The Milky Way

tevo · Dec 23, 2012

Hello gents,

I will be staying in Palm Desert for about a week, and I want to photograph the stars / Milky Way. I have with me (among other gear) my D7000, a Tokina 11-16, a tripod and cable release. What is the best way to capture the Milky Way? I see photos showing the galaxy with rich colors and clarity, and I hope to achieve something similar.

rexbobcat · Dec 23, 2012

High ISO, Wide open aperture, no exposure times longer than 30 seconds, tripod, cable release.

That's basically how I do mine...

tevo · Dec 23, 2012

rexbobcat said:
High ISO, Wide open aperture, no exposure times longer than 30 seconds, tripod, cable release.

That's basically how I do mine...

How high of an ISO? I was thinking 400, 800 maybe, I want to avoid noise if possible.

rexbobcat · Dec 23, 2012

tevo said:
How high of an ISO? I was thinking 400, 800 maybe, I want to avoid noise if possible.

It depends on how many stars you want to see and how dark the surrounding area is.

I've had to shoot at 1600 at f/1.4 before. It's just a fact of physics because you have to keep your shutter speed fast enough that the rotation of the earth doesn't smear the stars

TheFantasticG · Dec 23, 2012

I highly recommend using the wireless remote with mirror lock up. Let the internal timer run out from mirror up to picture actuation. I've been doing that with my astrophotography and it helps with vibration reduction.

Shooting that wide you should be able to get away with 5" exposure @ 2.8 without any streaks and adjust ISO as needed. The wider you go the more play you have with exposure time.

DannyLewis · Dec 24, 2012

ISO either 800 or 1600 you wont get much noise and it can be cleaned up in PP

tevo · Dec 24, 2012

Okay, I just went out and took a few test shots. One problem I am having is that it is not extremely dark where I am at currently, and I do not see many stars, nor can I see the Milky Way without looking carefully, and it looks like the moon is only going to be showing us more light for the duration of my trip.