Share your Astrophotography Photos

[lindam]

Are you a fan of astrophotography? Post your favorite photo you've taken and share the story behind it. Be sure to include the Canon gear you used.

[Danny]

Hi, TheCanon!

We'd love to see your astrophotography photos, but don't feel obligated to wait until they're perfect.  The Canon Community Forum's full of expert photographers who'll be glad to give you pointers.  If you're open to some constructive criticism, they can help you get even better!

We look forward to seeing what you can do!

[Waddizzle]

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@TheCanon wrote:

Just got a new Canon 70D and a tripod. Looking forward to capturing some great astrophotography photos and sharing them here. I need to watch a few more tutorials on YouTube before I give it a shot.

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YouTube?  No, not so much.  No, you don't. Just do it, as the saying goes.  All you need to know is how to take long exposures, which the camera can pretty much do for you in Av mode.

All you need is a very sturdy tripood.  You also need to watch the weather for good opportunities. Use your camera's timer, shutter lock-up, or a remote shutter switch.  I use the 2 second timer for wide field stuff, and moon shots.  Try shooting the starscapes during a new moon.  Try shooting long exposures of wide angle landscapes with the full moon at your back, and no light sources in front of you, too.

It also helps to have access to  information that tells you when what is where in the night sky.  I use a freeware application called Stellarium.  It is basically a digital planetarium, with a library of tens and tens of thousands of objects.  It even offers a "red eye" mode, which is suitable for night viewing with less eye strain.

You may also want to get your hands on a good image stacking application.  I'd be willing to bet that the first shot on this thread was not taken in a single shot.  I would not be surprised if anywhere between 5 and 20, or more, exposures were involved.

[ebiggs1]

"YouTube?  No, not so much."

I have to agree here!  You need to be real careful choosing Youtube vids or reviews you read.  It has confused many.  Some are downright wrong in their info.

Start with the easy stuff and progress to the more difficult.  The Moon for instance is a good starter photo.  For it you need a long lens.  Something beyond 300mm will do.  It does not have to be a fast lens or a particularly great lens.

For big sky shots you need a short lens and it helps if it is on the faster side.  And in this case the better all the better!

Maybe Tim Campbell will see this thread. He is talented and knowledgeable in astrophotography.  More than any of the rest of us 'regulars'.

[Waddizzle]

"Start with the easy stuff and progress to the more difficult.  The Moon for instance is a good starter photo.  For it you need a long lens.  Something beyond 300mm will do.  It does not have to be a fast lens or a particularly great lens." 

The Moon.  Yup, that's what go me started on it, quite by accident, too.  You need a long lens, and a STURDY tripod.  The longer the lens, the sturdier your tripod/head setup needs to be.  Manual focusing, using a magnified LiveView, can look like an earthquake with a weak tripod/head setup, and focusing becomes nearly impossible due to vibrations and shake.

I typically manual focus at the Moon.  Depending on the phase of the Moon, you will want to vary your exposure somewhat, usually downward as the phase increases towards full.  Experiment.  Take shots at different exposures.  With a long lens, try to keep exposure at 1/100 sec, or faster.  You are trying to capture contrast, just as much as you want to capture focus.

[TheCanon]

Wow great help here guys! Thanks for the tips. I just ordered a wireless shutter remote that has timed exposures. I'm looking forward to using "Bulb Mode" and catching some star trails. I need to be on the lookout for a good night to do this.

[Waddizzle]

TIP:  The best star trail photos are created by stacking multiple photos of short, clean trails into an image with longer ones.

For example, with a full frame sensor and 14mm lens, you will only be able to get 25-30 seconds of exposure before star trails begin to significantly appear.  You can use a longer focal length to get star trails.  You may need to take a couple of hours worth of consecutive, 1-3 minute images to get very long star trails.  Then, you will need to stack the photos in post-processing to combine all of the short trails into a single long trail.

[TheCanon]

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@Waddizzle wrote:

TIP:  The best star trail photos are created by stacking multiple photos of short, clean trails into an image with longer ones.

For example, with a full frame sensor and 14mm lens, you will only be able to get 25-30 seconds of exposure before star trails begin to significantly appear.  You can use a longer focal length to get star trails.  You may need to take a couple of hours worth of consecutive, 1-3 minute images to get very long star trails.  Then, you will need to stack the photos in post-processing to combine all of the short trails into a single long trail.

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Interesting. I was thinking one long 30min exposure shot would suffice. So you suggest several 1-3 minute exposed shots? What interval between shots do you suggest?

[kvbarkley]

As short as possible if you want continuous trails.

[Waddizzle]

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@kvbarkley wrote:

As short as possible if you want continuous trails.

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Exactly.  If your remote has an intervalometer, then set it up to take multiple long exposures back to back to back.

[TheCanon]

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@Waddizzle wrote:

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@kvbarkley wrote:

As short as possible if you want continuous trails.

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Exactly.  If your remote has an intervalometer, then set it up to take multiple long exposures back to back to back.

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Yep...thats what I'll do!