Astrophotography basic guide ?

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wildman

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does anyone know of a basic guide to taking shots at night of the stars ? I have seen some amazing pictures that people have taken using only their DSLR without it being linked to a telescope.

I have tried a few attempts and they were all pretty shocking. I know that I will need to use something like deep sky stacker for processing, but the basic images I have taken so far were all trash can material.

So i would like to hear from anyone who is a dab hand at this and possibly a few pointers to some more reading material wuld be great.

I am currently using an alpha A700 and a few lenses.
 
What are you trying to achieve, as the technique for star trails is rather different from trying to capture the milky way?
 
Scarecrow said:
What are you trying to achieve, as the technique for star trails is rather different from trying to capture the milky way?
Click to expand...

well this is the photo that inspired me to try

TS940x940~0a8c69fef693461aaf149ffbd3478ec2


so really looking for still sof constellations / milky way etc rather than star trails
 
First, you need to be a long way from the city.
Even with all the light pollution in this photo I expect they were a good distance from the city and had a really clear night.

Then it is just up the ISO and use a fast lens and a longer exposure. You can hold the shutter open for a while with a wider lens, but not too long as you will get start movement then. Rule 600 is often used, divide 600 by the focal length of your lens and the result is how many seconds you can hold the shutter open before star trails start to appear.
 
Oh, and to get the scenery and the milky way, you won't be using a stacker.
Simply because of star moment...
 
RichardtheSane said:
Oh, and to get the scenery and the milky way, you won't be using a stacker.
Simply because of star moment...
Click to expand...

this is the bit that is eluding me. The shot I linked i assume has to be multiple exposures overlaid ? I can't think of any other way that you can get that much detail of the stars without stacking, unless of course the photographer was using some kind of motorised equatorial mount that tracks as the earth rotates ???
 
But if you're tracking the stars, then the mountains would rotate :)

Most deep night shots like this involve a lot of post processing - never tried myself since I've only ever tried night shots with my compact, but you could mask the scenery and then stack the stars to your heart's content. Then re-add the scenery at the end.
 
When you're a long way from civilisation, and it's a clear night, the stars appear insanely bright.
Short of going into the inhospitable areas of Scotland, you won't get far enough from light polution in the UK.

I had a pop at it recently, somewhere west of Carlisle (I basically drove until there was no artificial light visible to the eye).

205179_4966747177052_1303710394_n.jpg


That's about as much Milky Way as I could get.

I had to add a load of blue to it to get rid of the orange cast from streetlights that were miles away, but even at roughly 4 minutes at f3.5 and iso400 the stars are starting to streak.

And a sodding aeroplane went through the shot.
 
Meant to also say, the other reason you will struggle to get really impressive shots of the Milky Way are seasonal. The really bright bit is up in the summer months when the sky only just gets dark enough. Your best bet if you're trying is Feb/March 2-3 hours pre-dawn or August-October a similar time after dusk. The centre of the galaxy is up in the middle of the night in early June - but "up" is a relative term here since it's only about 5 degree above the southern horizon at best. If you want the best shots take your camera to the southern hemisphere where the night sky is spectacular in their winter. And you get the Magellanic Clouds for free.
 
RichardtheSane said:
First, you need to be a long way from the city.
Even with all the light pollution in this photo I expect they were a good distance from the city and had a really clear night.

Then it is just up the ISO and use a fast lens and a longer exposure. You can hold the shutter open for a while with a wider lens, but not too long as you will get start movement then. Rule 600 is often used, divide 600 by the focal length of your lens and the result is how many seconds you can hold the shutter open before star trails start to appear.
Click to expand...
Interesting this, I will give it a go...
 
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