What I struggle the most in the area where I live is having enough interesting foregrounds. Too many trees, light pollution, not being able to have access to interesting places in the night and property all taken up. BUT! No excuses and keep on trying! 🙃😉😃I admire all of your night images and your dedicated work 🙂
Yes I understand totally Laura . .I guess in that case you have to get creative and use whatever you can find. That's why I often shoot gate posts and smaller less significant items.
I have the same problem with interesting foregrounds too Laura and i only live on the opposite side of town to Richard, and although I've returned to a couple of spots unlike Richard once I've taken it I'm done with that spot. My other problem is I'm also not good at approaching people to ask if i can have access to their property, and then the next issue is I'm unemployed and no income at all outside of my wife who i don't ask or expect to fund fuel for me to travel to locations especially when they first need to be scoped out. Ohhh and 3 weeks ago 1.7km from home just after leaving to head out for a shoot, i hit a kangaroo in my little runabout
Welcome to my world Laura, not sure where you are but I’m in south west Wa, The trees are a nightmare here, I have to travel east about an hour and a half to get away from them😡
@@robertleeimages sounds very frustrating for you, I often find I can't scout areas, for similar reasons, Google maps help a bit, as does photo pills. You could always go to a location during day time and stay there until the mw rises, at least you get it all night in oz, we get 1.5 hours if that in the UK and at stupid o'clock in the morning
Before you started I was gonna say the same. The Foreground !!! And you are a master on that. I love all of your compositions. thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Dear Richard, thanks again for your short but very interesting clip. I fully agree with your clear statement concerning composition. This concept is the reason, why I have been watching your channel with full admiration for years. You have opened my eyes for rather inconspicuous subjects, like fences, trees etc. which could be found almost everywhere. Thanks for sharing all your precious experiences. Best regards, Günter
One thing I've learnt from watching your videos is how important a foreground subject is. I never go out at night with no subject in mind, thanks for the reminder Richard
You’re exactly right Richard. It’s mostly about the foreground when it comes to this type of photography. I think the same thing when I’m planning a night out, foreground first and sky second. Love your work 😎
This video together with the one teaching the foreground painting form a complete nightscape image philosophy. I couldn't agree more since I look for compositions during the day everywhere and then I think where and what of the nightsky I would get there. I never go for the nightsky. It's always about composition and thereafter how nightsky interacts. Also it becomes an addiction because every nice composition I found during the day I start thinking how it is at night. Richard always brilliant
I couldn't agree more Richard, about how the foreground is the most important factor in nightscape photography. When I look back at the b&w night sky photos I used to shoot in my teen years, they were mainly that-the night sky. A few of them had foregrounds, but that wasn't what I was aiming for, unfortunately. Early in 2014, when I was only a few months into beginning digital nightscape photography, I read an interview with the US nightscape photographer, Mike Taylor, and one thing he had to say set me on the right course: "To capture the Milky Way, capture the landscape." Thanks for reinforcing that truth in this video, and for the chance to revisit many of your most wonderful images in the showcase section.
As always the best. I love to take photos of stars or Milky Way with land subject foreground composition thanks to this amazing channel, thank you Richard!
Totally agree with this Richard. A few years ago a friend kindly mentioned they thought my night sky images were all a bit same-ish. I say kindly because that was an aha moment for me. From that point forward, I started considering the nightsky as the support act to the foreground.
Very true. When I saw the headline, my immediate thought was light. and while light is essential for any exposure, the shot must somehow connect with the viewer to be successful, and a good foreground provides that connection. Thanks for sharing Richard.
Thanks to a couple of your time-lapse videos, I have been addicted to trying to find spots that I can capture. So far, I have only had 2 successful shots, but as soon as our snow melts and it warms a little, I will be out shooting. Thanks again for all that you do!
That is a great way to look at it. You're 100% right, The sky is the easy part. I need to change my way of thinking. Thanks for making another great video. I have always thought my foreground sucked and I was worried about the sky. when in fact I should be concentrating on the foreground. Well done Richard. This video really hit home with me.
Thank you Richard for another video, it's a very motivating video, and your amazing photos are a great source of inspiration and your words are very motivating. Thank you Richard, a hug and until your next video.
Always such valuable content Richard. I love they way your images incorporate strong foreground structures to complement the nightscapes and balance the image. Keep up the great work!
Beautiful images. I love your foreground subjects. It is great how you have so many great old pieces of machinery, buildings etc. I suspect you search far and wide for some of these subjects. Love it Richard.
Great discussion because the foreground's so important telling the story. Tying the stars to the earth and creating a scene people may relate to and enjoy.
Great night scape images Richard, I could not pick a favorite because their all my favorites which ever one I look at....Look forward to you next great adventure... 73s from little old England...😊❤
Richard, 100% agreed and it is the composition and the foreground that makes an interesting nightscape image. Sometimes, it is difficult to find new subjects and that’s the search that I enjoy.. it is what makes going out more fun and challenging.. great collection of images and love your work
Thank you Richard. Much appreciated. I keep working on this aspect! One problem I have is to get a balanced 'single' image. So often the sky and foreground are somehow disconnected. This could be due to original exposures, processing, color balance, composition...cheers, Paul.
Totally agree Richard. The composition and foreground take the image to the next level. Glad to hear you are running onsite training sessions again, bucket list dream for me. Much like Laura G, finding that foreground is not always that easy even in B2 areas with lots of lakes surrounded by trees. Here you see no trespassing signs everywhere, so access can be challenging. That being said, I think the grass always looks greener on the other side as I'm sure people living in arid regions would love to shoot on a lake and see the pretty star reflections.
Richard I absolutely love your work and your explanation of why you don't take deep space makes total sense. You can see in your images your love for all things old and the night sky and Milky Way just enhances those foregrounds. I'm hoping to be over your way next year and will definitely be checking out if you have any workshops on. I am a landscape photographer and love the Milky Way and have a few photos I'm happy with but to learn from you will be something else. Thanks for sharing your fabulous work 😊😊😊
Thanks again for another great video! I love how you show us great techniques and inspire us to get out there and keep shooting. It is obvious that you love what you do, thanks again!
All your videos are motivational and inspirational, Richard!! This one is perfect for my camera club, here in Wales, UK. They want me to give a talk on nightscape photography, what it is, what's involved, equipment needed etc. I always quote you as being the Master of this genre, and this video illustrates this fact. The points about "foreground first" will now be my theme of the talk. Great video, and thanks as always for the amazing and engaging content.
another awesome video that makes you focus in a bit. A couple of those images at the end reminded me that sometimes it only takes a small percentage of sky or stars of the entire image to make a major impact. As usual keep it up.
Fantastic video Richard, it is a struggle sometimes to find interesting foregrounds but I do love getting out and looking and planning shots. Looking forward to seeing the road trip 👍
Excellent video and excellent topic Richard. I fully agree with you that from time to time we tend to cut corners when it comes to compositions. Compositions make or break you images. Sometimes it is not easy to get the compositions done (in terms of light etc.) when shooting something else than the Stars....The Northern Lights as it needs to go fast and you do not always have the time....but having said that, it also comes down to laziness :-). I am happy that you have brought up to this topic as it inspires to work hard for your images! Thanks and have a wonderful weekend. Cheers, Hendrik
Thank you for another absolutely awesome video. You are such an amazing inspiration, your passion for nightscape is amazing. Thank you for sharing your enthusiasm. Just so you know, it's "your fault" that I upgraded my camera and lenses. I "stumbled" in to your channel a couple of years ago and now I'm hooked on nightscape 😊 Greatings from the "big" island Gotland in the middle of the Baltic Sea (Sweden)
What a great video that was! It was such a great explanation of how you take those magnificent shots and what your main thought is. I really enjoyed hearing what you had to say and I just loved those photos which proved your point perfectly. Thank you for sharing this Richard, I am sure it will be very helpful to me and many others as well 😁👍
Thanks so much, Richard! This video was such an inspiration to me!! I have a project I am going to do the first of May in South Carolina USA shooting an old plantation that is deteriorating rather quickly! Not on the tourist circuit, so I want to use your methods of fine art light painting on the plantation house with star tails behind it!! Your encouragement of shooting the foreground could not have motivated me more!! Thanks!
Agree with you whole heartedly on deep space Astro Richard, as fantastic as they are they seem out of this world and so I feel a disconnect from them without some foreground or subject matter.
Great illustration Richard 😊👍 awsome work as allways 👌iv’e been out testing my new lens - dusting off my Old Z6 …. Awsome! But the sky is allmost to Bright now - spring has arrived here in Denmark 🌻
Interesting video Richard. And it also makes me want to go out where my feet take me to look for that foreground to accompany it with the Milky Way. I put myself as a dot in the frame to show the immensity of the place😁
Hey Richard, I've just been on the road trip of a lifetime - Melbourne to Exmouth and back - this is me catching up with the videos I missed whilst away. It's almost spooky timing to come back and see this video as one night on my trip at a place called Bullara Station on 'Eclipse Eve' i was standing around in what I thought was the queue for one of the thirty plus telescopes set up that evening due to a special event. After a few minutes the chap next to me hadn't moved and I asked if I was actually standing in a queue or if we were both just standing staring at the stars, he lifted his camera and said his interest was in astrophotography. We spoke for an hour, he was fascinating and accommodating with his time and conversation. I asked him what he thought was the most important thing and he said the same as you, foreground and planning. He spoke of a picture that he waited 3.5 years to take at the Pinnacles, which he's lucky enough to live not too far from. My mind started to rack through my memories, I knew this picture, turns out it was Michael Goh. My planning is usually poor but I've been starting to build my bank of places to revisit, and I'm treating this last trip as one big recon - I gotta head back and get some more pics from some of the weird and wonderful places between here and there. Thanks again for the ep
100% completely agree. The Foreground is King! Also, like you, while I admire the skill and technical know-how of deep space images, to me they lack the interest and connection to humanity and our world and are more like a beautiful abstract than a recognisable scene. I enjoy a good deep space image, but a Milkyway arch over an old ruin wins hands down in my book. 😀
Great video and as usual good advice. On a side note, I have just recently tested DXO Raw3 and was very impressed. I actually found the results for a single high iso photo with this software better than a stack of 10 photos in seqautor. This potentially makes the setup easier and quicker and also less post processng. Have you considered such a workflow. This may even be of interest for a short video ?
Awesome mate. Enjoy the road trip. Looking forward to seeing the results in an upcoming video. Call me crazy but I get a gut feeling your either going to kangaroo island or the red centre.
@@nightscapeimages.richard Thanks Richard, not quite inspiring enough to get you into it tho! 😂 It is a big challenge, you once described landscape astro as photography slowed down, well deep sky is slowed down a lot more! So much setup, can shoot the same target all night over several nights then many spend hours processing it all! But still my favourite is landscape astro for exactly the reasons you said, the creative possibilities! Getting out and exploring the landscape for foregrounds is enjoyable too! 😀
@@IanInverarity Yes I think I'd feel too much backed into a corner creatively with deep space. I love the freedom and creative possibilities associated with astro landscape.
@@nightscapeimages.richard There can be lots of challenges with deep sky, like last night when my PC decided to do a re-start for an update just after midnight despite being connected and controlling so many active devices! 😂
I need a big-as fan to blow away the clouds! We haven’t had clear skies here in Wellington New Zealand for months now 😩 and I bought a new Sony 14mm GM 1.8 and GVM Slider that I’m desperately wanting to use for some Milky Way timelapse pieces. At least I have your videos to watch and learn from, and to take inspiration from. The land of the “long white cloud” is truly living up to it’s name at the moment 😏
Richard I totally agree with your last sentences I assume that all deep sky objects are photographed in extremely good quality. So u cant create sth really new. Just probably worse copies of already existing photos. But there are plenty of landmarks, trees, fence posts, rocks, electrical towers, ruins, barns, car wrecks etc. that didnt have the privilege to be photographed under the night sky. Every one can take his or her unique photo that no one did before. ironically uncharted worlds on earth under the best known night sky /philosophy mode off 🙃
So you think how will this scene look with the night sky, rather than here's the sky where can I get a good fg to fit it. Thanks Richard for your awesome work
Thanks for watching Carlos. Yes they were once common .. not so much now. There are many great LED panels around now. Something like this could work. www.ebay.com.au/itm/144681958488?hash=item21afb77c58:g:3I0AAOSw5V5i-iA6&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA4DoncuoqSplISPPE2IIxBBx2cMkwLVtX56Z55uOBx2PX2PGKnkDabc%2F9NREtwH1jV9KAOnt2KM8WYkLB4YibINMuR4MzwVyxrkXQ1D1TuPBOOsGDfLfDBfGGcMhRM3L7PGRlvW5ePGMKu7PdL%2BcrZYH1foy7crLapiaYRVTPJAkz3cs4dAFSNE%2BXYKs7xCS28Ysn%2FA3Oq18Tlq4kdGjObByq272gKcGGazfpkwez66eCSd0e4hKP%2B34Cb8lpLGjUO0Pq%2F3yJRyG7xvjWXQCz0QAv8MGwXa87CFT9Pu0MZIUA%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR67Tk5n7YQ
@@nightscapeimages.richard got fond memories of a trip to the Gold Coast and back to Kyneton in 1(XL model) back in 78, and many trips in the back with a greyhound to various tracks around Victoria
Just discovered your channel.......what are the brand of the square rectangular lights you had is this video ? been looking for a decent set for astro for foreground comp and such
the equipment is known, it is important at night. obviously technique and composition are just as important. however, the most important thing for me is the project, the series of photographs that subscribe to a particular vision that I want to imprint on my work. this arises at a conceptual level, takes shape in the scouting phase and is realized in the shooting and post-production phase. to give an example, the project I have in mind now combines photography with the ancient Vedic knowledge, in particular - speaking of night photography - with the Vedic astronomy called Jiotish Śastra. the first photograph will see the constellation of the Saptarsi (the seven sages, ursa mayoris in the west) align with seven pinnacles and I would also like to interpret the seven Rsis in the foreground. the project should cover the most famous constellations, which photographs will be accompanied by literary cues, quotes, legends, etc., which should give rise to a strong self-reflection in the observer - as a microcosm - observing the macrocosmic universe, up to to give rise to the intuition that the two are actually One without a second. this example to say that photography must necessarily make sense to me at this point in my "career" as an amateur photographer; a technically perfect shot of a place and a night that is simply beautiful no longer makes sense to me, millions of pictures like this are taken every night.
If you dont like DSO because of foreground maybe you should work on them as projects as in take foreground images of the constellation where your target lives ex Orion nebulae and work your way deeper to bring out all the sky has to offer you know kinda like a multi stage zoom in. Love your work you inspired me to take steps backwards and work on constellation pictures
It's not so much that I don't like DSO's but I guess my preference is to shoot something with landscape. I think everybody love the Orion constellation.
Hi Richard, thanks a lot for your effort with these videos. My question is that I have seen sometimes photographers will shoot the foreground independent from the sky as composites or blends, but it seems most of your pictures were shot on the scene as one image? What is the best approach in your view?
Johan most of Richards images are composite and blended together but Richard takes them at same location on the same night it's the only way to get clean and detailed images! As good as cameras are getting it's still not possible to get these images in one shot and end up with light painted foreground and noise free photos
Weird how we're flying through space at such high rates of speed in different directions, yet nothing in the sky really changes. Millions of years and stars always line up in the same spots. Makes you think maybe the crazy people might not actually be crazy after all lol
Not specifically Craig, although we do a lot of post processing in my standard workshops. I do have a lot of videos on post processing. See here: ru-vid.com/group/PLAYKmqkUeSM_ovfT8k7ifk26X4zjeqJWb and here: ru-vid.com/group/PLAYKmqkUeSM9eXVRj3boNPWRTSgYIShUh
Ok, yes I've seen the images and other material that you have put up to process yourselves, I'm old school when it comes to learning and prefer hands on learning
