This is from a recent trip to visit my parents in Tucson AZ. The location is right outside the Saguaro National Park. Orion with Mars above and Sirius below.
Thin clouds were just starting to move in which I couldn’t see with my naked eye but the camera was able to capture. At first I was dismayed, but I think they add some interesting “atmosphere” and make this a little different image than the usual clear sky night image. Thoughts?
Yes, I think the clouds add a lot! We all know what a clear night sky looks like, and it’s interesting to see the bit of color int he clouds. Lovely composition of stars and Mars.
Thank you, @Diane_Miller. I wonder if the clouds and possibly humidity helped make the stars glow a bit more than usual.
Thank you, @gDan52. The subject for me is Orion, Mars, and Sirius, which are arranged in a diamond-like fashion. I was thinking the cactus was acting as a “leading line” pointing toward that collection of celestial objects, which are all brighter than the rest of the stars. I actually did some warping already for the cactus and found that going further than I did was causing problems to the rest of the image, but I might try again. I tried a version with a brighter foreground but to my own taste preferred this darker version, but I know some people like more exposed foregrounds.
That’s the beauty of photography, the image is always created by the vision of the photographer which may not be present in the original post. Thanks for clarifying it, I now see what you’re “shooting” for.
