My first attempt at shooting the Milky Way came out orange

Last month I drove out to Big Bend National Park with my old DSLR and a tripod I got for $40. I set up around 2am, pointed at the core, and took about 20 frames at 15 seconds each. When I got home and stacked them, everything came out this weird orange-brown color instead of the blue and purple I see in everyone else's shots. Turns out light pollution from a small town 30 miles away was way worse than I thought, plus I forgot to set the white balance to daylight. Has anyone else had their first astro shots look like a pumpkin patch, and what did you do to fix it in post?

2 comments

2 Comments

taylor_mitchell801mo ago

That pumpkin color is a rite of passage, mine looked like Cheetos dust for weeks.

lindaw121mo agoMost Upvoted

Cheetos dust for weeks" is exactly right, and honestly that’s pretty much the best case scenario. I read somewhere that the orange tone really depends on your natural base color, and people with warmer skin pull more of the burnt orange while cooler tones get straight up traffic cone. Mine was so bright it looked like I dipped my head in a bag of Takis. The worst part was the sink stains, every time I washed my hair the water looked like a melted popsicle. Give it two good washes with a clarifying shampoo and it fades fast, but yeah, we all earn those stripes.