AstroLandscapes #39 - Arch of 100 billion stars

[FenlandPaul]

My main objective up on the Norfolk coast last weekend was to capture a MW arch panorama over the iconic Happisburgh lighthouse in the pre-dawn hours. I’d intended this to be a tracked, stacked pano but I was fighting fast-moving clouds and high winds, so I though that stood a high chance of failure. I opted instead for an untracked but stacked version.

Excitingly, as I started, the aurora started to show up on camera to the north east, giving a nice purple-pink hue to the left of the pano which balances the light pollution-lit clouds to the right, which unfortunately obscured the MW core.

📷 Canon 6D with Samyang 24mm f/1.4 lens at f/2

🔧12 panes, each comprising 5 to 8 shots (kept losing count!!) of 20s at ISO6400

🎞 Panes stacked in Sequator. Stitched in Microsoft ICE, edited in LR and PS

[Second Time Around]

Fabulous!

[AstroNebulee]

Absolutely stunning 👌

[FenlandPaul]

31 minutes ago, Second Time Around said:

Fabulous!

That’s very kind.
 

 

28 minutes ago, AstroNebulee said:

Absolutely stunning 👌

Thanks Lee, mate. 👍

[Rustang]

Lovely 👏

[LaurenceT]

Beautiful image

[glafnazur]

Fantastic image 👍

[clarkpm4242]

Makes me want to do some more panos!!

A very worthwhile trip!

[Zummerzet_Leveller]

Nice one Paul.  I'm working on one of these too...  Hopefully it will come together.  Beautiful to capture the faint Aurora as well.  The 6D and the Samyang 24mm are a powerful combination.

[FenlandPaul]

15 minutes ago, Zummerzet_Leveller said:

Nice one Paul.  I'm working on one of these too...  Hopefully it will come together.  Beautiful to capture the faint Aurora as well.  The 6D and the Samyang 24mm are a powerful combination.

Good luck with that! It’s very satisfying when it comes together, but can take some patience getting things to stitch nicely! I do love the 6D and 24mm, although my lens has a slightly loose focus ring which means I have to be careful that focus doesn’t slip between frames.

Looking forward to seeing your image; with your eye for composition I’m sure it’ll be spectacular!!

[Zummerzet_Leveller]

2 hours ago, FenlandPaul said:

stitch nicely!

Did you use MS ICE to stitch?  I've done a tracked sky and have been really struggling to get the stitch to work.  The foreground has worked fine.  I managed to get something reasonable last night after about 4hrs of trying but need to do some work on some dark lines where the stitch occurred.

[FenlandPaul]

34 minutes ago, Zummerzet_Leveller said:

Did you use MS ICE to stitch?  I've done a tracked sky and have been really struggling to get the stitch to work.  The foreground has worked fine.  I managed to get something reasonable last night after about 4hrs of trying but need to do some work on some dark lines where the stitch occurred.

Yes, I use MS ICE. Sometimes I find I have to stitch 2 or 3 panes at once and then stitch those “sub-stitches” together. Usually I find ICE works better than LR, but I’ve had some instances in which LR has pulled off what ICE couldn’t.

People who do panos regularly rave about a piece of paid-for software called PT-GUI. I’ve never used it but the consensus seems to be it’s very capable.

[Zummerzet_Leveller]

32 minutes ago, FenlandPaul said:

I find I have to stitch 2 or 3 panes at once and then stitch those “sub-stitches” together

Useful insight!  I've been trying to do 12 panes in a one'er.  I'll give the smaller stitches a go and see if I get a better result.