Milkyway Attempt with Questions

So i attempted the Milkyway tonight. It was horrid. I think i have a little too much light pollution but i do have a few questions. I think one of many mistakes i made was shooting with my aperture too high (closed down too much) thus driving my ISO up to around 6400 at 13 seconds. I would assume at these distances DOF is not going to be an issue. To focus all i did was look at my lens, drive the focus to infinity and then back it off some.

Question 1: I was using my lens at ~18 mm focal length. Even in live view at 10X zoom i could hardly see the stars to try to manual focus. How do yall focus?
Question 2: When using my 7D MkII in live view to focus i noticed the LCD screen was looking sparkly (for lack of a better term) is this normal?

Thanks

Mudhog79 wrote in post #18134988
So i attempted the Milkyway tonight. It was horrid. I think i have a little too much light pollution but i do have a few questions. I think one of many mistakes i made was shooting with my aperture too high (closed down too much) thus driving my ISO up to around 6400 at 13 seconds. I would assume at these distances DOF is not going to be an issue. To focus all i did was look at my lens, drive the focus to infinity and then back it off some.

Question 1: I was using my lens at ~18 mm focal length. Even in live view at 10X zoom i could hardly see the stars to try to manual focus. How do yall focus?
Question 2: When using my 7D MkII in live view to focus i noticed the LCD screen was looking sparkly (for lack of a better term) is this normal?

Thanks

Others will be able to answer #1 better, but as for #2, yes; it's normal. It's what happens when the camera kicks into "Exposure Simulation" mode, in low light.

Find a planet or a really bright star. You also need dark skies so your eyes can adjust to the low light. If your vision is fried by bright light, you are going to have a hard time seeing the stars on your LCD screen. Those are the unfortunate consequences of light pollution.

If you focus on the moon, will the stars be in perfect focus, or is the moon too close to use it for a substitute focus point?

I've never tried - it is probably OK, but I would pick a moonless night to do Milky Way shots. The moon just kills star shots.

Scrumhalf wrote in post #18135542
I've never tried - it is probably OK, but I would pick a moonless night to do Milky Way shots. The moon just kills star shots.

Newbie here! Never tried it, but collecting pointers for the future.

One way to find out is in your viewer change your focus points to the center point only . Point at the moon and use auto focus then switch to manual focus but don't touch the focus ring of the lens just yet . Make sure camera is on a tripod . Then point your camera at the brightest star in the sky that's visible and take a 15-20 Dec exposure . Zoom in on your image of the star and see if it looks crisp and focused . If it is then stars are focused . If your star is not focused and your using a zoom lens then zoom to highest power and look at the star in the viewer and using the focus ring of the lens slightly adjust until the star looks like the smallest pinpoint you can get . Now don't touch the focus ring but zoom back out and take another image . Keep doing the above procedures until the star in your image is as pinpoint sharp as you can get . Then when your satisfied don't touch the lens anymore , just start taking pictures . About every 10 shots zoom in and check focus again .

First i want to start by saying i am in no way "showing" my Milkyway photo. This is a long ways from where i would like to be. Just showing you all what i have done with the info provided so far. I think (i know) there is too much noise pollution around me. Tonight it seems like everyone in my neighborhood had on their lights. At the bottom of the image you see that gold/brown glow, i think that is from the street lights around the corner from me. Anyway here is what i did tonight, not impressive but it is what it is.... progress.

Thanks

Looks good, but that light pollution won't do. Now you've got to get in your car and go find some dark skies!

If you are able to focus on the moon then you most likely will experience light pollution from it. Drive out to a remote location on a night without a moon. The milky way should be visible with the naked eye. Oct 1st is a sat night coming up with no moon.

flashpoint99 wrote in post #18137343
If you are able to focus on the moon then you most likely will experience light pollution from it. Drive out to a remote location on a night without a moon. The milky way should be visible with the naked eye. Oct 1st is a sat night coming up with no moon.

Thanks, there was no moon up last night when i took this. there are street lights however where i am and that is part of the problem.

Gotta get out into the sticks, my friend. Cities and MW shots don't mix.

Looks like you're on track; you never notice light pollution as much until you try to view/photograph night skies. Besides getting out in the sticks, you'll want to make an attempt to go somewhere that you aren't facing toward an major, metropolitan areas; that pollution can effect your images even from *miles* out in the woods/mountains.

In this shot, we're many miles out into the Cascades from any cities but that orange glow glow below the Way is still city lights:
https://flic.kr/p/oWvv​L5

Snydremark wrote in post #18137703
In this shot, we're many miles out into the Cascades from any cities but that orange glow glow below the Way is still city lights:
https://flic.kr/p/oWvv​L5

Is it possible to go to a location on the south side of that city so the LP would not be between you and the MW ? This is basically what everyone needs to do is whatever your shooting in the night sky make sure your not shooting over the light source but put it behind you with your night sky in front of you .

Celestron wrote in post #18137766
Is it possible to go to a location on the south side of that city so the LP would not be between you and the MW ? This is basically what everyone needs to do is whatever your shooting in the night sky make sure your not shooting over the light source but put it behind you with your night sky in front of you .

For that particular shot, not without being on a boat I totally agree, it just not something that's possible from all locations; and isn't something I'd even thought about until I was taking those shots. Just figured, "hell, I'm well away from the city, I should be fine".