Milky Way over Joshua Tree

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Bob k.

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A friend and I when out to Joshua Tree last month to photograph the Milky Way over the arch. Timing is an issue because as the Milky Way raises to become visible over the arch it also moves south/right and away from the arch. There is only a short section of rock ledge where you can see the sky through the arch and the Milky Way. Basically I am pointing out that there are a lot of moving parts that we had to deal with in composing the image. The arch is a very popular spot for photographers but we were fortunate and had the place to ourselves that night which made moving around for different shots possible as the Milky Way moved.
We added a little light to the arch with a small LED light pointed away from the arch and bouncing off the rock wall back at the arch. The image is a four shot panorama that I put together in LR. The images had a lot of green in them as they came out of camera. The orange light in the bottom right is light pollution from Palm Springs.
One question I have is does the night sky through the arch on the left and the galactic core on the right of the picture give the image balance or are they just two points of interest in competition with each other? I would appreciate your thoughts on this and any other ideals for improvement you might have.
DSC_9433-Pano.JPG
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Bob k. said:
One question I have is does the night sky through the arch on the left and the galactic core on the right of the picture give the image balance or are they just two points of interest in competition with each other? I would appreciate your thoughts on this and any other ideals for improvement you might have.
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I like the image just as it stands. Not sure about those particular elements balancing each other as they're both fairly low in the frame but I'd say the image works nicely.
 
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Bob k. said:
A friend and I when out to Joshua Tree last month to photograph the Milky Way over the arch. Timing is an issue because as the Milky Way raises to become visible over the arch it also moves south/right and away from the arch. There is only a short section of rock ledge where you can see the sky through the arch and the Milky Way. Basically I am pointing out that there are a lot of moving parts that we had to deal with in composing the image. The arch is a very popular spot for photographers but we were fortunate and had the place to ourselves that night which made moving around for different shots possible as the Milky Way moved.
We added a little light to the arch with a small LED light pointed away from the arch and bouncing off the rock wall back at the arch. The image is a four shot panorama that I put together in LR. The images had a lot of green in them as they came out of camera. The orange light in the bottom right is light pollution from Palm Springs.
One question I have is does the night sky through the arch on the left and the galactic core on the right of the picture give the image balance or are they just two points of interest in competition with each other? I would appreciate your thoughts on this and any other ideals for improvement you might have.View attachment 40817
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Beautiful!👍👍👍
 
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Thank you for the encouraging comments, I appreciate you feed back.
I thought you might enjoy some shots that show a little more about how the image came together.
DSC_9465.JPG
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This is one of the images that formed the panorama as it came out of camera.
DSC_9600-HDR.JPG
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This is an HDR shot of the arch just after sunrise the next morning.
DSC_9589.JPG
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This is the ledge where we stood to get the pictures of the arch. We lit the arch with a pocket size led light that in a diffuser and covered with a cloth to reduce the light output. The light was pointed away from the arch so the light bounced off the rock wall.
 
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LOL, I have never still been at the location the morning after. That is some GREAT dedication.

I agree with Karen, print it large and let the world see this beautiful shot.
 
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Whew, now I don't have to try to live up to your dedication. Just get the shot and go home. I will still be exhausted for a couple of days, but a good shot makes it all worth while!
 
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Bob k. said:
Thank you for the encouraging comments, I appreciate you feed back.
I thought you might enjoy some shots that show a little more about how the image came together.
View attachment 40849
This is one of the images that formed the panorama as it came out of camera.
View attachment 40850
This is an HDR shot of the arch just after sunrise the next morning.
View attachment 40851
This is the ledge where we stood to get the pictures of the arch. We lit the arch with a pocket size led light that in a diffuser and covered with a cloth to reduce the light output. The light was pointed away from the arch so the light bounced off the rock wall.
Click to expand...
I'm surprised that you took a picture of the arch in broad daylight. I thought the landscape interest was supposed to be taken during the blue hour. But, what do I know? I haven't taken many of these landscape milky way photos but plan on focusing on this type of photography. Great image, btw.
 
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I have very little experience with star shots. I think yours is quite nice. I may go out into the Everglades and give stars or lightening a try. Hopefully, the mosquitoes will be kind to me.
 
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Bob k. said:
...
One question I have is does the night sky through the arch on the left and the galactic core on the right of the picture give the image balance or are they just two points of interest in competition with each other? ...
Click to expand...
The image needs to have the night sky through the arch as it is. To remove it would cause the photo to unbalanced, IMO, because I know that there should be visual elements of the Milky Way visible through the opening of the arch. Bottom line: leave those elements of the photo visible. It is a wonderful photo!
 
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