Star gazing picture

Had a go at star gazing with the camera over the weekend. Didnt come out as well as I would have liked but I think its a pretty good considering its my first time at it.

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Wow! love the second one, you really get a sense of scale with the trees in silhouette!

#2 is my favorite here, nice work

Very nice the milky way is showing nicely in the first image, you must have some wonderful dark sky's

Alan

These are fascinating, would appreciate the tech details behind them?

Wow, that 2nd one is beautiful. Well done!

WOW

Little too short for my taste.

Like them both but the second one with the trees is my favorite. You have any exif info?

Wonderful photos!

What did you have your camera set at? I do some astrophotography here and there myself, and would be interested in the camera data (exposure time, etc.)

Hope you post more.

I love this kind of shot. It seems that your lens wasn't quite dark enough and that there was quite some light pollution.

Thank you everyone for the great feedback.

Exif data as promised using my 20D:

1st Picture:

Mode: Manual
Exposure: 353"
Aperture: 3.5
Partial Metering
ISO: 800
Focal length: 18.0mm
Lens: 18-55mm

Tree shot:

Mode: Manual
Exposure: 285"
Aperture: 3.5
Partial Metering
ISO: 800
Focal length: 22.0mm
Lens: 18-55mm

I forgot to change the ISO to a lower setting and the white balance was set for Tungsten on both. I was shooting indoors before taking these and as I said I forgot to change it to suit the night light.

I really took the idea for trying this from another thread I had seen the day before so I was more than happy with them considering the settings.

You have a TON of stars there in Galway. I'm amazed how little I see here in Tacoma.

My only suggestion/critique is that it seems both pictures are OOF. Did you not use a cable release or was it pretty windy? Something happened here to make everything blurry. Other than that, they are great first attempts. As was mentioned earlier, longer exposure is going to give you better star trails and make the photos even more dramatic.

It wasnt taken in Galway. It was taken at the wife's parents house in a small village near to Ballina, Co Mayo (North West of Ireland). They are in the sticks but there is a liitle bit of light as shown in the picture with the trees.

I did use a cable release but I know why it is out of focus (too shy to admit why/how but it wont happen again lol) Again, I read about this the day before and thought of giving it a try. Next lots will defo be tons better (honest guv'nr!!)

Man I am so going to get into that area of photography one day.
Once I get out of London (can you say light-pollution?!) of course.

Wicked shots, I actually prefer the first one.