The *Official Photography Thread*

I think ultimately, what you've got is too many stars.
Knock the ISO down a few stops, and if you can, lengthen the exposure. This will eliminate the dimmer stars, and also create longer trails on the brighter ones. This will reduce the need for stacking as many images, which should help the jaggies as well as reduce the moire.

 

Great info Rich!

Here are some from my last day in Noyabrsk. The sun finally came out

 

Here's a few from our vacation to Northern California. All taken with just the x100s.


San Francisco by JawKneeFotografie, on Flickr

Sunset in the Northwest by JawKneeFotografie, on Flickr
Redwood up by JawKneeFotografie, on Flickr
Paul and Babe the blue ox. by JawKneeFotografie, on Flickr

 

I like the window seat for exactly that reason John. Great job. Heading north, Golden Gate and the Marina District of SF to your left. Bay Bridge beneath you. The Redwoods are an amazing place.

Nice pics!

 

Thanks. Being up north and coming back home to Southern California kinda made me depressed. So dull and brown compared to how green and lush everything was up north.

 

I tried stars tax. Didn't like it for this shot.

I used photo shot so I could edit the for ground how I wanted.

I know stars tax has the gap fill tho and it works great. Ps users use blur I guess but needs to have the northstar in it. Gonna try some more stuff later.

Marc and I run it on our 60ds. Love it. S worth it.

Nice tips man. This whole shot was spur of the moment so I went with it. Was 2500iso. Shoulda done 1250. Was 30 sec exposure. But 570ish photos. I only used 450ish.

I have done the just bulb open way and so far like doing it better. Need to play with my built in intervalometer to see if I can do 1 min photos back to back or something.

Thanks though man

 

Dude, what's someone doing to Babe's balls back there?!

 

Wow... I wouldn't have the patience for 400+ photos, much less then have the inclination to stack them all after getting home.

As it is, I've got probably 7 or 8 sets of panos that I took on vacation last week and I haven't even looked at stitching them.

My D7100 only does 30s max... can't do 1 minute.
I do have an external intervalometer that I bought for the D3100 that will do any length and interval I want.

 

Yea I just set it and went to bed. Haha

I'm just using ML for my intervalometer. Don't have an external one.

Probably get one this summer and a new tripod that doesn't move so much

 

His balls seemed to be the main attraction lol.

 

There's a wooden horse on the road into South Lake Tahoe...same deal

 

Okay....



How the heck is this done.
I understand needing dark sky. I've had that both times I've shot the MW.
High ISO? I've taken it to 1600. Getting into Hi.2 gave me purplish artifacts at the bottom of the image in the shots I took in the caverns.
The webs sites I've read on shooting the starts seem to indicate that 1600 is plenty.

So 1600, 30s for the 8mm or 20s for the 11mm to minimize trailing.... And my shots look nothing like that.

Or is the bulk of that done in post, and my shots still have that buried within them?

 

No idea. Some secret I suppose. Although some cameras just do better for low light stuf I have done 2500iso ones and still don't get that.


I d know location is key. Needs to be high elevation and winter night.

 

when I get home, I'm gonna grab the camera for a sunset/night shoot at the top of mauna kea, next to the keck observatories are

hope to learn how to shoot stars before that haha

 

One of the reasons I want a 6d. Has better low light performance then the 5d

 

oh my, this evening had a nice sunset too

gotta touch it up a bit

 

More than likely it is stacked longish exposures (see the trails starting to develop?). You'd create a nice forground shot-exposed as you wish. Then make your stars. Finally, layer in photoshop (or something).

 

Took a trip to the Black Hills Sun through Tues. Took hundreds of photos.


DSCF1583.jpg by AdelphosChaz, on Flickr


DSCF1630.jpg by AdelphosChaz, on Flickr

DSCF1726.jpg by AdelphosChaz, on Flickr

DSCF1794.jpg by AdelphosChaz, on Flickr

 

Winter night you don't get that. Winter, Sagittarius and Scorpius (the galactic center) is in the sky during the day.
Right now, it's rising just about midnight. By the last week of July, it will be rising around 9 and directly overhead around 12-1.

Winter night you get the other arm of the galaxy that does not contain the galactic center.