NightScaper Gallery and Collaborative

Thomas Moulton Barn on "Mormon Row" in Grand Teton National Park ~ © Ryan Stafford
Additional post processing support by Royce Bair
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Ryan's original image, with limited post processing

"NightScaper" is a new feature on my Instagram profile (@roycebairphoto), where I showcase two or more night photographs each week from other photographers on Instagram. Starting today, I'm also doing collaborative support, where I will offer additional post processing help to images I feel have outstanding merit, but may shine even more with the right post processing techniques.

F.Y.I. This is the backside of the Thomas A. Moulton barn (so Ryan could align it with a mid-June Milky Way). This barn celebrated its 100th birthday last year (built in 1914), and had its roof replaced this year. It is one of two historic barns built by the Moultons on "Mormon Row", in the Antelope Flats area of Grand Teton National Park. Both barns are historically maintained by the park service.

Post Processing Techniques in Photoshop: 1) Processing of the sky is done by selecting the sky, using the technique found on pages 128-130 of my ebook, then applying a contrast increasing "S" Curves similar to the one in this tutorial. This not only enhances the Milky Way, but preserves the green airglow at the bottom of the sky, near the barn.

2) Changing the barn to a more natural color is done by selecting the barn with the polygonal Lasso tool (very easy because the barn has straight sides). After the barn is selected, a 16-pixel feathered edge is added to the bottom of the selection, where the barn meets the grass. Equal amounts of yellow and magenta are added to the barn selection, using the Curves adjustment, to cancel out the blue-green color of the wood (probably due to unfiltered LED lighting).

3) Eliminating the foreground "hot" spot.. One of the things I suggest NOT to do in my ebook is to light paint FROM the camera position (see page 91). However, when it becomes necessary (i.e. when you can't move away from the camera to do your light painting AND release the camera's shutter), you must find a way to eliminate the "hot" foreground in post. The fastest and smoothest way to do this is draw a rising, half-moon shape selection with your Lasso tool around the brightest portion of the grass and feather that selection about 400 pixels (based on a 6000 x 4000 pixel image). Using the Curves adjustment, you can then darken that feathered selection of grass.

If you saved your feathered selection as an channel or layer mask, it would look something like this.

Finding Darkness

These Easter Island look-a-likes are in the southwestern United Stakes. They are sandstone hoodoos in the Devil's Garden area in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah.  Light painted from behind for accent and separation. This is one of the darkest regions in the USA (a Bortle-1). The stars were so brilliant! One exposure with a Canon 5D Mark III, using a Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 lens • f/2.8 • 20 sec • ISO 8000 ~ © Royce Bair

"Finding Darkness" is a new quest I have to help others locate and photograph some of the darkest "NightScape" skies in the world.

An invitation: I invite photographers everywhere to join me on this pursuit by tagging your darkest astro-landscapes with the hashtag: #FindingDarkness — on Instagram, Facebook or Google+.

Please include the location of your favorite dark sky NightScapes and any other interesting background information in your photo description. To qualify, locations should be on a Bortle Scale of Class 3 or lower. You can check to see if your favorite area meets this criteria by referring to this Dark Sky Finder map of the United States. Bortle Scale Class 3 areas are in blue, Class 2 areas are in gray, and Class 1 areas are in dark gray. Use this Dark Site Finder map for all other locations in the world.

Showcasing your images: From time-to-time, I will feature some of the best images on my @RoyceBairPhoto Instagram account, complete with credits and links to the photographer. The featured images will also appear on my Facebook fan page.

Not-so-dark areas. Not everyone has the opportunity to visit "Truly Dark Areas" within a Bortle Class 1 or 2 Scale. Most of us live in and around light polluted metropolitan areas. Yet, even in these circumstances, there are often nearby regions that one can do acceptable starry night photography. Please help me find acceptable NightScape Photo Walk locations in your locale.

Bristlecone Pine and Milky Way from Bristlecone Loop Trail, Bryce Canyon National Park (This is a Bortle Scale Class 1 area)  ~ © Royce Bair

Starry Night Quotes is a 2018 wall calendar you can order to beautify your home or office and help preserve our dark sky sanctuaries.