Milkyway inside a cave

What technical feedback would you like if any?

I’d love to know where your eye goes when looking a this and whether or not the rocks & foreground lead you through the image.

Also, I’d love to know your thoughts regarding the darks and shadows or anything else you can think of or see :slight_smile:

What artistic feedback would you like if any?

go for it

Pertinent technical details or techniques:

(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)

two images for the foreground which i light painted at about 10sec & a 10sec exposure for the Milkyway which I processed separately to the foreground and masked back in

2 Likes

Whoa, this is an amazing photo Dale. My eyes go directly to the rose colored sky. I like how the rocks and foreground are metered. For me, they are dark enough not to distract, but there is still plenty of detail so you (me) know where you are and what you are looking at. Really wonderful photo.

I think it’s pretty cool. The lines in the rock lead me to the cave opening nicely. Shadows look good. I’m not quite sold on the color of the sky but I’m leaning toward really liking it although I don’t think it’s quite realistic.

I like the composition a lot, Dale. But like @Ed_Lowe, I am not sold on the color of the sky.

Dale,
This is a beautifully conceived image. The rocks do a fantastic job of directing my eye to the MW and night time sky. Looks like a portal to another world! My only suggestion would be to sift the warm toned sky a little more toward blue, but then that might destroy the other worldly feel to this scene. Great job on this one.

Very cool! Great control over the shadows in the cave. It’s dark, but the details are all there. I’m good with the surreal sky color, as this looks quite otherworldly. What caught my eye was the strong blue tone of the floor of the cave. There is such a sharp delineation between the floor and the walls, with that color change. If you want to keep it blue, perhaps a bit more of a gradual transition to the gray walls would be nice.

I like the idea and I think you executed it very well. Being a night sky photographer, the sky basically being one color tone seems like of flat. Typically the night sky will have many different colors, which to me makes it more dynamic. I also do not feel like the greenish hue of the rocks works well with the rose colored sky. Love the composition, the idea, and everything else. Most of my critique is personal preference.