'Crux', my alternate for this week.

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'The Expanse' and my alternate, 'Crux' were taken at two different lookouts in the upper Blue Mountains, both very late at night. 'Expanse' was captured at Cahill's Lookout at Katoomba while 'Crux' was taken at Lincoln's Rock near Wentworth Falls. I took three frames of each composition - light, regular, dark. Each was processed separately using a Topz-LR-PS workflow, but not combined until PS. the final result comes about from the light and regular frames stacked with a dark solid colour underneath, picked from the image. Layer transparencies are adjusted to get the dynamic range the way I want it. There is also a light touch dodge on the stars of the feature constellation to help them pop like their white light versions do for the naked eye.  A brightness contrast layer over the top with a reveal/conceal approach to make the galaxy pop is the finishing touch.

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Stunning!!!!

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Beautiful shot- the colors are lovely.

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