Focus Stacking & Blending Milky Way Photography

[@jessicaeiss2541]

I've just rewatched this, and it makes much more sense with a little more night shooting under my belt. Richard this is the video that you should recommend to people when they're struggling with your settings, lighting and then editing. This is one of your most comprehensive!

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thank you so much for going back to watch this one Jessica. I put a lot of effort into these videos and I appreciate your kind words.

[@roryhaymanphotography8882]

I wish learning in high school would have been this much fun. Thanks for sharing these great lessons!

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Haha, yes I agree Rory

[@sbuchan74]

I really hope you realize what a positive impact your making globally to us novice photographers, Your tutorials are the highlight of the week and I can't thank you enough Richard

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

That's very kind of you to say. I'm just having a go just like all of us .. but I'm glad these videos are bringing a bit of joy to people .. especially in this present climate.

[@sarathurley]

I second this, I am blown away about how much there is to learn. You are a great teacher and your passion inspires me to keep trying

[@gregcurwin5009]

Finally someone who explain clearly how to process image in Photoshop , thanks you so much you open a new door in night photography for me.

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

I really appreciate you watching Greg, thanks for the comments.

[@SteveZodiac777]

Superb video Richard - great techniques, clear explanations and an amazing final image. Thanks so much for sharing!

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

I'm really pleased you found the video helpful Darrel. Thanks for watching.

[@taohidulhaider4893]

Newbie photographer from Melbourne highly interested in nightscapes...I cannot thank you enough for your tutorials...I just hope someday I can shoot some nightscapes with you...

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thanks very much for watching my friend.

[@cherylwilcox9648]

Thank you, Richard, for your wonderful content. Made a donation to help support your wonderful work.

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thank you so much for your really generous support Cheryl, it really means a lot.

[@Kayahdog]

Better late than never...as I recently came upon your videos they are the BEST in breaking down the process. The mystery of editing in layers and refining the process has been solved! Added to that the ideas of improving the light painting technique with foreground sharpness is now making sense. Who said you can’t teach an old dog new tricks! Now it’s time to practice, practice, practice.

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thanks so much for watching Stephen, really appreciated. As you say . .practice makes perfect ...!!!

[@T-Bear]

Pro tip for resizing and adjusting hardness/softness of the brush in Photoshop. Makes it easier to select the exact brush size and hardness you need for different maskings Hold down Alt + Right click when using the brush you can adjust: Size by moving from mouse from side to side, Hardness by moving mouse up and down and Opacity can be adjustet by entering the desired number on the keyboard and hitting enter Richard, Thanks again for your extremely professional and insipiring workshop videos :D

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thanks so much for your insights and tips Torbjorn, always appreciate you watching.

[@tonywilding9137]

Looked back through the channel and found these gems. Thank you.

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

I'm really pleased you found them Tony, thanks so much.

[@tomcagle1909]

I really appreciate what you are doing. You are the best night photographer that I have seen. I love night photography and have learned a lot from watching your channel. Thanks for what you do.

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

That's very kind of you to say Tom. I'm glad you find the videos helpful. Thanks for watching.

[@chriskatsou5483]

Where is the button to press 1000 likes? Thank you for sharing your many hours of knowledge with us!!

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thanks so much for your support of my channel Chris.

[@mikek5417]

"I hope that gives you a clearer picture of focus stacking". I enjoyed that too much haha

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thanks a lot for watching Mike.

[@GPBhandariPhotography]

Richard the night rocker. Thanks Man for inspiring us 😊

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Haha, thanks heaps for watching.

[@Hedgehogpeter1]

Thank You Richard,i am looking forward to other episodes.

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

I'm pleased you like it Peter.

[@lactech27]

One of the best topic in your channel is the stacking & blending process.. love how sharp those images came. Ones again thank you very much for share your wisdom with us. Hope I can get greats photos on my own with the help of your channel.

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thanks again Luis, always appreciate your comments.

[@galacticnemesis366]

Thanks so much Mads with winter on the way it’s a great time to prep for winter here in Tasmania. Great channel informative and inspirational content. 🤩🇦🇺👍

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thanks as always for watching my friend. It won't be long now and the core will be returning.

[@alfredosilvalobos6532]

real fantastic class, so great teacher, very good, Im write from Chile

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thanks so much for watching Alfredo, really appreciated.

[@michaelbertelsen7994]

Thank you Richard 🙏 youre simply amazing! 😀

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

I hope it was helpful Michael

[@michaelbertelsen7994]

@@nightscapeimages.richard it sure was and is 😀👌

[@GOTOHOBBIES]

Richard you are a brilliant teacher of your skills and so inspiring to listen to time and time again, Your videos are always a pleasure to listen to and you have opened my eyes to the possibilities and I am like you creative and happy to experiment thus using new techniques to develop my knowledge of photography thank you. I got to say your the best person on KZbin for learning astrophotography and nightscapes, and I am inching to get going but I need to be patient and get the necessary equipment for my field trips and following in your footsteps of what you do so well. I can't thank you enough for spending your time in helping us to learn about astrophotography skills and I have definitely been bitten by the bug and I love night photography and being under the stars. Again thank you so much Richard for everything, you are very much appreciated. Kind regards David

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thanks so much for your lovely and encouraging comments David. I really do appreciate feedback like this and I'm pleased you find the videos helpful to your nightscape photography journey.

[@harveyarber2543]

you make that look so easy. thanks for sharing Richard

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thanks a lot for watching Harvey, very much appreciated.

[@marwitz]

Thanks Richard! Great content and presentation!

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

I really appreciate you watching Russell, thank you.

[@SuperBuickregal]

I liked the suggestion to light 💡 from the sides and not directly from behind the camera 📷 Richard, learned something new that I would have overlooked and thank you again for another great tutorial and video. Including flags with the Southern Cross FYI.🇦🇺🇳🇿🇹🇰🇵🇬🇨🇽🇧🇷

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thanks so much for watching again Thomas, really appreciate your comments.

[@SuperBuickregal]

You are welcome Richard and anticipating the next trip to OZ!

[@californiasounddesign3921]

wow! thank you for al this helpful info! im going to watch this video again and then try it out in the field sometime soon!

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

I'm really pleased you liked the video, thanks heaps for watching.

[@JensChrStrandos]

Excellent as always. Always new stuff to learn watching your videos.

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

I'm glad you're getting something out of these my friend. Thanks for watching.

[@arnepetrick100]

Dear Richard, i love your creative light paintings and love watching your tutorials. Thank you for sharing your secrets with us. Many greetings from Germany

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

I'm so pleased you like the videos Arne, thanks for watching.

[@rikstone7059]

Excellent video, thank you.

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thanks for watching Rik

[@Interbeing_CDN]

Thanks again Richard, you have taken a fairly complex process, broken it down into understandable sequences, and presented the Photoshop portion into logical and easily understood steps. Excellent tutorial!

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

I'm so pleased you enjoyed the video Todd. Thanks so much my friend.

[@andysuzierawlins5462]

Great episode Richard! Thanks for all your hard work

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

My pleasure Andy, thanks for watching.

[@rogerpearson9081]

I had a play with your supplied raw images. I don't have lightroom or Photoshop but Darktable does the Lightroom job in a similar way and I used a filter called the National Geographic filter in Gimp which has a nice final effect on some photos after stacking the layers. All free software!. Thanks for the inspiration. Will have to go out and do some light painted night shots and get busy. Spot on with the comment about some people. They just want to point and click and print. Nowadays, we have the power of a big photo lab on our computers. On the plagiarism, those who post work that they have not acknowledged are pretty low individuals.

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thanks a lot for watching. Really appreciate your comments.

[@rsfnz]

Thank you for the very informative video. After watching it, I finally got up the nerve to buy LR and PS and I used one of your RAW images. The video helped immensely purely because the instructions you gave were easy to follow and I quickly figured out how each program works. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and valuable resources with us, its much appreciated

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Hey Jessica, that's absolutely awesome. I'm so glad you found the video helpful.

[@MrHookshanks]

Another fabulous tutorial Richard

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thanks so much for watching really appreciate it.

[@colinhuon5908]

Another excellent tutorial. Clear, concise and very well put together. Thank you Richard.

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

I'm pleased you like it, thanks for watching Colin.

[@PentaxLife]

You make it look so easy. Good work

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Really appreciate that Jeff, as you know it's never as easy as it can look.

[@garyfletcher1387]

Absolutely love watching you think your images are great and love the journey you take. I'm with you all the way. 👏👏👏👍🇬🇧

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thanks so very much for your comments Gary, I really do appreciate you watching.

[@nitishsingla1234]

It's always worth to wait for the weekend. Thank you Richard :)

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

I'm very pleased you like the videos my friend.

[@akkarparkiamopas3401]

agree

[@ivan7453]

Hi Richard, I am really appreciative of you allowing others to use your files as well as the info you provided. Sadly it seems there is always someone quite happy not to do the right thing. Unfortunately there are people with little moral compass whom would plagiarise another person's efforts. It is something akin to cheating. I just hope this low-life has not caused you too much harm. Cheers mate

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Hey Ivan, thanks heaps for the comments. I'm not too worried about such things .. in the big picture it's not that important. Life goes on.

[@michellediggins1175]

Thanks Richard :)

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thanks for watching Michelle.

[@ralphwatson7036]

One of your best lessons. Thanks for all the detail, especially in the Photoshop layer blending portion. I also benefited from the explanation that people are wired differently. My brother-in-law drives me crazy with his stone age flip phone and his unwillingness to try anything new. I guess that's how he's wired and I shouldn't worry about it. 👍👍

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thanks a lot Ralph. Yes we are all wired differently and it just goes against the grain to change that .. very small steps required.

[@edselharrison]

Another excellent video! Thank you for sharing all your knowledge and expertise.

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

You're very welcome Ed, thanks for watching.

[@tomdriftwood3674]

Thank you very much for this great video and light painting tutorial. As always, excellent work!

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

I really appreciate your comments Tom, thanks heaps.

[@nashhall694]

Great work as always Richard! 😀👍👌💯⚡️🔥

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thanks heaps Nash, always appreciated my friend.

[@stemac67]

Another awesome video Richard 👏🏻

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thanks again Steve.

[@loneranger4765]

You are amazing. In few minutes you showed me beautiful shot. Till today it was myth for me how lighting coming in this type of images but now understood everything and learned the stacking photos.

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thanks again for watching my friend.

[@jessicaeiss2541]

I am loving this series. I'm not sure I'll feel confident in changing my settings on the camera while it's locked down. I did just get a new high quality tripod, so maybe it'll be fine. also sent in a donation for your guide, as your info is invaluable.. Just need to print it off!

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

You're very kind indeed Jessica . .thank you.

[@helenbrecknell3930]

Thanks again Richard. I agree that at the end of the day those that plagerise are only hurting themselves, but I do find it annoying! Great video as I need to have things repeated to really sink in. I am looking forward to my 'fix' next year at Tarnagulla. Take care

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Good on you Helen, thanks so much for watching again.

[@francisbuckley3539]

Great video as always Richard. Many thanks for sharing your knowledge with us. I have watch your work for some time now and I'm always inspired to have a go. Please keep going with it.

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

I'm really pleased you like my work Francis. Thanks so much for the comments.

[@colinbooth5959]

Thanks Richard

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thanks for watching Colin

[@MrThor49]

Thank you so much Richard for what you have done with this online course plus all your other videos. I am looking forward to getting into the images I downloaded. Your generosity is very much appreciated. I look forward to your future videos as you inspire as well as increasing my knowledge. Your enthusiasm is infectious (pardon the pun).

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thanks very much for your kind and encouraging words Ian, really appreciated.

[@fofolara]

Excellent video Richard, very well explained; from the camera parameters, lighting method and editing. Thank you very much for being so explicit and teaching how to improve the photographic art of night photography.

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thank you so much for your comments Rodolfo, really appreciated.

[@cagiva85]

Your the man Richard, your work flows are amazing. They NEVER EVER fail me, works every time. Thank you once again for your knowledge and in depth tutorial Richard... Your the Ninja of NIGHTSCAPES 👍🙏👍

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Haha, well I do appreciate your comments as always Royston, thanks so much for watching.

[@dennispenton2052]

Richard - you're at Professor status in this Art form. Thank you so much for wanting to share & help with artistic techniques. Great presentations. I'm in Canada. I'll seize every opportunity to direct those with interest in this art form to your presentations. Amazing

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thank you so much for watching Dennis, I really appreciate it.

[@chrismagnus7705]

I’ve done two of these exercises so far and really appreciate you allowing us to use these raw files. It did not occur for me to post them online and I won’t cos they’re just not as good as you get them to be. Your an excellent teacher and generous sharer. Thanks again.

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Very kind of you to say Chris, thanks so much for watching.

[@westenbergerstephan5955]

1st of all many thanks for sharing your knowledge and your experiences. I must admit, I love most how you described the technique of how you did light-paint the big device on the ground and in parallel (in the smaler window to the botton, left) to show how the image looked like. By doing so, it is super-easy illustrated how the painting occured and what the result is. Excellent!!!

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thanks very much for your comments, I'm glad it helped.

[@jamesmcluckie7088]

Awesome Richard thanks again ....😊👍🏻

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Really appreciate you watching again James

[@rozzembi7318]

Another excellent video. Great job! Thank you, Richard!

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Really appreciate you watching again Rozz

[@tyroneentwistle634]

Brilliant workshops Richard, love the downloads really great, thanks for sharing with us.

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

I'm very pleased you like them Tyrone, thanks so much for watching.

[@RobertJohnson-im6kd]

ah mate you are PICASSO of the nightscapes what you started with and what you finished with just great looking forward as usual to next week cheers bobby j.

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Good stuff Bob, thanks heaps as usual.

[@anthonytang5198]

New Zealand.... dream destination

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

I would love to visit New Zealand .. it was on my list for 2020 before you know what hit ...!!!

[@PhillTicehurst]

Fantastic video Richard and that image is awesome.Did this process about 2 months ago when i could go out so its a great time to be reminded of the process again ,thx again for your hard work and knowledge all the best to you and your family Phill

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

I really appreciate your kind words of encouragement Phill, thanks for watching.

[@PhillTicehurst]

@@nightscapeimages.richard your very welcome ,your a genius and i mean that.

[@danielodonoghue3529]

Top episode again Richard. Thanks so much for continuing to put the massive effort into each of these videos. Highlight of my Sunday!

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

I'm really pleased you like them Daniel, thanks.

[@kuldipbadwal7731]

Never skip a sec!! Much love

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Very kind of you to watch the videos my friend, thank you.

[@JorshBrushTV]

Amazing techniques and lessons. Great portfolio too. Greetings from Nicaragua budy

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thanks heaps for watching and for leaving the comments, really appreciate it.

[@garyhilles5418]

Hello Richard, thank you for another great, informative video!!! Lots of good info on what and how to take a good nightscape image. Really liked how you demonstrated your light painting technique on the ''space junk''. You make it easy to follow along in Lightroom &Photoshop and it amazes me how your light painting looks when your finished, it seems to have a kind of warm and friendly appearance to it . Well done!!!

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

I'm really pleased you like the videos Gary. Thanks so much for watching and leaving a comment.

[@georgebokovos]

Thank you so much Richard for this amazing series of Nightscape Tutorials. I truly appreciate your effort, learning so much from you. Greetings from Greece and clear skies!

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thank you George, I'll really pleased you like the videos.

[@waynegarmonphotography]

I can't wait to get out and try this!

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thanks for watching again Wayne

[@PhillTicehurst]

Thats my viewing tonight taken care off ,fantastic top billing .

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Good on you Phill, always appreciate you watching.

[@adrianalfordphotography]

Love ya work Richard. Truly spell binding to watch all your techniques. It really does look like Sky Lab had crashed in that spot. Awesome tutorial mate, great stuff 👍🙏

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thanks heaps Adrian, yes it's an awesome looking machine that's for sure.

[@deebart9230]

Can’t wait to try this-thank you!👍

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thanks for having a look Dee

[@michellediggins1175]

Throughly enjoy the episodes . You doing a fantastic job . 👏

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

I really do appreciate you watching Michelle, thanks so much.

[@spenceford4299]

Thanks again for another great tutorial..👍

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

I really appreciate your comments as always Spence. Thank you.

[@akkarparkiamopas3401]

Very useful tutorials as always , looking forward to watching the next tutorial. Thank you.

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thank you so much for watching again.

[@bobtebbs7766]

Yet another great video and stunning image. the point where you turn all the layers on to give a preview of the finished image always makes me go WOW.. Keep up the great work buddy we appreciate it loads

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thanks a lot Bob. Yes I always like it when you turn the blending mode on as it really pops straight away.

[@colinshreffler5537]

Fantastic tutorial and video. Thank you!

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

I'm really pleased you like it Colin, thanks for watching.

[@paultutton9443]

Great stuff Richard 👍. I've watched your workflow many times, but the detail that you went into here with your light painting technique was really useful. Downloading the RAW files now...

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thanks so much Paul, I'm pleased you're getting something out of it.

[@zediogoamareleja]

My like and thumbs up goes every time even before see the contents of your videos and you never disappoint me..Great content as usually and a few more pages in the outstanding Tattipedia dedicate to night photography..well done Master Richard.Thanks a lot for generosity.

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

You are very kind indeed Zarcos, thanks so much.

[@brandonmerry3671]

These videos have been great! This video was particularly helpful in motivating and walking me through the process which resulted in my first successful blended night photo! I was so thrilled with the detail and minimal noise with the light painting! Thank you!

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thanks so much for watching Brandon. I'm pleased you were able to get a successful blended shot. All the best.

[@dav14pawest]

That was really fun and super helpful to work on the same images while watching the video. Repetition is the only way I get better at doing anything so listening to you repeat key points helps to drive home the idea. In case other users are reading my comments, please contribute financially if you can, Richard is giving away as high a quality instruction as anyone online. Secondly, don't re-post his photos that you edited even if you credit him. He's too nice a guy to say it, but that not cool.

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thanks so much for your encouragement and support Dave, really appreciate it.

[@chetandoshi7053]

Outstanding work of art

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thanks so much as always Chetan.

[@geronimoflyingfree]

great tutorial! ❤

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

I'm really pleased you enjoyed it.

[@simonharding5696]

Brilliantly explained, as always, and an invaluable resource for the Nightscaper. Having tried this a few times now, I can definitely attest to what you say, in that light-painting is definitely an art, and takes practice. The quality of these tutorials is such that, because the principles are so well covered, you just need to go out and do what you tell us to do, and you will get some good results. To get anywhere near your standards will be down to developing that creative eye, and practice, practice, practice. Thanks again for some top quality instruction and guidance.

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thank you very much Simon. Yes you are so right about the practice ..!!!

[@dhg1960]

Again, it's really nice to see the whole process from begining to end. I will have a go at this image myself and post on FB with some advertising for your course and site. Looking forward to the next one.

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thanks so much David, really appreciate your support.

[@wonderful_hongkong]

Masterful!

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thank you so much for watching.

[@patrickwynne6666]

Wow, i am speechless!! you explained it very well mate. i cant wait to get out and have a go. thank you :)

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

You're welcome Patrick, thanks again for watching.

[@raphaellencrerot]

Very nice video ! To be honest I wasn't expecting to learn much, but finally I learned a lot. Especially that is not necessary to refocus (to the front) to focus stack. But by stopping down the aperture keeping the same focus point would be good enough for focus stack, avoiding image re-alignment later due to focus breathing when doing refocusing. Thanks again.

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thanks a lot for watching Raphael, I really appreciate your comments.

[@johnl4469]

Thanks Richard, really do like your work mate.

[@oscar6768]

Loved the video! Would like to see more videos where you show the process of shooting it at night actually at the scene! Just bought the canon 80D so when it’s milkyway season in the UK, I’ll be trying to get some shots!

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thanks a lot for watching Oscar. You'll find that I've shot dozens of videos on location at night as you go through my collection. As you can imagine it's quite difficult to do that but I do enjoy being out there under the stars. Really appreciate your comments.

[@three-phase562]

Another awesome workshop - a clearly explained process to follow that led to a fantastic final image. I do not have the photo-editing software available to me, but it is still interesting to watch the image come to life at your finger tips.

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thanks so much for watching as usual Three-phase. Very much appreciate your comments.

[@HambletonRanger]

INSPIRING! Helping me to cope with lockdown and giving me targets to achieve when corvid measures are relaxed. Thanks

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thanks a lot for watching Mike

[@rickengman]

Once again, thanks for a very informative video. I really like these stacking methods they allow a lot of creativity. I do a lot of stacking with my Astrophotography images (stacked as many as 995 images) but it's a very dry process...Noise reduction, Gradient reduction, Luminance and RGB details and when it's finished then you can start with a bit of the creative work. This method seems to give a bit more creative control over the final stacked image and it doesn't need lots of post processing. I wish I could find some old machinery to photograph....Where I live in Germany is a very rural area with lots of farms but the farmers don't seem to have any old stuff lying around...It's frustrating...Have a good one and see ya next week.

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thanks once again Rick. Yes we have lots of old rusty machinery lying around the farms here in Australia .. I like it.

[@Paulus449]

Amazing tutorial as always, thanks for this!

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

I really appreciate that Paul, glad you like it.

[@garyhillery5302]

Another great tutorial, shows you do not need the milky way to have a great image. A point Richard, have you ever thought to moving your tool bar over to the right hand side, it is easier to activate from near your layers?

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thanks a lot Gary, very true. I suppose I'm just happy to use it out of the box. To be honest, when I'm not doing screen captures I use duel monitors and a lot of the elements are on that second screen anyway.

[@iceandfirephoto2021]

Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us Richard. I’ve just started some nightscape shooting and have quickly learned my cheap tripod isn’t good enough due to camera movement introduced when I change my settings. Perhaps an idea for a quick video would be to show how you change camera settings without moving your camera/tripod to avoid introducing blur and to avoid masking problems in post. Thanks so much for everything!

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thanks heaps for watching. One of the tricks is to have the camera very low down and also to make sure all the adjustments are tightened.

[@danielodonoghue3529]

Coincidentally I use the same tripod as Richard - the Sirui waterproof model. I made the mistake of buying cheap...and buying twice as a result!

[@darren6762]

I'm loving watching and learning from your videos but at the moment whenever I get some rain (I'm liking light rain at the moment) and with your lighting techniques and some of the awesome subjects you find I would love to see you if you haven't already add some light rain to some of them shots that you light up cause I have as a novice made a few and with the light on the rain as well as your subjects I think the way you stack and blend I would absolutely love to see some of your finished pics. Thanks for another great video.

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thanks a lot for watching Darren. Problem is that I don't like being out in the dark when it's raining and not only that, there are usually no stars visible either.

[@paulmatenaar8450]

Richard when you are demonstrating how you painted the image of the orchard sprayer (definitely what it is!), for a 15 seconds-d exposure, is there a formula you use to determine how long to shine the light? Obviously the longer the light is painting, the brighter the foreground subject will be, but is there a lighting time “sweet spot” much like there is for focal length and shutter speed? I am loving this series and am learning so much! Thank you, thank you, thank you!1

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Hey Paul, that's the million dollar question. When light painting foregrounds I'll often stop down the aperture and lower the iso. This has the benefit of giving more flexibility regarding dynamic range and therefore the light won't blow out so quickly. Other than that .... It's trial and error.

[@miloradkaravidin8818]

Thank you for another trully inspiring and educative video. Easy to understand and pull out. May I ask question. I can understand why you took that picture, machine looks awesome for light painting, but at the same time have mixed feelings about composition. Not trying to criticize, for that photo is far better than anything I ever took. Just want to ask for your opinion, no more. Thanks again for great tutorial.

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thanks again for watching Milorad. I guess it's all in the eye of the beholder. I really like the low angle to make the machine look very mean and powerful.

[@miloradkaravidin8818]

@@nightscapeimages.richard Sorry for misunderstanding. Machine is fine, great actually, I was referring to the tree right behind somehow doesn't add to the image(my opinion) and on the left of the image can be seen brances of another tree.

[@Ib3119cz]

thank you richard

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Really appreciate you watching.

[@Ib3119cz]

@@nightscapeimages.richard it is plasure learn with you

[@SwingWestBand]

Hi Richard, Am I right, you do not apply any additional sharpening to the image after flattening the stack? And again, thanks for an exceptional tutorial. This video is the kind I really love. Cheers.

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thanks again Keith. To be honest I never apply any sharpening to my images as it introduces more noise. The images are already very sharp due to the method I use to capture them.

[@jmfoty4280]

excellent! I assume if you want a noise free background of the sky, you stack for noise reduction separately and then place the background behind the foreground focus stacked image. Is that correct?

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Yes that's basically it in a nutshell. That's why the programs like Sequator are so useful as they have the ability to freeze the foreground and make the blending a lot easier.

[@MrShanereich]

Richard hi was wondering if you remember in which video you showed us how to change the temperature or tint of the Milky Way core. I remember you saying always set your white balance in camera before you shoot, also Richard what is your white balance set to thanks Shane

[@nightscapeimages.richard]

Thanks for watching Shane. I've mentioned the white balance a lot in plenty of my videos. When I first started nightscapes I used to run a cooler white balance . .perhaps 3500 kelvin, but now I'm warming my images up a fair amount .. maybe 4500 kelvin . .sometimes 5000 kelvin. I'm shooting in RAW file format so this can be changed in post processing. I think it's good practice to manually set a white balance in camera . .especially when shooting lots of multiple exposure sequences such as star trails or time lapse. How to actually change the white balance settings in camera varies considerably from camera model to model and brand. Hope that helps.