AstroLandscapes #29 - Pleiades in a Fen Sky

[FenlandPaul]

I've recently been exploring DeepScape images.  These are essentially long focal length nightscapes in which a deep sky object is paired with foreground interest.  It's a controversial field, it turns out, as it's often confused / blurred with artistic "dreamscapes", which blend unrelated images taken at different times to create an aesthetically pleasing scene.

What distinguishes DeepScapes from DreamScapes is the former should be an accurate representation of a scene at a particular moment, shot from the same spot, on the same kit, at the same focal length and in the same session.  It's a technique designed to overcome the technical limitations of equipment - for example, detailed images of the Orion Nebula can't be obtained at long focal lengths in the seconds it takes for star trails to appear.  I think the controversy arises because of people being less than truthful about how the images have been put together and whether or nor that they're composites or faithful representations.

So it takes quite a bit of planning to identify alignments between a foreground and a deep sky object of interest.  To do this, I used a combination of SkySafari (which gets me the azimuth and time that an object rises) and Photopills, which helps to find a shooting location that allows the foreground object to line up in the right way with the DSO, and also helps with framing etc. (e.g. how big would my foreground object appear in the frame?).

For my first attempt, I chose the Pleiades paired with the windmill outside my village.  Good job it was local because my actual first attempt was an abject failure - the wind was too strong for exposures of any length, and so the Pleiades part of the image was terrible.  But at least it gave me an opportunity to test the composition I wanted.

I returned on Wednesday night for attempt 2.  The much calmer conditions afforded me 120s exposures for the Pleiades at 200mm on a StarAdventurer.  I'd initially planned to do the shot at 400mm, but my 400mm lens is quite slow (f/6) and I wouldn't have been able to get the detail I was after.  So I dialed back to my 200mm f/2.8.

Anyway, I'd be interested in your thoughts.  I think this style could work nicely in the mountains and with some lovely deep nebulosity.  For interest, I also attach below my original (400mm) shot plan.

📷 Canon 6D with Canon 200mm f/2.8 at f/3.2 on a StarAdventurer
🔧 40*120s exposures at ISO800 (sky) and 1x30s exposure at ISO800 (foreground)
🎞 DSS, PS and LR



And the shot plan:

[vineyard]

That is a beautiful - v-e-r-y evocative - composition.  Quite magical.

Hadn't heard about Photopills - will have to check it out.

Hadn't heard about Deepscapes either - suspect you're right about the mountains - am reminded of a v striking image someone had taken of the NAN somewhere in Northern Mountains (Alaska or Canada perhaps) which would probly be a Deepscape - will try & find that.

You're posting some beautiful images - more please!

EDIT: found it - http://www.star.ucl.ac.uk/~apod/apod/image/2101/North-America-Nebula-Deepscape_Liron-Gertsman1024.jpg

Edited October 1, 2021 by vineyard

[FenlandPaul]

9 minutes ago, vineyard said:

That is a beautiful - v-e-r-y evocative - composition.  Quite magical.

Hadn't heard about Photopills - will have to check it out.

Hadn't heard about Deepscapes either - suspect you're right about the mountains - am reminded of a v striking image someone had taken of the NAN somewhere in Northern Mountains (Alaska or Canada perhaps) which would probly be a Deepscape - will try & find that.

You're posting some beautiful images - more please!

Thanks Vin - appreciated.  That sounds like just the sort of thing I've been looking at.  I do love the Fens, but we're somewhat deficient when it comes to majestic upland landscapes so I have to be a bit creative to find foregrounds that work!

[Scooot]

Smashing image. I wish M45 looked like that naked eye when I look at it.

 

[Kon]

Great image and composition. It gives a nice perspective on how things would look with naked eye.🤩

Keep them coming please.

[FenlandPaul]

32 minutes ago, vineyard said:

That is a beautiful - v-e-r-y evocative - composition.  Quite magical.

Hadn't heard about Photopills - will have to check it out.

Hadn't heard about Deepscapes either - suspect you're right about the mountains - am reminded of a v striking image someone had taken of the NAN somewhere in Northern Mountains (Alaska or Canada perhaps) which would probly be a Deepscape - will try & find that.

You're posting some beautiful images - more please!

EDIT: found it - http://www.star.ucl.ac.uk/~apod/apod/image/2101/North-America-Nebula-Deepscape_Liron-Gertsman1024.jpg

Thanks Vin. Wow, that’s quite an astonishing shot! I’ve looked at some of his other stuff and it’s impressive. #Goals ☺️