Gary,
I’m working on my astrophotography post processing and wondered how you processed this image. Was this a single 15sec exposure or did you light paint the foreground and maybe blend a long foreground exposure with a shorter exposure for the stars? However you did it, it’s another stunning image!
Thanks, Mike. I only use natural light, so I never light paint. The key to moonless night Milky Way images like this is maximum light: as large an aperture as possible, and the highest ISO you can get away with. In this case I had the advantage of a 1.4 lens (the Rokinon 24mm) and a camera that virtually sees in the dark (the Sony a7S). Being able to shoot at f1.4, and get a fairly clean file at ISO 6400 made all the difference in the world. Even still, I needed to pull up the shadows, but the detail there wasn’t so noisy that it didn’t clean up to a manageable level with Topaz DeNoise (but they’re not noise-free). I also use auto white balance, then cool the color temperature to between 3000 and 4000 in Lightroom, giving the scene a bluer, more night-like cast.
Eloquent Images by Gary Hart 
Just incredible, Gary! My favorite astrophotograph!
Thanks, Dan.
Gary,
I’m working on my astrophotography post processing and wondered how you processed this image. Was this a single 15sec exposure or did you light paint the foreground and maybe blend a long foreground exposure with a shorter exposure for the stars? However you did it, it’s another stunning image!
Thanks,
Mike
Thanks, Mike. I only use natural light, so I never light paint. The key to moonless night Milky Way images like this is maximum light: as large an aperture as possible, and the highest ISO you can get away with. In this case I had the advantage of a 1.4 lens (the Rokinon 24mm) and a camera that virtually sees in the dark (the Sony a7S). Being able to shoot at f1.4, and get a fairly clean file at ISO 6400 made all the difference in the world. Even still, I needed to pull up the shadows, but the detail there wasn’t so noisy that it didn’t clean up to a manageable level with Topaz DeNoise (but they’re not noise-free). I also use auto white balance, then cool the color temperature to between 3000 and 4000 in Lightroom, giving the scene a bluer, more night-like cast.