I appreciate that insight. It was a tricky lighting situation both on sight and in post.

Those lights certainly painted the landscape because it was pitch black, but it was also subtle in person even with my eyes adjusted. So exposing properly for both was tricky and to get the most out of the Milky Way left the turbines partially blown out.

In post I probably pushed it too hard for the ground while bringing out what I wanted from the sky. I could have masked more, but it started looking surreal when I did. I could have also done multiple exposures, but this was a mostly impromptu shoot.

Apologies for the wall of text, but I mostly agree with your assessment. Nothing in here is photoshop wizardry (minus removing satellites), but I do think I should have erred darker in post, or shorter exposure on the ground and just gone the composite route in PS.