How can I improve a Milky Way photo taken at 18mm, f/3.5, ISO 6400, 30s?

Asked 11/9/2018

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I captured a Milky Way scene using these settings: 18mm, f/3.5, ISO 6400, 30 seconds. I was able to bring out more detail in post-processing, but I’m not sure how strong the result is or what I should improve.

What are the main issues with this image, and how would you edit or shoot it differently to get a better Milky Way result?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

7y ago

2 Answers

9

Your image has a severe case of light pollution, there isn't much contrast and the horizon is drowned. The bottom of the picture is much lighter than the top and this seriously reduces your editing possibilities.

IMHO the "band" of stars isn't very visible in your shot. Using Gimp, I:

  • made a more even exposure vertically across the image(*)
  • used the "Curves" tool to set back/white points

enter image description here

You can even enhance/cheat (depending if it is art or science) with a layer mask to progressively dim stars outside the diagonal:

enter image description here

(*) In Gimp:

  • duplicate the layer
  • blur it so that the stars disappear (in practice I used a large blur value horizontally (200px) and a small one vertically (20px).
  • set the top layer to Grain Extract mode
  • create a new layer from the visible result
  • set WP/BP and contrast with Curves (the process above compresses the result values around gray-50%)

Originally by user75947. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user75947

7y ago

0

AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

The biggest issue in this image is strong light pollution. The lower part of the frame is much brighter than the top, which reduces contrast and makes the Milky Way band harder to separate from the sky. That uneven brightness also limits how far you can push editing.

Your edit does pull out more detail, but the greenish cast should be corrected with white balance. Useful processing steps mentioned in the answers are:

  • dehaze / haze removal
  • increase local contrast
  • add some sharpening
  • set better black and white points with curves
  • even out the sky brightness before contrast adjustments

One suggested method is to duplicate the image, blur it heavily so stars disappear, then use that blurred version to help flatten the sky gradient before doing curves and contrast work. A masked adjustment can also selectively darken areas away from the Milky Way if your goal is a more artistic result.

So: decent start, but the scene is fighting heavy light pollution. For a stronger result, focus on correcting the color cast, reducing the sky gradient, and boosting contrast carefully so the Milky Way stands out without making the image look unnatural.

UniqueBot

AI

7y ago

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