Hello,
2 ACCEPTED SOLUTIONS
Clouds and the Moon can make cool photos. This is a four shot pano of the comet and lake.
EOS 1DX, 24mm, f4, 15 sec., ISO 1600. Now you want to talk about camera movement, shooting a pano relies on camera movement and a lot of it.
"This was my first attempt of astrophotography."
PhotoGerry, not bad for a first timer, 
matter of fact it's really nice, Good job.
"Here are the settings for my photo. Manual mode, exposure 25 s, aperture F4.0, ISO Auto."
You did not mention what FL you used. If you were on the 24mm side your exposure is beginning to be in the too long area. If you were on the 105mm side your exposure was way too long. Ditch the auto ISO and set it at 1600 or 3200.
Set the lens to 24mm and infinity. Your settings should look like this, 24mm, f4, 20 sec., ISO 1600 or very similar. That will get you in the ball park.
Mirror lock up is not important with shots like this and a 15-20-25 second exposure. Slight vibrations although not desired won't likely show up either. However, you can't do anything that moves the aiming point of the camera or tripod.
Here is a shot with a 300mm lens. ESO 1DX, 300mm, f4, 8 sec., ISO 1600. As the FL increases and the time decreases any movement or vibration or wind can have an effect on the shot. You begin to see star trails in this shot.
Nice comet shot Mr. Biggs! I'm primarily a bird, insect, and flower photographer but I have tried a couple of times to get some sky shots. I used high ISO, faster shutter speeds, and the brightness and unsharp mask adjustments in DPP 4 on the RAW files.
I caught Jupiter at opposition last year and this past winter when the skies were clear here in north Florida, I tried to get the Orion Nebula. Considering my equipment, they turned out as expected, but not terrible.
These were taken with an EOS 5D mark IV and EF 100-400mm L II lens. I used the EF 1.4 II extender on the Jupiter shot.
1) Jupiter and its four largest moons: 560mm (100-400L II w/1.4 II extender), ISO 200, f/8, Tv mode - 1/3sec., on tripod and used 10 sec. timer. I was able to use a low ISO because Jupiter, IIRC, was -4ish luminosity. EDIT - Cropped 80%.
2) The Orion Nebula: 400mm, ISO3200, Tv mode - 0.8sec., f/5.6, on tripod and used 10 sec. timer. EDIT - Cropped 50%.
@ebiggs1 wrote:Looks pretty OK to me. Here is something to remember although it is night time and dark where you are, it is daytime on the places like the Moon and Jupiter and Saturn.
You can try a double exposure. One for the stars and one for the 'whatever'. Then stack them in post.
Thank you.
Yes, it is daytime, but like the Moon, planets go through the same phases, it just takes longer. That is why it is important to shoot at "opposition" while the planets are full. The Moon on the other hand is sometimes better photo material when it isn't full. You get better crater detail near the terminator. And to catch the Moon during the day is even a bigger treat, at least to me. The moon with a blue sky background... Amazing! When I post full Moon images on various forums, I have throuble convinving people, mostly people new to it, that long exposures are not the way to go. I shoot it between 1/1000th and 1/2000th sec., depenting on how far the Moon is from the Earth, usually at ISO 400. Sure, you can go slower by adjusting your aperture, but I get great results with these two settings, so I don't even look at the aperture while shooting, but it's usually f/10ish in post.
As for stacking, I don't do it enough to warrant the $$ involved in getting a dedicated astrophotography stacking program or PS for that matter. My subjects and shooting style rarely require anything more powerful than DPP 4. I do have other RAW and image editors, but they are mostly for special effects and repair of a surprise "one shot only" gone bad, ususally happens when I have to instanly swing from the dark forest canopy to a bright open area and forget to adjust settings. Sometimes it happens so fast that I just don't have time to adjust, so I depend on post to rescue
I've included some moon shots from the last "Super Moon" phases in May, 2020. All using the EOS 5D mark IV and EF 100-400mm L II, hand held, and heavily cropped. Please keep in mind that these are 1280 by xxx JPeG, so they look and print better as RAW. I know, sometimes I state the obvious 
400mm, ISO 400, Tv mode - 1/1250th sec., f/5.6, partial metering, taken at 12:28 a.m., 5/3/2020.
400mm, ISO 400, Tv mode - 1/1250th sec., f/5.6, partial metering, taken at 7:29 p.m., 4/30/2020.
This one has a story. I was laying on my back shooting circling Swallow-tailed Kites and waiting for one to fly in front of the Moon. Well, the Kites never did but I got this instead.
400mm, ISO 640, Tv mode - 1/1000th sec. partial metering.
@PhotoGerry wrote:FloridaDrafter, have you tried Saturn and its rings with your set up. I have the same lens (EF100-400 LII) with the 1.4 extender and hope to give it a try if it ever clears up here at night.
FG
No, I haven't tried Saturn but might give it a try this month or August, provided I get decent conditions. Saturn reached opposition July 21st, 2020 at magnitude +.8 but will still be that bright in the first half of August. The cool thing about Saturn, at this time, is its rings will be at an angle that make them brighter (the Seeliger effect). Jupiter, in the same time frame (and not far from Saturn in the sky), will be at magnitude -2.7. If you don't understand "magnitude", the higher the number, the dimmer the object appears, i.e., +4 is dimmer than -4. I am an astronomy enthusiast but mostly study "deep sky" objects like nebula, galaxies, star clusters, etc. I researched astrophotography, but it's just too expensive for my budget. Where I live (northeast Florida), the best time to shoot both planets is between 1 and 3 a.m. because they are at their highest points in the night sky and there is less atmosphere to shoot through. That is the time that I edit photos, so I am up, but usually don't feel like dragging my equipment out in the yard, LOL. Part lazy and part knowing I won't get the results I want.
I hope you get a chance to shoot Saturn, and if you have success please update us here
FD
