Title: Fortress of Time, Sky of Infinity

This image was captured some time ago at Fort Moultrie Historic Site along the Atlantic coast of South Carolina. I don't typically convert my Milky Way shots to black and white but this scene felt like an exception. With a waxing gibbous moon about 45 degrees up, thin clouds, and its light fading the MW, the character of the fort seemed to lend itself to a monochrome treatment. The image was cropped and denoise applied in LR. The b/w conversion was done in Silver Efex Pro and a subtle stroke was added in PS to frame it. Canon 5D Mark III, ISO 640, 16mm, f2.8, 25 sec. Tripod mounted.
  Posted: 04/10/2026 14:11:33

Hi Barbara, a lovely title for a fine image! You have captured the solemn feeling and serenity in the old fortress under the stars in a balanced composition. I can see why you made it black-and-white.
  Posted: 04/12/2026 21:52:24

Good evening Barbara,

With Kirsti - a great title for the image. I really like Milky Way images and in this case it makes a great background for the fort. I do not have any suggestions for improvement.

This is a real wall Hanger for me - one I would be glad to hang in my office.

Thanks you for sharing it with us Barbara.   Posted: 04/12/2026 22:23:08

I agree with the others it being a good capture of the Milky Way and your processing too. I am still working on getting a good Milky Way capture. It appears you are way above my Milky Way "pay grade". ;)   Posted: 04/13/2026 00:32:50

The sky is masterfully done. Particularly the strong diagonal lines suggested by the clouds and the stars on the left. In my opinion, the building does not work. It is too much with unrelated bright areas, the cross of the walkways and the grass. I would crop out the grass. and perhaps bring down the bright high lights in the building particularly the door in the center of the picture. Try asking yourself, why you took this picture? Re print and edit to emphasize your answer.   Posted: 04/16/2026 15:27:57

The sky is wonderful the way you captured it. I do a lot of MW photography and it is a challenge for get them right in B&W but this works very well.
I also like the contrast, both photographically and metaphorically, between the old fortress and the infinite sky.

My first reaction was that I wanted to see more of the fortress. I'm wondering if you have access to the location or if this was a travel photo, etc.? I have had good success with landscape MW photos, and it might be worth the attempt to try that if you have access to the spot again to get in more of the fortress.

I've also had good success with doing 2 photo panoramas - you need to use a special mount and the setting can be challenging depending on the size of the lens, but instead of doing large panoramas using 10-20 photos merged together, I used only 2 side by side - done in portrait mode - to get one large landscape photo - almost like a large format camera.

Thanks for sharing this image with us.
Rob


  Posted: 04/17/2026 00:42:34