Why does my Milky Way still look so washed out despite shooting under a relatively dark sky?

Advice

I shot this at approximately 1500 m elevation with a Sony A7V + at 14mm, f/1.8, 45s tracked and ISO 2000 with Daylight WB.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1tSl81cZW2NQ6Iz4gymINrSMWFRS0\_sLx
(Single RAW file and lightpollutionmap indicator)

There is a huge number of stars in the image, but I struggle to bring out much structure and especially color in the Milky Way. I was expecting more detail given the relatively dark sky and the settings.
Could this mainly be due to atmospheric conditions/humidity, processing, or am I missing something in the capture? Thanks 🙏🏼

Posted Sep 13, 2026, 6:06 AM UTC

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