Night photography isn't my natural style however while I was on a recent trip to Dyandra Western Australia the milky way was so nice that I decided to try my luck.

Unfortunately I used my D7100 to get the images forgetting about the banding issues it has in shadows etc. so I had to over process the image to try and get rid of it. Did a reasonable job. Next time I will use my X-T3 or D500 lol.

This is actually a composite of two images one was exposed for the milky way and the other for the cabin, heavily processed in LR then just masked up in photoshop etc.

Nice job and good on ya for getting out at night for this shot. It's a lot of fun to capture these Milky Way starscapes!

Shane, that is a nice shot. Well done.

I like that.

I'd like to hear a bit more of how you got the shot (exposure info) and what gear you used to do so.

I always like the upside down milky way photos, Nicely done!

Hut said:

I always like the upside down milky way photos, Nicely done!

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In my part of the world this is the right way up.

Whiskeyman said:

I'd like to hear a bit more of how you got the shot (exposure info) and what gear you used to do so.

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The gear I used was the Nikon D7100, Nikon 10.5mm f2.8 fisheye lens and a tripod. I took two shots the first was to expose for the Milky Way.
The settings were:

Model: NIKON D7100
Exposure Time: 30 sec
F Number: f/2.8
ISO Speed ratings: ISO 125
Exposure Program: Manual
Metering Mode: Multi-segment
Exposure Bias: 0.33 EV
Flash: No flash,compulsory
Focal Length: 10.5 mm
35mm Equivalent: 15 mm

Original Image:



The Second image was to expose for the Cabin.
The settings were:

Exposure Time: 0.1 sec
F Number: f/11
ISO Speed ratings: ISO 100
Exposure Program: Manual
Metering Mode: Multi-segment
Exposure Bias: 0.33 EV
Flash: No flash,compulsory
Focal Length: 10.5 mm
35mm Equivalent: 15 mm

Original Image:


I set the camera timer to two seconds to avoid any camera shake from pressing the shutter.

With both I did some major editing in Lightroom, too much to list here however as an example the image exposed for the cabin had to have 5 stops of exposure added in LR to be able to see the cabin and the image exposed for the Milky Way had multiple adjustments to Shadows, Blacks, Highlights, Contrast, etc. etc. then I took both images into photoshop and combined them by masking one on top of the other.

Next I took the final image into Topaz Denoise and used it to tidy up and remove as much of the banding as possible that the D7100 produces in extreme low light, if you look in the middle of the image and slightly to the left of the Milky Way you will see remnants of the banding.

I have to be honest as I said in the original post, Night photography isn't my norm and therefore my settings and choice of camera were all wrong however I have to say my choice of Lens was spot on.

Rustic land said:

I have to be honest as I said in the original post, Night photography isn't my norm and therefore my settings and choice of camera were all wrong however I have to say my choice of Lens was spot on.

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That is one way that we learn!

Thank you for sharing your photos and techniques.

outstanding