Hmmm... I think you guys are being too critical.
> The second shot is unmistakeably at the north shore of Thousand Island Lake, looking west to Banner peak. SO how can the apparent arcs of the stars be concentric with a point somewhere to the left, to the south?
The point is the South Pole! Think down through the Earth and a little to the left. That arc appears about right to me.
> In neither the first nor second picture do the reflections of the star tracks look correct. In the second picture, there are no reflected star tracks (should be on the left side), I do not understand the horizontal band of light middle right, and in the first picture the reflected star tracks seem "off set". Me thinks the sky's have been photoshopped into the images.
Actually, in the second, if you look closely at the only place there could/should be a reflection, you can see a faint reflection of the lowest arc, where it touches the crest of the ridge.
In the first picture, the stars are really bright. But think about it: The stars are burning into the digital camera's sensor for hours. How that sensor projects the image has much to do with its dynamics and electronics characteristics.
> Actually the third one is wrong, too: the arcs and angles on the left side are very different.
Lens distortion! Photographers pay big bucks for lenses that maintain straight lines out to the corners of their pictures. Notice the oval shape around the North Star area in the first picture.
> it would seem the artist was interested in adding a few clouds for dramatic effect
Those pictures are time-exposures taken over hours of time. Clouds are going to look strange, since they move. Think about the time-exposures of streams and cascades -- they make the water look way different too.
...But I am still puzzled about the circles in the lower left of the first picture. I really don't think an aircraft could do that.
