Astrophotography - Post your pictures here

[Brewtus]

A bit surprised that this isn't a thread yet,

If you post a picture, please include loc'n, time, camera and settings, as well as post processing effects

This is my first real attempt at astrophotography

Panorama of Fort Rock, OR - 1 May 2016

Nikon D3300 - 18mm-55mm F3.5-5.6 - 18mm - F/3.5 - 30sec - ISO1600
Stitched with Microsoft ICE and adjusted with GIMP 2.8

Timelapse of Fort Rock, OR - 1 May 2016
[video]http://vid725.photobucket.com/albums/ww252/Brewtus/Fort%20Rock%20Star%20Timelapse_zpse3q7a5ai.mp4[/video]
Nikon D3300 - 18mm-55mm F3.5-5.6 - 18mm - F/3.5 - 30sec - ISO1600
Movo Photo MTP-10 Motorized Panaromic Time Lapse Tripod Head
Encoded with MPEG StreamClip and edited with Cyberlink PowerDirector

They're not perfect, but I was very surprised at how well they did come out. Just ordered a Rokinon 16MAF-N 16mm f/2.0 Aspherical Wide Angle Lens for my next trip. I'm thinking Crater Lake or going back to Fort Rock to get a better composed shot with better clarity and composition.

 

[1MK]

All photos done with a Canon EOS-M3 and a 12mm F/2.0 Rokinon Lens.


Afton Canyon, Ca
11-27-2015
10:55pm
25s
ISO 1000

https://flic.kr/p/BBLKT9https://www.flickr.com/photos/125556024@N05/




Landers, Ca
10-10-2015
1:30am
25s
ISO 1250

https://flic.kr/p/zDz1UA https://www.flickr.com/photos/125556024@N05/




Saline Valley, Ca
2-27-2016
8:00pm
25s
ISO 1600

https://flic.kr/p/F6qH73https://www.flickr.com/photos/125556024@N05/

 

[CrimAvalanche]

Perfect collection !! .. Thanks for sharing

 

[robgendreau]

Here's one of my first, Great Sand Dunes Nat'l Park CO. 16mm Samyang on a Pentax K-50.

 

[Kerensky97]

Camping at Natural Bridges, in one of the darkest parts of the US. Had to take the opportunity to take a pic of the Milkyway as the ISS passed by.

It was a nice campsite too.

 

[Brewtus]

Curious, did you guys do anything special to get both the fire and the stars to expose correctly? Haven't tried it, but it would seem that the fire would tend to wash out with as wide open as you have to run to get the stars.

 

[Rattler]

I haven't gotten into stacking the photos. I usually use my Canon 70D with a Tokina 11-20 2.8f wide angle. 15 seconds seems to work best so far using 500-1600 ISO. I have a better version of this one at home that I can't get to right now.

 

[hitek79]

Hoping to start doing a lot more of this soon. Great topic!

 

[LostInTheWorld]

Cool thread. The main reason my wife and I go exploring is to see and photograph nature, so I really dig this kind of thing.

I love the photos that you guys posted with your exp vehicles in the foreground. Awesome compositions.

I haven't been out taking night shots yet this year, but I had some pretty good luck stacking sky detail images taken with a regular 500mm or 300mm lens a year or two ago. I made a "barn door tracker" gizmo for my regular tripod to help "track" the sky. If anyone is interested in making a similar gizmo let me know.

I've been wanting to take a trip to Saline Valley CA for some nice dark skies. Maybe this fall.

Andromeda (Nikkor 300mm Ais f2.8, Nikon D2xs, 840 images for a combined exposure time of about 7 hours)


Orion Nebula (Nikkor 500mm f4.0 P, Nikon D2xs, lots of 30 sec shots at 400 iso)


Comet Lovejoy (Nikkor 300mm Ais f2.8, Nikon D2x, three sequential 30 sec shots at 400 iso)


Michael
michaelfuchsphotography.com

 

[nwoods]

This is so cool! My efforts thus far have all been disappointing. What Aperature are you guys using?

 

[Rattler]

y basics:
1. A tripod
2. A remote trigger (or I use an app on my phone sometimes)
3. Set the f-stop as low as possible (usually 2.8 with my Tokina wide angle)
4. Put the lens in manual and set the distance to a tick below infinity.
5. I usually start around 15 seconds, ISO 800.
6. Check results and adjust if needed. Sometimes just to experiment, that is how I have larned what the adjustments will do.
I shoot in RAW when I do this. I usually don't have to make many adjustments either in Lightroom.

My buddy and I have gone out occasionally over the last few months trying to get some aurora borealis images. I have missed them so far but he managed to get some good ones back on Mother's Day.For those I use a higher ISO and shorter time.

I am a newb and have only been shooting with a DSLR since '12 though. Take it for what it is worth. Camera models and brands will have different settings. The Canon T2i I started with didn't do enar as well as my 70D. Plus A LOT has to do with the lens you choose/afford/steal. I am on a budget and like my Tokina 11-20 2.8f (@$450). I also use a Rokinon 8mm Fisheye 3.5f (@<$200).

 

[Kerensky97]

Curious, did you guys do anything special to get both the fire and the stars to expose correctly? Haven't tried it, but it would seem that the fire would tend to wash out with as wide open as you have to run to get the stars.

On mine there were a few things at work, first off the fire is tiny compared to how it looks. It was mostly coals and I threw a single piece of wood for the flames, over the 10 seconds or so of exposure it made it look like a ton of sparks. Second I had to stack up the rocks to block most of the direct glare from the small flickering flames. Third, the sky isn't as good as I hoped. It's looking in the same direction as the pic above it, taken just 30mins or so before. I wanted the fire with the galaxy behind it but with the fire so bright I just got the brightest stars and the galaxy wasn't there.

If I was patient I could have left the camera in the exact same spot and taken a second picture when the fire burned back down to composite, but I was planning on hiking the 8mile loop through all 3 Bridges in Natural Bridges the next day and wanted to get to sleep.

 

[Brewtus]

This is so cool! My efforts thus far have all been disappointing. What Aperature are you guys using?

This was really helpful for me http://petapixel.com/2014/01/29/picking-great-lens-milky-way-photography/.

There is an interesting interplay between shutter speed, aperture, and focal length. The smaller the focal length (the wider the angle of view) the longer you can leave the shutter open without streaking, and then the smaller the aperture you can use thereby reducing distortion and chromatic aberration and increasing the depth of field making it easier to get the stars in focus. However, using a larger aperture means you can use a lower iso; so you're balancing distortion/CA with iso noise.

My shot was done with the standard 18-55 3.5 kit lens that came with my Nikon D3300. But I've since upgraded to a Rokinon 16mm f2.0 lens. With the new lens, i think I'm now at 20 seconds, f2.8, iso 800.

I'm now looking at getting a deepsky filter, but they don't make one big enough as they're intended for telescopes and they're bloody expensive.

 

[nwoods]

Thanks for the responses guys

 

[1MK]

Ian Norman over at Lonely Speck has some awesome tutorials.

http://www.lonelyspeck.com/category/tutorials/