South Downs national park: astrophotography competition

[Graeme]

This year, photographers had the chance to win up to £100 for capturing a striking image of the night sky over South Downs national park, England, in one of three categories: Starry skyscapes, Nature at night and Magnificent moon.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... n-pictures

Graeme

[HansV]

Great photos! I fear I didn't see much of the night sky when I walked the South Downs Path some years ago...

[ChrisGreaves]

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... n-pictures

Thank you Graeme
Heather and Milky Way by Carl Gough and The Power Above by Janette Britton, both show what appear to be natural colours (purple heather, green grass), in a photo taken at night time.

Question 1: Always possible that the photos have been altered, yes?

Question 2: Does a long exposure by starlight provide enough "sunlight from a long, long way away" to bounce enough photons into the camera? (I suppose that since a photon is a photon is a photon, the answer must be "yes")

Question 3: If the answers so far are "no", then how do expert photographers go about producing what appears to be a day-time scene of the night-time sky?

Thanks, Chris

[HansV]

Question 1: of course.
Question 2: yes. The reason that we cannot distinguish colors if there is little light, is that we switch from using the color-sensitive cones in our eyes to the rods that are much better at detecting light, but are not color-sensitive. After all, our eyes cannot rely on long exposures.

For the same reason, we see the milky way as a whitish band across the sky on a clear night, while photos reveal many different colors.

[stuck]

...
Question 1: Always possible that the photos have been altered, yes?

Question 2: Does a long exposure by starlight provide enough "sunlight from a long, long way away" to bounce enough photons into the camera? (I suppose that since a photon is a photon is a photon, the answer must be "yes")

Question 3: If the answers so far are "no", then how do expert photographers go about producing what appears to be a day-time scene of the night-time sky?
...

In addition to wot Hans said:
1) It's a safe bet all of these images are composites of at least two exposures of the same scene. One exposed to reveal the detail in the sky, the other to bring out the detail in the shadows.

2) Read this on how to get a good photo of the Milky Way:
    https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/astr ... -milky-way

3) To get the answer to that, search using the keywords:
    how to make a composite photo

Ken

[ChrisGreaves]

Question 2: yes. The reason that we cannot distinguish colors if there is little light, is that we switch from using the color-sensitive cones in our eyes to the rods that are much better at detecting light, but are not color-sensitive. After all, our eyes cannot rely on long exposures.
For the same reason, we see the milky way as a whitish band across the sky on a clear night, while photos reveal many different colors.

Thank you Hans. My head is still reeling from watching the Steve Moulds video last night, which focused, if I may use the term, on Violet light, hence the Heather triggering.

The more I learn about human vision and cameras, the more I doubt the adage "The camera never lies"
Cheers, Chris

[ChrisGreaves]

1) It's a safe bet all of these images are composites of at least two exposures of the same scene. One exposed to reveal the detail in the sky, the other to bring out the detail in the shadows.

Thank you Ken. I think I understand composites; to my non-photo mind they are like double-exposures or over-dubbed audio tracks in Audacity; that is, I can accept the idea that two images can be combined, without me knowing the mechanics.
My eyes are a different matter; they are mine, and I live with them and use them every day!

I think Steve Moulds has either a video on, or a reference to a video on "How to photograph the Milky Way".
Cheers, Chris

[Graeme]

3. You fire a flash gun during one of the long exposures.

Or wait for a lorry to drive past.

https://theskysearchers.com/viewtopic.php?t=32298

Graeme

[stuck]

..."The camera never lies"...

That has never been true. The history of image manipulation goes right back to the earliest days of photography.

Ken