Which do you prefer?

I hope you all aren’t too saturated with Neowise pictures, but wanted your opinion on which of these two you prefer. The Landscape was shot at 0415 and the Portrait image at 0440…so, much less stars due to the encroaching dawn.

Image shot at Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore in the Leelanau peninsula of Michigan. Both are a 10-shot @ 1-1.5sec image. The landscape was shot at 102mm; The portrait mode at 121mm. Images stacked in Starry Landscape Stacker. No dark frames used. Further NR done in post.

What technical feedback would you like if any?

What artistic feedback would you like if any?

Pertinent technical details or techniques:

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

If you would like your image to be eligible for a feature on the NPN Instagram (@NaturePhotoNet), add the tag ‘ig’ and leave your Instagram username below.

@jim_mcgovern_photography

3 Likes

Both nice, but for me the horizontal is much stronger. Love the stars along with Neowise.

Both are nicely done, but definitely the horizontal version for me, Jim. The gradation of color in the sky is lovely and I am really enjoying that star filled sky. I also think the bit of warm color reflected in the water adds a lot to this finely crafted image. Of course Neowise is the star of the image and I think the placement is perfect. The processing looks splendid, BTW.

I also like both, but prefer the horizontal.

I’ll be the contrarian here and say I prefer the vertical image.

Both are very good, nicely done. Viewed small, I prefer the vertical. Perhaps because the color gradient in the sky is more prominent in the image at the smaller image size. But when I view the images at the larger size, I much prefer the horizontal. In the horizontal image viewed large, you have a wonderful view of the star field to play a supporting role to the comet. In the vertical, while you have the gradient, you lose the effect of the field of stars. At a larger viewing size, or for a print, I would prefer the horizontal.

Both are superb images Jim but I agree with others that the horizontal is the stronger of the two.

Thanks @Keith_Bauer, @Harley_Goldman, @Ed_Lowe, @Eva_McDermott, @Michael_Lowe, and @Ed_McGuirk…I had a similar experience to Ed M’s experience. I ended up processing the portrait first thinking it would be stronger, but realized the landscape was stronger for the reasons described. Thanks again everyone for commenting!

I think I prefer the portrait orientation, but both are beautiful. The portrait orientation works better with the comet since it is also vertical in the frame. I also like how it seems to emphasize the warm cool gradient even more as well. Great work!

I’m late to the discussion but can’t pass up the chance to say how stunning these images are! The colors and gradients are drop-dead gorgeous!

Both are wonderful but I’ll vote for the landscape because the comet is relatively large in the frame, its color echoes the pre-dawn sky color and the stars are spectacular. Kudos for StarryLandscapeStacker!

It was frustrating that in framing the comet shots it was difficult to know how much detail could be brought out in the more distant parts of the tail. But you left it enough room here, for my taste.

You’re right @Diane_Miller…I do wish I woulda had a little more room on them both for the tail. Like u said, I didn’t know how much would come out in post.