[mikeSF]

Whoa, I'd certainly say you've gotten the hang of it, more like a strangle hold on it. Very very nice. How do you get sharp foregrounds in combo with the star shots? masking layers in Ps? There doesn't seem to be any noticeable blur in the foreground for such longish shots. Excellent stuff.

He is combining shots. One for the foreground and then astrotracer shots for the sky.,

Thanks Rondec. Yes Rob, the usual technique is to shoot a star exposure with the OGPS and then switch it off to capture the terrestrial shot and then blend layers. Works fine unless the selections are tricky such as lots of trees with leaves, etc.

[Rondec]

Thanks Rondec. Yes Rob, the usual technique is to shoot a star exposure with the OGPS and then switch it off to capture the terrestrial shot and then blend layers. Works fine unless the selections are tricky such as lots of trees with leaves, etc.

They are amazing shots, Mike. You have skill and know how to maximize your gear to get the shot you want/need.

[Oakland Rob]

Thanks Rondec. Yes Rob, the usual technique is to shoot a star exposure with the OGPS and then switch it off to capture the terrestrial shot and then blend layers. Works fine unless the selections are tricky such as lots of trees with leaves, etc.

Heh, that "unless" is a biggy, and I was especially enamored of a few of the shots with tons of leaves. Even assuming they don't move on their own it's still quite an effort to mask them, especially with such dark foreground and background. Well done; the stone foundation in Round Valley with the stars shining THROUGH the leaves is a great example of that. I live in the East Bay as well, and I'm gonna have to get out there and look at that. Getting good Milky Way (mostly warmer months) and haze-free skies is pretty tricky where that shot was taken, so even more props for that.

[mikeSF]

Heh, that "unless" is a biggy, and I was especially enamored of a few of the shots with tons of leaves. Even assuming they don't move on their own it's still quite an effort to mask them, especially with such dark foreground and background. Well done; the stone foundation in Round Valley with the stars shining THROUGH the leaves is a great example of that. I live in the East Bay as well, and I'm gonna have to get out there and look at that. Getting good Milky Way (mostly warmer months) and haze-free skies is pretty tricky where that shot was taken, so even more props for that.

you can play with the blend mode of your layer and sometimes it works out perfectly with little or no extra work. Try "lighten" and "lighter color" as long as the trees/leaves are darker than your stars, you may not have to worry about a messy selection.

i am almost positive for this marsh house shot, i just used lighten for the blend mode and the stars came right through the trees with no extra work: