Sunday 20 November 2011

Experimenting

Gaz has been taking photos of the sky whilst he's been here.  There are lots of reasons why this is a good place to do that.  Primarily because there is a lot of sky with a lot of stars and very little light pollution.  So I decided to try some too.  I have taken the occasional night-time shot in the past but without any attempt at taking the sky at night so this is going to be a big learning curve.  My first shots are of The Cottage with the night sky behind.

ISO2500 30sec f3.2  Lots of noise despite noise reduction.
ISO1000 30 sec f3.2   Less noise and less stars.
There's lots more fun to be had with this lark.  Hopefully I post something better in due course.

15 comments:

  1. This is good fun. Have a look here:
    http://www.rubbingpixels.com/twlight-hour-%E2%80%93-photographing-star-trails-and-static-stars/

    Any problems let me know.

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  2. That's a few thousand more stars than we ever see here. I'm envious.

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  3. Thanks Adrian were you meaning to scare the s.. I mean wits out of me? The programmable controller he uses costs more than my camera!

    CJ, the night sky here is rather good because the light pollution is so minimal.

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  4. GB this is amazing! I had forgotten what a starry sky looked like! Thank you.

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  5. When I saw the first photo, I gasped and said, "OH, MY STARS!".
    Not trying to be funny, I just can't help that I am! Beautiful shots of the night sky...

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  6. That is one beautiful starry sky... Not sure I ever saw the sky quite like that. If I did, it was a long time ago and without a camera able to catch it. Keep experimenting - and I hope we'll get to see some of Gaz' photos too.

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  7. I don't have a controller. With the DSLR I can keep it firing till the battery dies. If not It's manual I'm afraid.
    As a Start keep ISO low 100/200. f5.6 is a good start point you need a wide aperture.
    You also won't be able to combine images into trails using his method but it can be done with Elements. I can tell you how to do it.
    If you just get one exposure of your house with lights on then turn them off for the rest. Better still find an empty house or ruin, you can play a torch over it. or wander round inside....passes an evening on wonderfully.
    If you want circular trails then point the camera south. You don't have the equivalent of polaris so all stars will move. Have fun.

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  8. When I look at the sky at night, I often think about what it looked like before all of these big cities. Must have been "awesome."
    Love that first photo!

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  9. lovely pictures. have had similar starry skys at home to

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  10. Your followers will be happy if you keep up this lark, I think. Aren't we so lucky to live in a rural area away from light pollution?

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  11. Spectacular!!! And completely unfamiliar, I think I have not managed to identify one single constellation here. Well, you ARE on the other "side" of the globe, aren't you!

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  12. Coo, stunning. I am invariably really impressed and awed by a starry sky. I suppose this one will have the Southern cross in it somewhere!

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  13. Coo, stunning. I am invariably really impressed and awed by a starry sky. I suppose this one will have the Southern cross in it somewhere!

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  15. Sorry for the repeated posts, I kept pressing the button because nothing seemed to be happening!

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