Air Force Milky Way

[AaronRashid]

This is the first panorama picture I have made, so if you have any tips or constructive criticism, please let me know!

Tucked away near an old, dry lake bed in the Mojave desert there is a resting place for a few metal birds. After driving several house, and walking through the desert for about an hour and a half, I finally stumbled upon the wreckage. The moon was setting behind me which is what lit the plane up as the Milky Way was rising behind the planes.

This was taken on a canon 6D Mark II with 17-40mm. Made with 3 images shot at 17mm for 20 sec at f/4, ISO 1600.

All comments welcome!

 

[AlanLichty]

Looks like a clean stitch job on my monitor. Interesting MW approach with the old aluminum bird. The plane has definitely seen better days.

 

[Ben Egbert]

Nice one. Is this near Edwards AFB.

 

[ProCaliberTraveler]

Whoa. Is this anywhere near the town of Mojave?

 

[Ken Rennie]

Hi Aaron, the plane looks good and the sky has the typical panorama arch. The horizon is very curved, did you have the camera level front to back as well as side to side? Ken

 

[John Holbrook]

Very nice pano and image!

 

[BlackRockArt]

This is the first panorama picture I have made, so if you have any tips or constructive criticism, please let me know!

Tucked away near an old, dry lake bed in the Mojave desert there is a resting place for a few metal birds. After driving several house, and walking through the desert for about an hour and a half, I finally stumbled upon the wreckage. The moon was setting behind me which is what lit the plane up as the Milky Way was rising behind the planes.

This was taken on a canon 6D Mark II with 17-40mm. Made with 3 images shot at 17mm for 20 sec at f/4, ISO 1600.

All comments welcome!

View attachment 50249

Aaron, this is a really neat shot ! I agree with Ken, it seems the tripod was not leveled. Otherwise it's a great shot.

Oliver

 

[JimFox]

So very cool Aaron! It looks like the moon was pretty bright and while it lit up the plane well, it washed out your Milky Way. The Moon is my favorite light painter, but if the Milky Way is the goal then you want to keep it at 25% or less.

I really like what you have going on, I think if you could tweak more our other of them sky, that would be awesome. Edit the sky separately and you will see a world of change,

 

[AaronRashid]

Looks like a clean stitch job on my monitor. Interesting MW approach with the old aluminum bird. The plane has definitely seen better days.

Thank you Alan! The plane is definitely beyond its prime haha. There is another one a few meters behind this one that is broken into several pieces as well.

 

[AaronRashid]

Nice one. Is this near Edwards AFB.

Yes sir! Just a few miles south of the base I believe

 

[AaronRashid]

Whoa. Is this anywhere near the town of Mojave?

it is actually pretty close to the town of Mojave. It's just south of Edward AFB

 

[AaronRashid]

Hi Aaron, the plane looks good and the sky has the typical panorama arch. The horizon is very curved, did you have the camera level front to back as well as side to side? Ken

Thank you Ken! I took this photo in 2020 and thinking about it, the camera was probably not level front to back. I'm pretty sure I had the camera at an angle towards the sky. But that is very good to know for the next time I try! Thank you!!

 

[AaronRashid]

Aaron, this is a really neat shot ! I agree with Ken, it seems the tripod was not leveled. Otherwise it's a great shot.

Oliver

Thank you Oliver! I think you and Ken are 100% right. The camera wasn't level. That's something I'll keep in mind next time!

 

[AaronRashid]

So very cool Aaron! It looks like the moon was pretty bright and while it lit up the plane well, it washed out your Milky Way. The Moon is my favorite light painter, but if the Milky Way is the goal then you want to keep it at 25% or less.

I really like what you have going on, I think if you could tweak more our other of them sky, that would be awesome. Edit the sky separately and you will see a world of change,

Thank you Jim. I don't remember exactly how full the moon was when I was shooting this but it did was out the Milky Way quite a bit, so I'll definitely keep that in mind from now on. And selective edits between the sky and ground would definitely be the way to go next time. Thanks!

 

[Ken Rennie]

Thank you Ken! I took this photo in 2020 and thinking about it, the camera was probably not level front to back. I'm pretty sure I had the camera at an angle towards the sky. But that is very good to know for the next time I try! Thank you!!

Aaron it is possible, with a lot of selective Warping, to straighten the horizon. Ken

 

[AaronRashid]

Aaron it is possible, with a lot of selective Warping, to straighten the horizon. Ken

I appreciate the tip Ken! I’ll look into that