Midnight at Daybreak

[dankearl]

Mt. Hood
Composite, same night, different times.

20mm f1.8, D800

800_5999bp.jpg (http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=155527&stc=1&d=1442299267)

[David Cowling]

I like these sort of shots. Would love to do some myself but far too much light pollution here in the UK. Good composition and I like the way the Milky Way? is coming down towards the peak of the mountain. Good detail and exposure on the foreground. How many images did you combine to get this effect? and how long where you there taking images?

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Dan - this works well. I am curious as to what time of night you shot this. Is the halo along the mountain from light pollution or pre-dawn light? The sky seems a little light.

TFS,
Rachel

[Andrew McLachlan]

I like this one Dan...same lens as last image but I do not see any signs of coma here...do agree that the sky seems a tad bright...looking forward to more of your nightscapes!

[dankearl]

Thanks, Rachel.
This one is really a comp. The sky was looking south, the view is north. The sky I shot at 10 pm along with standard night photos.
I also shot at pre dawn. The mountain view here was at 6 am (before sunrise).
The light in the sky is predawn which I cannot get the gradient to mask over. These composites are harder to do than they appear which is why I can always tell if a photo is real or not.
The sky behind Hood was just a million stars so I was disappointed in the real night photos and did a few of these composites for fun.

[Don Railton]

Hi Dan, I like the result but agree it would be better again without the halo... There is also a bright section on the mountain just to the right of the large pine up to the snow.. A little burning might fix that.. although suggesting 'burning' with 'pines' might be a bit sensative at the moment..

DON

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

I love it Dan! You caught the landscape at a nice time of day!

The bright spot on the mountain caught my eye immedately and held it so I agree about burning it a touch. 'Nuf said about the halo above the mountain. I'd remove the red line in the sky too as I find it a little distracting and out of place.

[Don Lacy]

Nice composite Dan, I would sugest toning down the tonal values of the mountain and foreground

[Morkel Erasmus]

Nice work on this composite.
I agree on the halo around the mountain, but also don't particularly like the light blotch in the centre of the mountain - what was that from?
You could even that out with burning...