Nightscape photography 101

[Garbz]

This has just recently been posted on the IceInSpace forums. Quite a lengthy introduction to taking nightscapes:

Quite relevant to us PhotoForumers here and not just the telescope junkies on IceInSpace.

NP101: What are Nightscapes? | Mike Salway

 

[cynicaster]

Those time lapse videos are freakin' cool!

 

[Garbz]

Yep sadly it's about all a lot of people got. The astrocamp was quite cloudy which pissed off quite a few people.

 

[dearlybeloved]

im still trying to figure out how to take photos with the star fields visable. I havent exactly been active about it but wondering how its done. 

 

[Garbz]

Find a dark sky, sensitive camera, and a fast lens.

ISO3200, 20seconds, D800, Can't remember aperture.

Your other option is to start staking images and then boost the contrast. A lot of it is in the post processing. By stacking images you end up with more data that can be used to cut through light pollution using a very sharp contrast curve. Stacking also gets around the stars moving as the software can re-align the images so the stars line up properly. Do the stack twice one with re-aligning for sharp stars, and one without for sharp landscapes and then combine in Photoshop.

 

[TCampbell]

Find a dark sky, sensitive camera, and a fast lens.

ISO3200, 20seconds, D800, Can't remember aperture.

Your other option is to start staking images and then boost the contrast. A lot of it is in the post processing. By stacking images you end up with more data that can be used to cut through light pollution using a very sharp contrast curve. Stacking also gets around the stars moving as the software can re-align the images so the stars line up properly. Do the stack twice one with re-aligning for sharp stars, and one without for sharp landscapes and then combine in Photoshop.

Great shot! As soon as I saw this I thought "Where did he get a shot of Sagittarius into the heart of the Milky Way so high up in the sky?" And then I noticed you're in Australia.

For me, that barely scrapes just a little above the horizon and only in july/august.