|
I also tried my hand at astrophotography about a month ago. I got around to producing a result, that I'm happy with I played around with Deep Sky Stacker a bit, I can't really tell if I duplicated the stars or not. I don't really have a thing for processing, just yet. It's cool software to play with though, providing you have a distraction while it does its (very long) thing. On my first attempt I tried with a 10mm lens in a park near the city, but the results weren't spectacular.
|
#
?
Aug 9, 2011 09:26
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 14, 2024 06:13 |
|
|
Roo-kie posted:On my first attempt I tried with a 10mm lens in a park near the city, but the results weren't spectacular. I actually like this one a little better, because the stars aren't as blurred. The edges of the processed one you posted are pretty distracting. The area around the dust cloud looks great though.
|
|
#
?
Aug 9, 2011 16:29
|
|
|
A few I took camping. Next purchase is a remote shutter. Big Dipper on the Lake by bernsai, on Flickr  Greig Lake at Night by bernsai, on Flickr  Greig Lake at Night by bernsai, on Flickr  Big Dipper in the Trees by bernsai, on Flickr
|
|
#
?
Aug 9, 2011 18:54
|
|
|
 Galaxy Cactus by torgeaux, on Flickr
|
|
#
?
Aug 9, 2011 23:35
|
|
|
Digging through my photos from last summer. Taken at about midnight, moon hidden behind the mountains behind me. An odd amount of light but still able to pick up the stars.
|
|
#
?
Aug 10, 2011 06:32
|
|
|
Hi all, directed here by another Goon from the AI forum. Some great images here! Look forward to going through all the threads. I live in HK so there are plenty of great opportunities for night shots. I only just bought a tripod and these are my first efforts. I put the black frame around them as I think it draws the viewer into the picture a little more and suits the subject. I'm using a Nikon D80 with low end Nikkor lenses. These were mostly shot on the kit 18-55mm with a couple of the longer range shot on the 55-200mm F/4. Looking forward to some tips. My main objective is to improve my composition which I think is the most important thing about these types of shot. IFC_03_SMALL by R-W-P, on Flickr  ADMIRALTY_GOVERNMENT_OFFICES_SMALL by R-W-P, on Flickr  CITIC_TOWER_SMALL by R-W-P, on Flickr  CONRAD_SMALL by R-W-P, on Flickr  THE_MASTERPIECE_SMALL by R-W-P, on Flickr  PENINSULA_HOTEL_SMALL by R-W-P, on Flickr  Hong Kong Opera House by R-W-P, on Flickr  IFC_02_SMALL by R-W-P, on Flickr  HKCEC_SMALL by R-W-P, on Flickr  Harbour Plaza by R-W-P, on Flickr  Tsim Sha Tsui by R-W-P, on Flickr  The Clock Tower by R-W-P, on Flickr  Queensway by R-W-P, on Flickr  Bank of China Tower by R-W-P, on Flickr  Lippo Center by R-W-P, on Flickr  Star Ferry by R-W-P, on Flickr  International Finance Centre II, IFC by R-W-P, on Flickr  Untitled by R-W-P, on Flickr  Pacific Princess by R-W-P, on Flickr  The Clock Tower by R-W-P, on Flickr  Untitled by R-W-P, on Flickr
|
|
#
?
Aug 10, 2011 09:19
|
|
|
Are you using a UV filter? You've got a lot of haze on these and UV filters make it worse. It could just be hazy out as well. You could also try stopping down some more, that should give you more defined edges around the highlights. Nice shots though! I love going to HK.
|
|
#
?
Aug 10, 2011 17:47
|
|
|
Saint Fu posted:Are you using a UV filter? You've got a lot of haze on these and UV filters make it worse. It could just be hazy out as well. You could also try stopping down some more, that should give you more defined edges around the highlights. Nice shots though! I love going to HK. Hmmm, I didn't know that. Thanks for the advice. I can't recall whether I had the filter on or not, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't on when I was using the 18mm for the wide-angle shots. As you've been to HK before you'll know that the haze and smog from over the border is a real problem. It has been much clearer than usual recently, but there's almost always some haze in the air. The Peak view photo was probably the clearest night in years, so I had to get up there. I'll try stopping down and increasing the shutter speed.
|
|
#
?
Aug 11, 2011 04:30
|
|
|
Your peak view is awesome. I've been up there twice, the best I could come up with was  Looking forward to more.
|
|
#
?
Aug 11, 2011 15:27
|
|
|
Taking photos of fireworks is fun!   Bit annoyed with the last one having someone in the way, but for my first night taking fireworks I was pleased.
|
|
#
?
Aug 11, 2011 16:33
|
|
|
NaDy posted:Taking photos of fireworks is fun! Funny because until I read your note about somebody being in the way it just looked like the edge of a cliff or a hill or something that you were shooting around and I thought it looked pretty cool.
|
|
#
?
Aug 11, 2011 19:33
|
|
|
Hello thread! Some of these might not count as long exposures, but I don't have a lot of experience with nighttime photography yet and I'm just looking for a little critique so please don't kill me   photo dump ahead  A lighthouse on the lake near my house (I think there was another Oklahoma City goon posting pics in here earlier in the thread so they may know where this is)  Paradise Pier at Disney Land  Neon sign  During a campfire with my friends, we decided (don't ask me why) to throw a styrofoam plate into the fire and then pick it up with a stick so that it would "drip" like lava and I managed to get a decent shot of it.  My cat's first time outside the house after we got him. Lighting courtesy of a flashlight.  Fireworks from 4th of July display downtown.  Christmas tree  And last but not least, Segway Santa So, feel free to let me know if my stuff sucks, or if I can improve on anything!
|
|
#
?
Aug 11, 2011 21:47
|
|
|
It was storming and I was bored, so I shot this, the Exif is probably gone so it was three 6 second exposures merged together with Enfuse for Lightroom. Lightning Merge by zachary.spradlin, on Flickr Not particularly great, epecially looking at everything else in the thread, but its one of very few long exposures I've done.
|
|
#
?
Aug 11, 2011 22:11
|
|
|
I think it looks awesome. 
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2011 02:25
|
|
|
The moon in the clouds really makes the shot. I agree that it's awesome.
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2011 03:11
|
|
|
bazaar apparatus posted:Hello thread! Some of these might not count as long exposures, but I don't have a lot of experience with nighttime photography yet and I'm just looking for a little critique so please don't kill me I'm going to wager a guess and say that you weren't using a tripod? I would get one or set the camera on something level and sturdy. Still life at night time pretty much requires longer exposures. These would've been much more striking if the camera was able to be steady enough to collect more light.
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2011 20:42
|
|
|
 Ancient Light by atomicthumbs, on Flickr
|
|
#
?
Aug 15, 2011 00:43
|
|
|
I envy all of you and if given the chance, would eat your brains to gain your knowledge. Until such day, I will continue to suck at night photography. Just found the general photography thread, going to go read my brains out.  Best of, maybe, two hundred tries. VendaGoat fucked around with this message at 02:33 on Aug 15, 2011 |
|
#
?
Aug 15, 2011 02:22
|
|
|
atomicthumbs posted:
This is really nice.  Calgary Early Morning BW by bernsai, on Flickr
|
|
#
?
Aug 15, 2011 04:25
|
|
|
I got this the other night. Went out looking for the meteor shower but with darkness came clouds. It's a bit on the dark side but I like it. Feel free to give me any tips though. Frederick Sound at night by b.kilkenny, on Flickr
|
|
#
?
Aug 15, 2011 10:19
|
|
|
atomicthumbs posted:
How did you do this? I assume that's city glow? Where did the noise come from? (like everyone else is saying, it looks super neat)
|
|
#
?
Aug 15, 2011 17:16
|
|
|
xzzy posted:How did you do this?
|
|
#
?
Aug 15, 2011 17:44
|
|
|
Lamb of Gun posted:I'm going to wager a guess and say that you weren't using a tripod? I would get one or set the camera on something level and sturdy. Still life at night time pretty much requires longer exposures. These would've been much more striking if the camera was able to be steady enough to collect more light. That would be correct. I have a tripod hand-me-down from one of my relatives but it's kinda crappy so I don't really use it ever. I do plan on buying myself a new one sometime, because I'm interested in nighttime photography and aspire to one day pull off shots like this:  I guess this would be a good chance to ask, do you guys have suggestions on a good, relatively cheap tripod? I think a Gorillapod would be nice but maybe it has faults I'm unaware of.
|
|
#
?
Aug 15, 2011 18:29
|
|
|
xzzy posted:I think it looks awesome. HookShot posted:The moon in the clouds really makes the shot. I agree that it's awesome. Thanks! After dwelling on it some more I think I actually do like it a lot. I guess I'm gonna keep messing around with night exposures some more, might as well since I have to live out in the sticks with my parents until we can close on a house...
|
|
#
?
Aug 15, 2011 18:33
|
|
|
xzzy posted:How did you do this? I don't remember how bright the city glow was (I took this picture months ago and only recently was able to scan it), but I think it might be ordinary skyglow/incident city glow from San Francisco. I cranked the contrast way up and changed the color balance, and the vignette produced by my lens (mamiya 645 35mm) turned into that, with the film grain becoming much more apparent. (Normally Fuji T64 is a very fine-grained film.) Before any adjustments, it looked like this:  and here's the curves 
|
|
#
?
Aug 15, 2011 20:20
|
|
|
That's pretty neat. Turned a somewhat forgettable photo into something pretty epic. I guess this means I need to get better at visualizing what post processing can do for an image. 
|
|
#
?
Aug 15, 2011 21:00
|
|
|
The ISS went over my area tonight! I forgot my wireless remote. Space station is wobbly.   ISS (International Space Station) by Chad Larson Photography, on Flickr
|
|
#
?
Aug 16, 2011 04:22
|
|
|
VendaGoat posted:I envy all of you and if given the chance, would eat your brains to gain your knowledge. Are you able to manually set the shutter speed and exposure on your camera? Do you have a tripod? If the answer's yes to both you can start getting some great night shots right away. In your photo it looks like the shutter is firing pretty quickly judging by the dark image and the short light trails from the cars. It looks like a pretty interesting view though. Is it from your home/office? If you can shoot a picture in portrait of the tall building in the middle and fit the bridge in the lower part of the photo on a long exposure (20-25 seconds) it would be cool, I reckon1 btw, I really like the Ancient Light photo. It could be an album cover of a 70's Prog Rock group. JuanChai fucked around with this message at 07:11 on Aug 16, 2011 |
|
#
?
Aug 16, 2011 07:06
|
|
|
JuanChai posted:Are you able to manually set the shutter speed and exposure on your camera? Do you have a tripod? If the answer's yes to both you can start getting some great night shots right away. In your photo it looks like the shutter is firing pretty quickly judging by the dark image and the short light trails from the cars. It looks like a pretty interesting view though. Is it from your home/office? If you can shoot a picture in portrait of the tall building in the middle and fit the bridge in the lower part of the photo on a long exposure (20-25 seconds) it would be cool, I reckon1 I have a manual setting for my camera, but nothing anywhere near 20-25 seconds. In ISO mode I can get maybe a two second exposure. I was using manual setting when I took this and was experimenting to learn night photography. Obviously I still need work and luckily this view isn't too far of a drive from me, so I can always retry. I did use a tripod and my remote control when I took it. I was not shooting in ISO mode, just simple shutter speed mode. So the basic advice I am getting is, get my camera back on it's tripod, turn it sideways, get the two towers and bridge in the shot and leave it to shoot for as long as I can get it to.  Once I try again, I'll post the results.Thank you.
|
|
#
?
Aug 16, 2011 17:34
|
|
|
A couple of holiday pictures from the south of France, both taken with my modified Canon 1000D and 50mm EF lens at F3.5 on my Vixen Sphinx mount. Cygnus Central Region by tmarkuk, on Flickr 33 x 5 minutes. The bright central star is Deneb with Sadr to the right.  Cassiopeia by tmarkuk, on Flickr 14 x 4 minutes, a cloudy and annoying night, framing could have been better on this.
|
|
#
?
Aug 30, 2011 09:31
|
|
|
Was that equatorial mount around $300? Does anyone know of a cheap equatorial mount I could put on my tripod?
|
|
#
?
Aug 30, 2011 17:10
|
|
|
Bread Zeppelin posted:Was that equatorial mount around $300? The Sphinx is a Japanese computerised goto mount and comes in retail at around $1800 I think, though I got mine second have over here for £800 a few years back. It's a capable and portable little mount for observing or imaging with short focal length refractors, completely over kill for just a Camera and lens though. An Astrotrac TT320X-AG would be ideal for these kind of images, but they are around $580. Otherwise for under $300 you are looking at something like an EQ2 clone (Orion Astroview / Celestron CG4) with motor drives.
|
|
#
?
Aug 31, 2011 11:05
|
|
|
I just found out about barn door mounts, so I may try to go that route.
|
|
#
?
Aug 31, 2011 18:56
|
|
|
Goons, I just bought Nikon D5100 and still learning. Was going to buy a tripod, but then read this article by Ken Rockwell (whom I really trust) - http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/digital-killed-my-tripod.htm which says that tripod is not needed for DSLRs. So, the question is - is it possible to repeat some of the photos shown here (and majority of them are amazing!) w/o tripod by playing with ISO or what have you. I understand that sharpness will be gone but still...
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2011 17:05
|
|
|
Every time I read that clown's site, I find new reasons I want to punch him in the kidneys.
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2011 17:31
|
|
|
ole_bjorne posted:Goons, I just bought Nikon D5100 and still learning. Was going to buy a tripod, but then read this article by Ken Rockwell (whom I really trust) - http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/digital-killed-my-tripod.htm which says that tripod is not needed for DSLRs.
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2011 17:36
|
|
|
I got like 3 paragraphs into a response with more substance, but really all that needs to be said is K-Rock is high as a kite. All the above comments are correct. I would also add that places like Times Square are going to be about as bright as any nighttime location you'll ever find other than a sports stadium. Tripods are really useful and I wish I had the patience to drag mine around more. Even in daytime shots at wide angles I've started noticing a that that small details are lost due to motion blur.
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2011 18:13
|
|
|
I leave my tripod in the car.. so it's always there if I decide I need it.
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2011 19:42
|
|
|
ole_bjorne posted:Ken Rockwell (whom I really trust) Ken Rockwell is a retard. All his technical advice is completely opinion based and poorly formed. Examples? When he conducted his CF vs SD card test he tested a set of SD cards against a higher class CF card and came to the completely bogus conclusion that all CF cards are faster than their SD counterparts. He also did a review of a disposable camera in which he claims it's better than a digital camera because there is no lcd lag, brighter viewfinder that doesn't black out (and has no distracting junk), the flash is easy (just one button), and there isn't some stupid half press shutter. He also wrote an article on free digital cameras, which is actually just shooting film and getting it scanned, which is technically isn't digital or free. The Retard posted:So where's the free part? This system of having Costco process my film and scan it costs less per print than the cost of the prints alone. That's less than free!
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2011 21:13
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 14, 2024 06:13 |
|
|
Thank you for replies. Will get my tripod soon then. Can I trust his reviews of lenses and cameras? I got two of his recommended lenses for D5100 - 35mm f/1.8 and 55-200mm VR. And sorry for minor off topic.
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2011 21:33
|
|