C+C or edit my first star picture? :)

[reissigree]

This is my first "decent" one. I know the bottom needs to be cropped, but let me know what you guys think. Also, how can I bring the stars into focus? Thanks

DSC_0210 by reissigree, on Flickr

 

[889Media]

When taking star pictures, you should avoid taking it directly into city lights. Sometimes it works if done correctly, but think in your picture you just get some very washed out lights, that do not look very good in the picture. What ISO did you use? The picture looks very noisy too.

 

[reissigree]

All that I have are cities around me :/ I will be taking a camping trip soon which I am very much looking forward to haha. I'm not quite sure on the ISO, I'm guessing 3200-Hi1? I used a Nikon D3100. Exp time was 15 sec. and f-stop was f/3.5. Thanks!

 

[Geaux]

No need for that high of an iso imo.

 

[reissigree]

So should I just leave the shutter open longer? And how do I bring the stars into focus?

 

[Geaux]

Yes, leave the shutter open for longer, but not too long, you'll get motion in the stars. Just manual focus to infinite or set it to f/11'ish.

 

[KmH]

Also, how can I bring the stars into focus?

Use a shorter shutter open time, or a motor driven equitorial camera mount .

The Earth is constantly moving. You don't show a location in your profile. Where on the planet you are (latitude) determines how fast you are moving from west to east.

 

[889Media]

A couple of days ago, a user here on TPF made a thread and posted a great video! This is a great place to start, and had some very nice tips and tricks. Also check out the author of the video's website for some great inspiration.

You find the thread here: http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...lery/259839-great-video-star-photography.html

Here is a short video of some of his work;
[video=vimeo;26968340]http://vimeo.com/26968340[/video]

 

[Compaq]

In star pics, your focal length also plays a part in your exposure, at least if you want to minimize star trails. The wider the lens, the "slower" the stars will move across the frame. Also, how fast stars trails depends on what part of the sky you're aiming: those close the the north star move slowly, the ones far away move faster and thus trail quicker.

"Rule of 600":

Shortest shutter speed that won't give you star trailing: 600 / (focal length*crop factor)
12mm will give you apprx 30 seconds on a cam with 1.6 crop factor

 

[dots]

Reissigree, there was a lot of chrominance noise in the image. I tried removing it while leaving the luminance unfiltered..