guardineer

Questioning the quality. D5500, Nikkor 18-300, 18mm f3.5 ISO 2500 15 sec, Raw, remote release, PP: LR photo merge pano, clarity, exposure+ texture+ WTB 2950. I didn't really plan the photo beforehand beause the sky was cloudy all day so had to attempt focus on stars which is extremely difficult for me. Can anyone estimate whether the photo would print well enough to justify metal media, perhaps 18x 28?

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Ballard Loc: Grass Valley, California

Neat image. I would try a smaller print to start with, a large one would tend to bring out the grainy noise of a long exposure and the slight trailing of the stars. I would also recommend adding a bit more red and green to the image as it seems overly blue (make the sky more black or grey, but this is just personal preference). To get rid of the noise and star trails would require multiple images of the same area of the sky with tracking then stacking the images. This would also require adding the mountains back in after the fact. The mountains would also benefit from multiple stacked images but no tracking would be needed of course. When stacking long exposures some of the noise can be removed with the subtraction of dark frames (Dark frames are taken with the lens cap on for the same time as the image frames at the same temperature, some DSLR will do this automatically for long exposures but it usually best to average multiple dark frames together to help remove the noise).

guardineer

Thank you for your observations and recommendations. I will go back and try some different K adjustments for additional colors. I've rarely printed enlargements, never on metal so I will forego this. The mountain foreground is our backyard so plenty opportunity to make a higher resolution print, hopefully near the next new moon.

PoppieJ Loc: North Georgia

if you are willing to spend the money I would have it printed on luster paper which will look very similar to the metal print, if it works there in the size that you want, it would make a nice metal print. Also once you print it you may see things that you want to change before you go with the metal print. good luck

alberio Loc: Casa Grande AZ

Also it depends on the viewing distance. I've seen professional prints on metal or other media when viewed up close that star trailing is quite evident, but look great from a distance.

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

It's a beautiful composition.
But, in my opinion, not ready for the investment, not yet.

You need to work on the star trailing evident in the download-close up. The stars are still egg shaped. And no amount of post-processing will change that. It must be addressed in your actual acquirement of the images.
How are you guiding/tracking?
That is where I can see room for improvement.

Something truly great is this is from your backyard, so you have night after night to work on it.
In Astrophotography, it is said the mount is the most important part of the equipment. Because the mount carries the entire quality of the result.
Shorter exposures, but greater numbers, can give you better images to work with to build your finished image with.
One of my friends told me, "Sonny, you stack with time." Back when I was starting out. Because I had to take ridiculously long exposures to get any form of an image. It was my camera that was at fault.
Over the past years at this, I've been following a new vain of thousands of exposures at varying lengths.
I think many short exposures stacked can have equally as good a result as fewer longer exposures.

So experiment with your exposure times to get smaller, pinpoint stars in your images for your stacking and processing.
You have a great start, now it's time to dial in your raw material to work with.
Keep at it.

guardineer

Thank you Sonny. Good advice and I will give it a shot. I don't have a tracking system but can do multiple shots, I'll study some.

guardineer

Thanks Poppy and Albeiro. I'll put some time into improving the photo prior to printing. I checked Nation photo printing, they are having a 25% off sale now, not much difference in pricing of metal and lustre.