the Milky Way towering above one of the Sarsen Stones.
A good number of us in PTP have spent far too much time wandering around rural Wiltshire in the pitch black in grave danger of being abducted by aliens (its Britain's hotspot for UFOs and crop circles originated here), turned into toads by Druids (actually all the ones I've met have been fantastic), finished off by the ghostly Black Dog (a local myth about a giant devilish hound who is a harbinger of death) or, much more likely, falling face down in a cow pat, all in the attempt to get a decent Milky Way shot.
Reality is there's always too much spurious light, even though it is really quite dark - its just not really dark.
So, this shot has had a fair amount thrown at it, not least time, in an attempt to get as much out of the images that I had, taken with a Samyang 14mm f2.8 prime lens. The eight sets of three bracketed shots wouldn't stitch very well, so most had to be done by hand, and I used two different editing techniques, abandoning the first asit just didn't work. This one is based on a certain Mr Jimmy McIntyre (who comes from my homeland the North East of England) and who is rapidly becoming my favourite photographer - check him out on http://www.throughstrangelenses.com . Tools involved were Lightroom, Photoshop, Photomatix and Topaz DeNoise. Phew!
Next week I'm taking a quick selfie with my iPhone....
This is terrific! I have no idea what you are talking about, but it sounds complicated! I have just figured out that I can crop and turn a pic into b&w! I also thought your commentary was funny. But, having said that, I had the opportunity a few years ago to spend a week at Grasslands National Park in Saskatchewan, where my daughters were doing research. This involved running (literally) around prairie dog colonies chasing nocturnal ferrets. So, I was worried about stepping into a prairie dog hole, and there were rattlesnakes. BUT, this area is a designated dark sky zone, so, once we were dropped by the truck, we were in the pitch dark and total silence, except for what nature offered (which included coyotes looking at us and singing for us). Quite the experience. But back to your pic - fav!
So awesome! I love the exposure/editing technique it looks so natural and yet it almost feels as if there's a wrinkle in time- sunsetting on the land while the dark sky and stars already blanket the sky
@sheilaj Thanks Sheila - that puts it all in context really, as you have some really quite serious hazards out there in Canada (which I love btw), whereas in the UK in reality we have nothing except myths, legends and animal droppings! But your skies must be amazing! When you feel a little more confident, (most of us where learning to crop for the first time not that long ago!) just start googling Milky Way photography and see what can be done. With a half decent lens and dark skies, you'll get some great piccies, much better than this.
Ah the curse of 365 - I want a "--" picture and must get it. So we venture in the rain, snow, crowds, night, early morning or drive miles - book vacations all around our needs for certain pictures. You have done an amazing job here - hope our comments made the experience worth the effort. And do hope you didn't fall on any cow pats.
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