Moon Glow..

Interesting shot. Now, don't be offended and leave NPN in a huff, but my personal preference would be for a cooler moon glow and less fuzzy stars. This looks like a sunset with stars. It's surreal--which is fine--but I have trouble relating to it as landscape photography. Would probably make a pretty print though.

No problem, Stan, I am just happy to have comments......

I agree with Stan. I like this image, but it seems very 'photoshopped'. That's perfectly fine is that's what you're after.
Stars could be a little crisper.

Still, very interesting.

Al

Here is the original out of camera, you can decide how "photoshopped" it is.
The "fuzzy" stars are in cloud cover. There is also a lot of NR with these photos.
They are not real life by any means.
The PP is typical of these kind of photos, no more in my opinion than normal.

Dan,
Thank you for posting the original. As a new member, and pretty new to serious photography, seeing what the photographer started with helps me a lot. I'd really like to know what you did in processing. Added saturation? Obviously you lightened the sky.

I hope you weren't pissed at my comments, just stating my opinion, and sometimes, my words can come across being very derogatory. Not my intention at all. I joined NPN to learn. I'm learning that part of my learning here is finding out who's posting for critique, and who's posting to showcase their stuff. I assume you're looking for critiques, but maybe not?

Anyway, I'm surprised at how yellow the moon looks in the original. Do you know why? Have you seen that on other similar shots? I haven't done much moon/night stuff, so I'm trying to learn. Is it because the moon is so close to the horizon?

I like how you darkened the foreground.
Al

Alan,
I appreciate your opinions and your comments, no problem at all.
A lot of people think star photos are gimmicky and don't like them. I just like taking and processing them for the
challenge.
For this I lightened the sky considerably, changed the white balance, added saturation, and used Topaz Noise reduction which does soften them, but they look more pleasing to me than the grainy noise of most long exposure high iso photos.
I am always happen to hear what others think about them, so keep on critiquing mine and other images here.
The yellow moon was caused by blowing dust in Baja.

Awesome man. I'm really new at wildlife/avian, which I'm trying to focus on now. I, like many amateurs, started with a focus on landscape. It's still my favorite.
My assessment at this point is: wildlife is much more technical, equipment dependent, with less room for the photographer's interpretation. You've got to work to get a good image, but then it's all about sharpness, real color reproduction, etc...

That's what I love about landscape. More latitude to be subjective/artistic. Good equipment is nice, but not having it isn't a deal breaker. Still have to work to get the shot though!

Look forward to seeing more of your posts.
Al

Hi Dan, Another cool looking night image. I'm just enjoying the look of these night sky's you capture. The dark foreground works well for me too. The sky in the original looks pretty darn cool as well, and I especially like the moon in that one. Look forward to seeing more of these as you make them.

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

Hi Dan!
This is pretty cool. I especially like the moving clouds with the stars, which really make this image dynamic. A stronger foreground would be helpful, but I like how you included the silhouetted land at the bottom. As far as PP, my personal preference would be to make the sky more blue in tone - the cyan looks funky. I would also tone the brightness of the moon way down to get rid of the banding we are seeing around it.

Killer sky! I wouldn't say it came across as natural, but like you said, not necessarily supposed to. Can't believe how much yellow you caught around the moon. I'd prefer some more foreground detail/subject matter. Can't offer too much more since I have only attempted this a couple of times and struggle with it myself.

Chris

There's a pleasant surreal feel to this but I think going darker in the sky and adding some contrast would make the top and bottom more cohesive.