Foreground Objects...

[Yamez]

Next summer (or possibly this month) I am going to go to a dark sky site near where Live to capture the milky way (or what's left of it in this season). The dark sky area is a 0.17 on the light pollution map but it is just flat ground. no hills or anything interesting. What would make a good and interesting foreground object. A tree maybe. Ideas will be very helpful

 

[johnfosteruk]

Anything you can find can be made to look interesting under the Milky Way I think James, especially up close to a nice wide lens, but to be fair I'm a sucker for shots of just the Milky Way, don't need any terrestrial objects interfering with the views

[dyfiastro]

Trees always look good, Rock formations and so will a body of water with the reflections in.
If you have not done this type of thing before then get out at night a learn how to paint with light.
Lighting the foreground can make for an even more interesting image.

One thing to remember when painting a foreground is that there are two approaches that can be taken.
You can either shoot a single exposure and light for foreground in the same shot or you can take two separate shots and blend them later.

If taking a single exposure then be careful about how much light you use, how long for and in which direction as so not to over expose the foreground or get stray light into the lens. This is the normal way I will take a shot.
If you decide to go down the blending route then you an take a shot for the sky at a given exposure and iso and then take a separate exposure for the ground a separate exposure and iso. this will give you more time to work and less noise in the final image.

If using water as a foreground or anything that will reflect the sky and stars then opt for the single exposure.

Just a few example to give you something to think about.

 

[Yamez]

Ok thanks, my original idea was to expose the foreground separately then blend them together. The location is just farmland so maybe there will be some hay bales laying around.

[dyfiastro]

Hay bales would work. If there is an old barn or remains of one that too could look very interesting.
take a look on google maps between now and then for photos of the area and see if you can find anything of interest (abandoned building remains etc...)

What lens are you intending to use?

[Yamez]

The camera i use is my dads, Nikon d3300, he only has a F3.5 18-55mm and a telephoto 70-300mm. Though for christmas he will be getting a wide angle F2.0 (not sure the mm).

So the lens I will be intending to use is the 18-55mm  

[dyfiastro]

if that f2 lens is a samyang 12mm then thats the same lens I used to shoot the images I posted.
A very nice lens indeed. They also do a 10mm f2.8 which at time can be great for extra bit on the wide end.

look forward to seeing the results.

[Yamez]

2 minutes ago, digitalcyanide said:

look forward to seeing the results.

Yep me too  

I've always been a sucker for widefield shots. I have just never had anything interesting in the foreground. 

[dyfiastro]

I am not sure where you are based but you need to come to wales for a holiday then.
Plenty of lakes, trees and rockwork to use as foreground and did I mention plenty of places with a dark sky.

[Yamez]

3 minutes ago, digitalcyanide said:

I am not sure where you are based but you need to come to wales for a holiday then.
Plenty of lakes, trees and rockwork to use as foreground and did I mention plenty of places with a dark sky.

Its quite a way away

I live in Cambridgeshire, very flat area. That's why i love going on holiday to Derbyshire, it's a drastic change in scenery, wonderful place.