My FIRST attempts at night shots.

[imagesliveon]

Thanks to the folk on this forum for helping me out to get my first what I think are half decent images of the night sky.

Unfortunately there is alot of night pollution here which I struggled with.

I would love any feedback you guys could offer..

Does the lower ISO in the first image (ISO400) create the vinette which is a little unwanted???




Night sky 1st attempt by imagesliveon, on Flickr



Night Sky 1st attempt by imagesliveon, on Flickr

Any suggestions to help next time to make these photos pop a little?? Im thinking of going up to the same location at say 0300am..


Kind Regards

Simon

 

[Rhoads238]

I like the exposure better in the first shot. The composition is also working for me. I'm not bothered by the vignette. Did you try removing it in post processing? In Photoshop you would go into lens correction. And adjust the slider bar for vignette. You might get some noise in doing so if the vignette is very heavy. You could also avoid it all together by using a middle of the road f stop. It could also be from the focal length you are using if you were using a zoom lens.

Looks like you had a plane flying by in the second shot. Watch out for those or you will have streaks in the sky. Unless that's what your intention is.

 

[imagesliveon]

I did try and remove it but it wasn't working out. I used CS6 to make some adjustments. Both shots are F4, 17mm on a 17-40mm lens

Thanks

 

[CameraEye333]

Love the 1st one, especially the color gradation. Beautiful, good exposure, nice star clarity...I can see Orion peeking out from behind the trees. The 2nd one's nice too, lighter feel, less extreme/contrasty. Nice work!

 

[Rhoads238]

Seems like the aperture was the problem then. Try f8. Zoom lenses tend to vignette when shot wide open on their widest focal length.

 

[invisible]

Try f8.

Problem is, f/8 would have forced him/her to either crank up the ISO (resulting in more noise) or shoot a longer exposure (resulting in star trails).

In my opinion, that is not vignetting – if it were, you'd see a similar effect on the bottom corners. A wild guess would be that the lighter areas of the sky are the result of light pollution. To shoot the night sky, you really need to get far from any cities/towns/villages/vehicles.

 

[Rhoads238]

Try f8.

Problem is, f/8 would have forced him/her to either crank up the ISO (resulting in more noise) or shoot a longer exposure (resulting in star trails).

In my opinion, that is not vignetting – if it were, you'd see a similar effect on the bottom corners. A wild guess would be that the lighter areas of the sky are the result of light pollution. To shoot the night sky, you really need to get far from any cities/towns/villages/vehicles.

I think your right. After having another look, on a computer this time, it's more obvious. Had it been a vignette it would have been on the bottom as well.

 

[invisible]

I think your right. After having another look, on a computer this time, it's more obvious. Had it been a vignette it would have been on the bottom as well.

I've shot the night sky many times but never in the presence of light pollution, so mine is really just a guess – I could be way off. I'm sure someone who does know what caused the problem will pop by and enlighten us.

 

[OrbitalJosh]

If you were wondering, the bright star is Jupiter and the cluster to the top right of it is M45. First shot is defo the best.