Air 2 Milky way over the hills

[mattitech07]

This photo is the result of the stacking of 30 8 seconds exposures at 6400ISO in Sequator and then edited using GIMP, Lightroom and Snapseed. I didnt think it was possible with a drone, as usually you need a stable tripod, but I was very impressed to see the MA2 could be this stable. Of course I was lucky there was little to no wind, else the shots would have looked blurry, and the relatively lower light pollution helped (Bortle 4).

If you want to know some more in depht information about how I processed the image, feel free to ask.

 

[GFields]

Awesome shot!

 

[waynorth]

Wow, that must be the first good drone photo of the Milky way!
And thanks for making me interested in the Bortle scale, Sequator and light pollution map
I once spent a clear night outside in a Bortle Class 1 zone on the Tibetan plateau at more than 4000 meters, and I have never seen so many stars and other objects in the sky, and the star constellations seemed much closer than they do at lower altitudes.

 

[Nanny Ogg]

Great image!

 

[Lets Fly]

As a deep space astrophotographer that's impressive. May have to try that, very nice.

 

[MS Coast]

If you want to know some more in depht information about how I processed the image, feel free to ask.

That's an absolutely stunning image. You've expanded my understanding of what drones are capable of. I think a number of us would be interested in hearing more about how you accomplished that.

 

[mattitech07]

That's an absolutely stunning image. You've expanded my understanding of what drones are capable of. I think a number of us would be interested in hearing more about how you accomplished that.

Thanks. I made 30 8 seconds raw exposures at max ISO (6400). Stacked in Sequator and I used the sky layer feature and remove light pollution option. Since the drone moved slightly between the exposures, the foreground was blurry so I went to Gimp and layered the stacked result on top of one of the single exposures and used the delete tool to show the clean foreground. Then I did some adjustements in Lightroom and Snapseed.

 

[PanoVolo]

now that is something different.. I think sequaror also allows for the sky masking and foreground image selection but for me the results are a hit and miss


I typically use 20 1.8 nikkor z, not a drone though )

 

[Capt KO]

That's one thing I miss about my job at sea, the Milky Way on a moonless night, no lights for hundreds of miles. I felt small enough on the ocean but then lookin up at that...WOW even the earth seemed small. And Yes, I believe there's life out there..may have even met a few.

Thanks for the memories

 

[mattitech07]

now that is something different.. I think sequaror also allows for the sky masking and foreground image selection but for me the results are a hit and miss


I typically use 20 1.8 nikkor z, not a drone though )

Sky masking in Sequator usually works well for my smartphone shots. However it came blurry this time because the drone moved slightly in between the exposures, so I had to layer a single sub exposre under the stacked result in gimp to show the clean foreground

 

[PanoVolo]

did you try "freeze ground" option in Sequator? It usually works quite well if the ground moves between the shots.

 

[mattitech07]

did you try "freeze ground" option in Sequator? It usually works quite well if the ground moves between the shots.

Yes I did, still did not work very though

 

[mattitech07]

Here is an updated version with more brightness in the Milky way

 

[PanoVolo]

much improved

 

[Chrislaf]

That's a great capture of the Milky Way from a drone!

I have been experimenting with star photography with my Mavic 3 but put it on hold until the weather cools a bit because the mosquitos were relentless, so much so that I couldn't concentrate on my drone and captures.

Great to see that the resulting image worked. I will try again once the bugs die down.

I am considering getting the Wide-angle lens to try so that I get a wider FOV. It apparently increases the FOV to 15.5mm format equivalent. I often shoot stars/milky way with my DSLR and most of the time I shoot at 14mm so the wide-angle attachment has me interested.

Chris

 

[MavicFlyer2]

Very impressive indeed and thank you for sharing !

 

[waynorth]

Here is an updated version with more brightness in the Milky way

Even more impressive!