First attempt at stars...

[theraven]

OK chaps, these are not the greatest ever but it was my first attempt at stars with my SLR. Looking for ways to improve... a lot! Taken with a Sony a200, settings roughly the same at f8-10 30 seconds, iso auto on the moon one and 400 for the stars.


Help appreciated! :love:



First attempt at stars by ravenphotography2012, on Flickr



First attempt at stars by ravenphotography2012, on Flickr



Stoke on Trent at night by ravenphotography2012, on Flickr

 

[theraven]

Midday bump for help

 

[jfrabat]

There A LOT of noise in the first one... Actually, I am not even sure it's noise in the traditional sense, but it looks like spots in the sky. I think the third one would have been REALLY nice if you would have taken it some minutes before, so that the sky would look bluer (but the lights still on).

 

[Frequency]

Third is good

 

[spacefuzz]

good start, practice practice practice! Go out on a 1/4 moon night and try some 15-30 minute exposures perhaps? As long as its below ~50 F you dont have to worry about the sensor getting too hot.

 

[theraven]

It was roughly 0 C last night! It was freezing lol! I'm gonna take it out, set it off then get in my car with the heaters on lol!

 

[Gadfly]

I'm not a star-shooter by any means, but I hope these tips help. Be sure to read more about star photography by doing a google search.

I think your ISO is too high in the first photo. It's very noisy and it's impossible to see the stars. You have to use a very stable tripod and leave the shutter open for a long period of time (20 seconds to a several minutes, depending on the lighting conditions, field of view of the lens, etc). The problem with this is that the Earth rotates, and the stars will leave trails. You can use this to your advantage, but if you want to capture points of light instead of streaks, you're going to need an equatorial mount which compensates for the Earth's rotation.

Before shooting, allow your camera about a half-hour or so to cool down to ambient temperature. This will help reduce distortions caused by temperature changes. Interact with the camera minimally (ie, try not to make it warmer with your body heat).

For a moon and stars shot as in #2, you will probably need multiple exposures. The moon can be captured with a quick exposure due to its brightness, but the stars need longer exposures. Long exposures, however, will simply turn your moon into a white disk.

#3 is a good nighttime photograph, but I don't see any stars.

 

[DannyLewis]

I do stars at 30seconds - f 7.1 - ISO 800 or 1600 need a faster shutter for the moon. Love the city light's...good job keep clickin

 

[DannyLewis]

heres one from the settings in my last post sorry for putting pics in your post just showing the difference in the settings from yours to mine good luck friend
NOt a good picture with the tree's in the way. it was one of my first dozen or so attempts
View attachment 24809

 

[DannyLewis]

View attachment 24810The moon at a faster shutter speed maybe 1/125 was to bright though the ISO should be maybe 1 or 200 for a full bright moon.. was
F11 I think....happy clicking