{"id":57830,"date":"2024-04-25T08:01:44","date_gmt":"2024-04-25T08:01:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/99eb7a08-e7d1-41d7-a15c-0276ac2fdcb6"},"modified":"2024-04-25T08:09:42","modified_gmt":"2024-04-25T08:09:42","slug":"how-to-create-a-panorama-image-of-the-northern-lights","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/rss_feed\/how-to-create-a-panorama-image-of-the-northern-lights\/","title":{"rendered":"How to create a panorama image of the Northern Lights"},"content":{"rendered":"

Take your aurora astrophotography to the next level by creating a beautiful panorama showing off its colourful wisps. <\/p>

By <\/p>

Published: Thursday, 25 April 2024 at 08:01 AM<\/p>

\n\n

The panorama aurora image above shows a view looking down on Norway\u2019s Lofoten archipelago from Offers\u00f8ykammen mountain, for which I won the Aurora category in the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2019 competition.<\/p>

I chose the location because I like mountains and there aren\u2019t many photos taken from this viewpoint.<\/p>

I took multiple images with the aim of creating a panorama of the wonderful aurora display that was taking place.<\/p>

Read more:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>

How to photograph the aurora<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/li>
Image processing: bring out the best in your astrophotos<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/li>
How to use DeepSkyStacker for astrophotography<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/li><\/ul>
When I set about processing the image, I wanted a result that would reflect just how special the moment was.<\/p>
I wanted to ensure that there were no areas that were too light or dark, and that the colours remained true to nature, with just a little bit of highlighting to bring out more detail.<\/p>
For more astrophotography tips, read our guide on how to photograph the stars<\/a>.<\/p>
How to create your aurora panorama<\/strong><\/h2>My first processing step involves the creation of a panorama in Adobe Lightroom. To do this I select the RAW images required from my photo library and mark them (see above).<\/p>
The selected pictures are joined together to make the initial panorama by clicking on Photo > Merge photos > Panorama<\/em>.<\/p>
The completed RAW<\/a> panorama can now be imported into Adobe Photoshop, ready for me to perform basic adjustments with the RAW converter (see below).<\/p>
I adjust the Highlights<\/em> slider, bringing it down completely, while the Shadows<\/em> are adjusted up. I make tweaks to the Whites<\/em> and Blacks<\/em>by eye, to 31 and \u20138 respectively, but this is down to personal taste.<\/p>
$\"How$ <\/figure>
By adjusting the White Balance<\/em> towards blue, the snow appears white and not too greenish. I boost the Contrast<\/em> and move the Clarity<\/em> slider up to 10 in the foreground and down in the background, with slight tweaks to the Brightness<\/em>.<\/p>
After removing noise with the Noise Reduction<\/em>tool, I\u2019m ready to move on from the RAW converter. <\/p>
The next stage involves working with luminosity layer masks (see below) in Photoshop. I find the plug-in TK Basic panel tool is useful for making luminosity masks, because it\u2019s an easy way to create layers automatically.<\/p>
Within a layer you can create an \u2018S\u2019 curve in the Tone Curve<\/em>panel, which represents portions of the image. This darkens the shadows in the lower third of the curve and lightens the brighter portions of the image represented by the curve\u2019s upper third.<\/p>
$\"How$ <\/figure>
I make an \u2018S\u2019 curve for all the lighter tones, or \u2018Lights\u2019 (marked as L1 to L5 in the tool) so that they shine beautifully.I leave the middle tones untouched when I process night shots.<\/p>
I then draw an \u2018S\u2019 curve for the Darks<\/em>(marked D1 to D5). The exception is \u2018Darks-1\u2019, the category\u2019s first section, where I boost the shadow to make the image brighter and more natural. <\/p>
The Lights<\/em>can be enhanced more by using the brush tool over an extra layer (created by making a copy from the image to a new layer by right-clicking the mouse).<\/p>
In Photoshop\u2019s Lighten<\/em> blend mode I move a soft brush with low Opacity<\/em> over the areas of city lights, snow and aurora. I do the same for dark-shaded areas in the Darken<\/em>mode.<\/p>
After this I pull the two layers (the copy and the original) together, with a right click on the copy layer, and combine with the lower layer (see below).<\/p>
$\"How$ <\/figure>
Finally, I add a softening effect by drawing over the lights with the soft brush tool and making them shine, to give the picture a nice, glowing look. By using the AF-panel, the effect is possible with a mouse click.<\/p>
I\u2019m careful to only apply this effect to the light areas, leaving the dark areas untouched \u2013 otherwise the picture can lose its coherence and look blurry.<\/p>
The AF-panel automatically makes a perfect layer for that, so there\u2019s no need to create extra ones. After that I sharpen the image with the RAW converter.<\/p>
I may need to make more tweaks to \u2018Saturation\u2019 or turn the \u2018Dynamic Range\u2019 lower, as these can often change during the editing process and result in the snow losing whiteness.<\/p>
To finish, I save my aurora image as a high resolution JPEG.<\/p>
3 tips for creating an aurora panorama<\/strong><\/h3>
1<\/p>
Calibrate the screen to get the best colours in your final image, as devices often have a different white balance.<\/h3><\/div>
2<\/p>
Check online for plug-ins or tools that make your work easier, or to find new effects.<\/h3><\/div>
3<\/p>
Look at your finished picture again on the next day, as you\u2019ll often find something that\u2019s been overlooked.<\/h3><\/div>
Nicolai Br\u00fcgger is a photographer who lives in Germany. He won the \u2018Aurora\u2019 category in the Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2019 competition with his image \u2018The Watcher\u2019.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>
This guide originally appeared in the October 2020 issue of BBC Sky at Night Magazine.<\/strong><\/em><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n
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