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In the last 10 years very capable camera, filter, and software technologies have become readily available to amatuer astrophotographers, affording us the ability to create stunning, high resolution images of space objects working from home. While astro imagery is guided by the same creative elements of terrestrial photography, such as composition and tonal range, astrophotography enjoys much greater creative possibilities because of the complex processing required to make an image. There are hundreds of decisions made by the astrophotographer in creating an image, and so enormous creative flexibility. This creative flexibility is so new that nearly any novel approach or interpretation of an astro image is likely being done for the first time. That means that the birth of fine-art astophotography is happening now. I propose that we fully explore the range of what is possible in making fine-art astrophotographs. I also propose that this is a safe space to post your experiments without fear of destain or contempt. Criticism should be a way of improving the rendition or technique, not belittling the photographer. I am looking forward to seeing your work and creating this new type of art together. CS, Gary |
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| Great idea, Gary! |
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Thank you Gary for creating this! I always have the attempt to use processing tools (Photoshop for example) to make an astro-image more like water paint, oil paint - make the image more abstract. I attempted a couple of times and love the result. But I always have the fear that this disobey the "true" astrophotography that requires all original tastes from the original data. I'd like to hear what other folks say about this topic. CS! -Min |
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A very inspiring mission statement Gary! I hope to bring some experiments to this group. Thanks for creating it! Cs, Nico |
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Hi Gary, I think is excellent idea, I doubt my skills add much but I will enjoying looking at others work! Best wishes -Sigga |
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Hi Gang, Well this could be a fun place to hang out & play! Good initiative, Cheers Gary  So let's see what everyone thinks of wacky images like this https://www.astrobin.com/42qmb4/0/ created using Starnet ++ PS: Seems Toshiya Arai liked the composition of that particular image too lol - https://www.astrobin.com/h9sdlq/ |
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| Yes great idea. Recently I have been out on the edge and a few times over the edge using new tools. I have started using 3D LUT (Look Up Table) and the color options are out of control. This is what they use in cinema to give an image a particular "Look"... In any case, will try out some images and send them over here. Come to think of it, there is one I have been fooling with that I can start out presenting. |
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Min Xie: Yes, I too have been reluctant to post images that do not comply to the "unwritten rules" of traditional astrophotography. For the last couple of years I only display these departures from tradition at my website (www.garylopezphotography.com) or the gallery that represents my work. Like you, I too have experimented with making astroimages that are akin to abstracts, as well as interpretations that are more impressionistic, emphasizing shadow and light. As I have pursued this style I've found the resulting images often resemble a rendered water color. That is to say, the image retains the fundamental structures of the original, but it represented by more translucent colors and a broader range of values. What has been your experience, Min? |
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Nico Carver: Thank you, Nico. Really looking forward to seeing your work and gaining from your feedback. |
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Sigga: On the contrary, Sigga, I think that your taste and deep experience with astrophotography imagery is exactly what we need in this group. If an image works for you, it is likely that it will be a positive experience for many astrophotographers and non-astrophotographers alike. For example, earlier today you mentioned in your comments about a recently posted starless image that you "missed the stars." I agreed with you. For me, the image lacked enough structure and movement when the stars were removed. I am hoping you can bring that same critical eye to this group. Takk, Sigga, for joining. |
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Andy 01: For my taste, Andy, I think that your composition is perfect. It moves my eye from the circle of blue color just off center, to the semi-circle of blue to the left and then down to the support streamers at the bottom left. The voids in the bottom right and top corners create enough tension that the image does not seem overly balanced and unnatural. For my taste, I find Toshiya's image a bit unbalanced. It is shifted just slightly so that there is a much larger void in the bottom right making me want to move the frame to the left. I have a question about displaying your image, Andy. You starless rendition has wonderful texture that, for me, is reminiscent of a colorful sand painting. Have you considered printing on a medium tooth art paper to emphasize that texture? |
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Yes great idea. Recently I have been out on the edge and a few times over the edge using new tools. I have started using 3D LUT (Look Up Table) and the color options are out of control. This is what they use in cinema to give an image a particular "Look"… In any case, will try out some images and send them over here. Come to think of it, there is one I have been fooling with that I can start out presenting. That would be terrific. I too have been experimenting with cinematic use of this imagery. In my work, I have been editing short videos using camera movement and evocative music to create an experience of traveling through the imagery. I posted a recent piece at my website (https://www.garylopezphotography.com/videos). I will post one of these video to AB sometime soon. I'm interested in the response. |
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Gary Lopez: That's really nicely done Gary - What platform did you use to animate the stills? Cheers Andy |
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Andy 01:Gary Lopez:That's really nicely done Gary - What platform did you use to animate the stills? I used iMovie on a Mac desktop. Nothing fancy. It has all you need for basic video/audio editing and fundamental FX. |
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So this is the place of home for the more surrealistic interpretations of extraterrestrial light and color that I don't dare to disclose in my local astronomy club <3 ?!? (I even do not have them up on astrobin yet) Joking aside, Gary - I really appreciate your idea of a group dedicated to the sheer beauty and artistic impression of astrophotographies. I'll search my lightroom catalogue and upload some of my stuff asap. And YES - my club fellows would probably lower their thumbs ;-) Cheers Pete P.S. hope the above makes sense for you as I am not a native speaker. |
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| Wonderful idea! |
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Thanks for the group Gary- finally gave me a reason to share a moon image myself and Andrew McCarthy had made together https://www.astrobin.com/u011ft/?nc=user I always loved the result- but never wanted to share it on this site since we blended our moon data together to achieve something a bit surreal. Hope y'all like it as much as I do Connor |
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Connor Matherne: Conner, this is a wonderful image. I don't mind it's surreal or not. It's just beautiful! It definitely deserves to be seen by more people! |
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This is the best idea in a long while. May it Live Long and Prosper! Van |
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Thank you Gary for this site Best Regards Flo |
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Hi Gary, I am looking forward to participating in this forum! Thanks for starting it. CS Mike |
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Hi Gary, This is a wonderful idea. It caught me in a moment when I w as really thinking about what we are doing as astrophotographers, our relation with the re ality we are trying to picture and how it relates to the scientific aspect. You helped in clarifying the question and probably showing us a way of concentrating our efforts. How many types of astrophotography are there? What are those types that are not fine-art or merely artistic? I'll try to picture how I see this and maybe you can tell if that overlaps at least partially with what you had in mind. If I can find one criterion that can make an astrophotographic image fine art it would be emotion, aesthetical emotion if you like. If I can transmit something with my picture, if I can change something at least for a moment in the viewer, provoke an emotion, a feeling of something "different" I think it can qualify as fine art photography. Actually, I was trying to achieve that with some of my images. Not with the goal of doing fine-art photography (I just discovered the idea with your group). Probably you did too and I think there are lots of us who are already striving (consciously or not) to make artistic images and create a special atmosphere or impression. That's why I was arguing during all this backyard/remote IOTD debate that the final criterion should be aesthetical. I have no idea how astrophotography viewed by the fine art photographic community at large or how does the public see us. It's sure we're not mainstream. Thanx for making the effort of bringing more visibility. What's a bit unclear for me is that there seems to be some tacit implication that fine-art astrophotography should depart from our standard way of processing images or shooting them. My view is that this is not necessary (I mean your image and Min's image of the Pickering triangle are perfect examples of fine art photography without departing from what we call a standard approach). Personally I want to image the beauty of the Unvierse as it is. The stars and all : ). I think that composition, chromatism, the immersive aspect of the image can all be obtained without tweaking reality too much. It is not possible for all our cosmic targets to produce fine-art (globular clusters and a galaxy in the middle of the image are hard to be given an artistic perspective, but not impossible). That's a personal interpretation of course, not in opposition with anyone wanting to create more pictural images. I studied graphics and painting when I was younger, but medicine doesn't leave me much time to do that now. So astrophotography can indeed be a way of getting closer to fine art. Sorry for my rantings, but if I can't talk this with you people, who I am going to talk to : ) ? Clear skies, Bogdan |
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So this is the place of home for the more surrealistic interpretations of extraterrestrial light and color that I don't dare to disclose in my local astronomy club ?!? (I even do not have them up on astrobin yet)Joking aside, Gary - I really appreciate your idea of a group dedicated to the sheer beauty and artistic impression of astrophotographies. I'll search my lightroom catalogue and upload some of my stuff asap. I am eager to see your images, Pete. Like you, I have several renditions that explore an different artistic and graphical styles that I have only shared with my family and non-astrophotography friends. We now have a group with whom we can share our work. Also, your English is much, much better than my German. Thank you for writing my my native language. |
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Van H. McComas: I am eager to see some of those legendary McComas time-lapse videos. So, so good. |
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Thank you Gary for this site Best Regards Flo My pleasure, Florian. I am eager to see your work. |
