24 hours on Anglesey.

[Wayland]

Ask away Mat.

If there is something I can break down further for you I'm happy to do so.

[Wayland]

I've just been asked about access to Llanddwyn island on another forum so I thought I ought to mention it here for anyone interested.

The nearest vehicle access is the beach car park in Newborough Forest which sometimes has a toll on it but didn't on the day I visited.

There is a path/road heading North West through the edge of the wood leading to another car park nearer the island ( Access only by a key for local people.)

From the second car park walk along the shore towards the island. Be aware that the island is tidal so can only be accessed at the low end of the tide.

All in all the walk from the vehicle to the end of the island is about 3 kilometres on mostly good paths.

I made the trip in and out with everything I needed for a night out at sub zero temperatures, as well as camera equipment with two tripods. I'm certainly not the fittest soul out there so it's not a huge trek.

[Mark von Kanel]

Wayland, thanks for sharing, and it goes to show just how much i have to learn photoshop is a program that i find daunting but must get to grips with one day soon.

how did you take the image of the starscape with the light pollution in?

[kdoc856]

Wayland,

fantastic series. I only wish your 24hrs. had been 48.

[Rob Ekins]

Fantastic series Wayland.

Thanks for taking the time to elaborate on each image.

One question... What is an "SLG Layer"?


Robbie.

EDIT:
My apologies, I just reread the thread and saw the "Soft Light Graduation" reference. Could you briefly explain what is achieved with this process.

Robbie.

[Wayland]

Good point, I forgot that one..



This one started as two 25 second exposures, f4 6400 iso.

There is a useful rule of thumb for how long you can expose the stars for before they start to trail.

Divide 500 by your "effective" focal length based upon a 35mm full frame to give the maximum number of seconds. (Some people use a figure of 600 but 500 is safer.) (Remember to apply crop factors for smaller sensors.)

In this case the lens was set at 19mm so that gave me a figure of 26.3 which meant that 25 seconds should be fine.

I had determined where the Milky Way would lie using an astronomy app on my iPad and had waited up late so that some of the dust clouds around the galactic core would be visible obove the horizon. I had to shoot upwards to use the hill to shield most of the light pollution but still silhouette the memorial.

In PS I stacked the two shots as layers, masked the foreground from one and rotated the upper layer around the celestial pole to register the frames then blended them together in the colour dodge mode.

Once that was done I stamped the layers to create a flat copy layer, added a curve to remove some of the light pollution and then warped the layer to correct the perspective of the memorial and the bench but not distort the sky too much.

To finish off, I applied some selective exposure control and a curve layer just to enhance the dust clouds of the Milky Way a little.

[Wayland]

Kevin, In theory I had 8 more hours available but I was too tired to think and barely safe to drive home as it was.

Rob, "SLG" became an abbreviation of "Soft Light Graduation layer" because I was typing it out so much.

I make a layer over the image and set the mode to Soft Light.

Then using the Graduation tool set for "black to clear", add a gradient wherever it is needed.

I can then adjust the layer opacity to calm it down a bit or add a mask to control where it falls.

If more is needed I can add another gradient to the same layer or add another SGL for a stronger effect.

It's a very flexible system and I use it in almost all my work to some degree.

As with most of the techniques that I use a lot, I have the set up as an action so I can make, set and label the layer with a single click, It even selects the graduation tool for me.

[Mark von Kanel]

Thanks for all the info wayland, Im going to try this and the star trail stuff as well ill keep you posted but i think ill need more help with the photoshop!

Looked at your website and im wondering why your not making a mint with your work, or are you?

[Rob Ekins]

Gotcha..

Thank you.


Robbie.

[Wayland]

Thanks for all the info waylander, Im going to try this and the star trail stuff as well ill keep you posted but i think ill need more help with the photoshop!

Looked at your website and im wondering why your not making a mint with your work, or are you?

I'm not really marketing it, it's mainly a hobby for me these days.

You should have good skies for it down your way, anything I can help you with on the PhotoShop side feel free to ask.

[pasusan]

Beautiful images! The soft, changing lighting is fantastic. Your running commentary was an added bonus.

Thanks very much for adding how you captured and PP'd the images - I will be looking at them closely one by one.