fantastic arati...maybe a thin border would look better ??...thanks for sharing...

Nice attempt here Arati. A few things don't seem to work quite well for my taste buds. Please ignore if it does for you

While in most cases "copying as is" obviously does not make it unique it is not true in night photography. It needs creative thoughts to get it as is !! Which makes the "copy" creative in this case. Of course we can attempt at "non-copy" kind of creative night shots too which probably is the next step. That said, I think it is too bright to give the feel of dead of night. Bright light paint on just a few spots makes it a bit artificial (was there an street light near by or you light painted it ?) If you did light painting I think keeping the blacks in the vicinity of about (10,10,10) might simulate the feeble light that we could be able to see in the darkness with (crescent) moon in the sky. I would keep the blue of the sky much darker. At the end I would add a large black border (0,0,0) to highlight the mild light (10,10,10) on the tree. Hope that makes sense...

A different star trail image for sure ...Normally,it is with more trails & the anchor is not so dominent !

Loved it. TFS.

Thanks Sriram, Jayesh...

Thanks Ganesh. Very interesting and informative comment. This was my first attempt at *any* night photography, so it was a lot of bumbling along and experimentation ... sort of like walking in a maze. No light painting here - this tree was backlit by the ambient light from the nearby house. (I did experiment with light painting too and i agree with you on the importance of getting it to look real in the night!) Now this "Blacks in the vicinity of ..." i need to understand. My post-processing skills are far from equipped to understand what you mean

As for blue much darker and a more real tree, i have posted this on the Illustration forum

Does that look a little better to you?
Would love to learn more. thanks for wonderful pointers!

Arati

Arati, If I have your permission I can attempt at showing what I meant in those words. Don't expect a lot of change however

Of course you have my permission Ganesh. Wish i could look over your shoulder!

Wow, i simply loved this except that i felt if the tree was a bit smaller in the frame without the light painting it could be better. Just another thought. But then, this is superb.

Hi Arati,
It's a different star trails image especially the form and size of the tree. Tree travels is a good title for the image. Ganesh's suggestions would improve it further.
Thanks for sharing

Here it goes Arati.

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Not sure whether it makes sense for you. I thought you wanted to convey "dead of night" but it was't for my taste buds. As I mentioned, I darkened mid tones(the blues) to make it closer to night, capped the blacks (tree) at (10,10,10) (R/G/B) to give a tinge of feeble
light and to set it apart added larger border with complete black (0,0,0). I still am not very happy spot of glows there which I could have probably burnt. If you don't have precisely calibrated display trees (10,10,10) may merge with the large black (0,0,0) frame.
I think it takes lots of creative efforts to bring images of nights close to what human eyes/mind perceive in the darkness. Further, you need to see this re-processed image in slightly grayish backdrop instead of completely white CNP background color (the black frame on white browser background may not go very well - actually it defeats my purpose of large black border). Anyway, you may try making a print with a large black mount.

Added later, on my uncalibrated iPad there is no diff between tree (10,10,10) and frame (0,0,0). So calibrated display is very essential.

Thanks Ganesh - that is indeed a very different take on the same subject. It conveys midnight perfectly. I have to get past my own "What was actually" to be able to process the scene differently...I also need to do more such to see how variables affect the outcome in camera - to copy the night scene exactly.

it is an exciting area - and i wish i could make the LandscapeWizards tour at the end of the month. Unfortunately i will be out of the country .... but the journey continues.

thanks for SUPERB pointers... so much learning happening since September for me.
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