Milky Way pics help

[txcwboy]

Went out to deer lease and got chance to snap some pics of the Milky Way. I had brought all the equipment to do so but didnt know if the timing was right after a few drinks These are the best effort so far, still trying to learn my Canon 50d. Can anyone makes these better ?

thanks
Dave

Canon 50d
18-55 kit lens
1600 iso
bulb remotely triggered trying to keep them under 30 sec.

[ohata0]

yeah, definitely resize those pics...it's WAAY too big. If you want, make the image clickable or use a link to go to the full size image.

why do you need to use bulb mode to keep it under 30 secs? If you shoot in M, you should be able to set a time that's under 30 secs, like 20 or 25 secs (the times, or close to, that you shot for the 2 pics above). Normally, bulb is used because you need a time longer than 30 secs.

It seems that you're a little out of focus...did you try using live view and manually focusing? I try to max out my ISO and exposure to show something in live view and just focus on any star that I can see in the screen at x10. If I can't see anything in live view, then I up the ISO and take a couple of short test shots and try to adjust focus accordingly.

The other thing is that I would probably try to increase the exposure or ISO to get more light from the shot. It seems like it's not quite enough w/ what you're currently using. I'm not sure if you're at a dark site or not though, it seems like there's some light pollution around the trees in that first shot.

Play around w/ the exposure time and see what the max is you can shoot w/out getting star trails.

If you're worried about noise, take a LOT of pics and stack them. Taking some darks (use the same settings for all the pics, but w/ the lens cap on) will also help get rid of some noise. Don't use long exposure noise reduction since you can do that at any time (darks) when the sky isn't cooperating (clouds, planes, etc).

[txcwboy]

I was trying to get as wide view as I can. Widest one I had was the cheap kit lens . I have a nifty 50 ( cheap one) and I also have the 28-135 Canon kit. I took a bunch before I saw i had iso too low. I thought I had moved it as high as it would go but I dont think I did. I took some pics with the lens all the way focus one way then looked at them . Took some all the way the other way and looked at them in the 3" screen. That lens does have an INF setting like the 28-135 so I just thought it would be correct . I was just excited I had all my stuff there and I could actually see the Milky way. I cant see it at my house normally. Ok on the set it to to timer instead of bulb. I resized them too.

thanks

Dave

[ohata0]

Although lenses have infinite focus, some lenses can go past infinity. Sometimes the atmosphere or temperature affects focusing (which is why you may need to go past infinity), so it's best to use live view at x10 to check focusing.

You also don't really need to check focus by comparing focus on one side of the focus extremities and then checking the other side...since you're shooting for the stars, you should be checking in small increments around infinity.

Also, when you are checking your images, zoom in as much as possible if you're checking for trails or checking focus. Everything will look like it's in focus when it's resized to a small 3" screen.

Oh, you can also check to make sure you have ISO expansion enabled...otherwise your max is ISO 3200. The 50D can go up to 12800 (although it will probably look pretty bad).

You can still use your remote to take the picture...you just don't need to have it in bulb mode unless you need to go past 30 secs, or if you need to use an exposure that isn't available (between 20 and 25 sec, for example).

It would be a good idea to use mirror lockup as well, to prevent mirror slap. I would choose mirror lockup over live view for astro work because it heats up the sensor which causes more noise. Also kills your battery life compared to just using mirror lockup.

[Todd Lambert]

r.pitalia, if you're going for Milky Way shots, low ISO is not what you want to use. I'd recommend starting at about ISO 1000-1600 or more, depending on your body.

[esanders101]

This may sound dumb, but all of my pictures are too large to post...what is the best way to resize them without loosing a ton of quality?

[cyberon]

Originally Posted by esanders101

This may sound dumb, but all of my pictures are too large to post...what is the best way to resize them without loosing a ton of quality?

Go download free softwares like Photoscape. You can then resize them to anything you like.

[A.S.I.G.N. Observatory]

To hone your shooting, take a look at my tutorial here.

With your post processing, do your resizing and then sharpening LAST. In that order. Use photoshop or photoshop elements. For the web to make it easy for everyone to look without scrolling and taking up too much forum width, make them 72 DPI, then resize to 800pixels on the long side then finally sharpen last. Careful not to oversharpen as it will look very crunchy. Viewing the image at 100% while you sharpen will make that easy.

Baz.

[esanders101]

Originally Posted by A.S.I.G.N. Observatory

To hone your shooting, take a look at my tutorial here.

With your post processing, do your resizing and then sharpening LAST. In that order. Use photoshop or photoshop elements. For the web to make it easy for everyone to look without scrolling and taking up too much forum width, make them 72 DPI, then resize to 800pixels on the long side then finally sharpen last. Careful not to oversharpen as it will look very crunchy. Viewing the image at 100% while you sharpen will make that easy.

Baz.

Just checked out your site, would it be at all possible to describe your PP technique with an image such as this in detail?
http://www.barryarmsteadphotography....toid=135962006
This is simply the best milky way shot I have ever seen and I admire your work.
Thanks

[calypsob]

I can say that if you can live with shooting jpeg instead of RAW then the in camera high iso noise reduction will work. Do this along with long exposure noise reduction and it will be a pretty clean image. I usually only shoot raw but I just realized the potential of using jpeg last night, you do however sacrifice the large amount of data available to edit a RAW image.

[A.S.I.G.N. Observatory]

Originally Posted by esanders101

Just checked out your site, would it be at all possible to describe your PP technique with an image such as this in detail?
http://www.barryarmsteadphotography....toid=135962006
This is simply the best milky way shot I have ever seen and I admire your work.
Thanks

Sure mate. After stacking the images in Deep Sky Stacker, I play with curves, levels and just a tweak in saturation. One at a time, I bring everything up to the point where it starts to look overcooked, then back each one off until it doesn't. It's a feel thing. Personal taste will decree how far you go to some extent, but looking at other images on the net can guide you if you average out what you see. Just watch your histogram while you are processing to make sure you don't clip any data. Resizing and Sharpening are the LAST things to be done, being careful not to oversharpen and make your stars look crunchy or introducing noticeable stepped graduations in colour or tone.