[masraum]

Originally Posted by DonDavis

I'm sure Glen knows this, but that pic's HEAVILY modified. I live prob 12 miles from there and have hiked/ran/camped out there many times.

Ain't never seen it like that. Not once.

It's the difference between eyes and a camera. It's the same as looking through a telescope or photographing through a telescope. None of the pics that you see of the night sky are how they look to the naked eye.

You can think of it as being like a rain gauge. You eye is like sticking a rain gauge in the rain for 0.1 second and then checking to see how much rain you got. Using a camera (always done via longish shutter speed, and then digitally enhanced) is like sticking that same rain gauge out in the rain for an hour. When the rain gauge is stuck out for an hour, you collect a lot more rain.

Eyes only catch an instant of light, while a camera sensor with a "long" exposure can collect a lot more light. Camera sensors are in some ways more sensitive too.

The digital enhancement process does not involve creating anything that's not captured in the photo or that wasn't "visible" at the time. It involves removing the "noise" and enhancing the signal.