toisondor
Well-Known Member
I know there are experts at astrophotography here, so I hesitate to post my humble first attempts. I just wanted to see if I could capture a piece of the Milky Way in a single wide-open shot. A beautiful fall evening, a hundred miles from city lights, the galactic cloud was clearly visible overhead. I set my SD14 on a short-legged tripod and pointed straight up and tried a number of things. Instead of layering multiple shots, I simply set time to bulb and held my finger on the wired remote for about 45 seconds (18-50mm EX Macro lens set at 18). Of multiple shots with different settings, this one came out best.
View attachment 2148
And here is a 100% detail:
View attachment 2149
As you can see there's plenty of noise at ISO 800, but I am pleased to get so many clear stars and a bit of the cloud. I'll try again some time when the MW is closer to the horizon. It would be nice to have a silhouetted hill, or a tree or farmhouse for a sense of orientation and proportion.
The most important adjustments in SPP are Exposure at 1.9 and Fill light at 0.6 (plus noise reduction, which helped a little bit).
Any other tips for a complete beginner?
Jesse
View attachment 2148
And here is a 100% detail:
View attachment 2149
As you can see there's plenty of noise at ISO 800, but I am pleased to get so many clear stars and a bit of the cloud. I'll try again some time when the MW is closer to the horizon. It would be nice to have a silhouetted hill, or a tree or farmhouse for a sense of orientation and proportion.
The most important adjustments in SPP are Exposure at 1.9 and Fill light at 0.6 (plus noise reduction, which helped a little bit).
Any other tips for a complete beginner?
Jesse
