Lagoon Nebula in Context

[JBW]

The new tripod and wireless shutter release do make a difference.

ISO 3200 ~ Shutter Speed 2.5s ~ F/3.2 ~ Stacked in DSS ~ 50 Colored ~ 15 Darks ~ 15 Bias ~ Hand Tracked
Sony Alpha a58 ~ Tamron 90mm 272E

[NorthernFocus]

Purely as a viewer with no knowledge of astro I think it's a pretty cool image. Nice job.

[JBW]

Purely as a viewer with no knowledge of astro I think it's a pretty cool image. Nice job.

Exactly the thought behind the shot. With my gear I can't go for the highly detailed shots so I gotta go for coolness. The Seven Sisters are coming into my sky and I have high hopes fopr what may be achieved,

[lovelife65]

Pretty darn awesome IMHO

[Shadowman]

Nicely captured.

[JBW]

Pretty darn awesome IMHO

Especially so considering I'm using my macro setup As my skills and gear fund builds I'll be looking into a better mount and a long lens. Will stay with DSLR

[JBW]

Nicely captured.

I'm finding that astrophotography and macro are both very dependent upon framing and pp.

[Wavelength]

Well done image

[JBW]

Well done image

very dependent on technology

[DickyOZ]

Excellent result Brian. It has has jolted me out my apathy - I will get my 'star tracker' project out of the too hard basket and find a 'man shed' where they have got an oscilloscope that I can use to find out why the controller board won't drive the stepper motor.

[JBW]

Excellent result Brian. It has has jolted me out my apathy - I will get my 'star tracker' project out of the too hard basket and find a 'man shed' where they have got an oscilloscope that I can use to find out why the controller board won't drive the stepper motor.

glad to have been of help.

[James G]

Brian, excellent.... pp very smooth and those colours are very subtle...., and you are right, astrophotography is very much about pp and 'artistic' interpretation after you have generated the basic image.
Are you using DeepSkyStacker or another program?

I'm still waiting for a decent spell of clear night skies... nothing but short interludes between cloud and rain storms for a long while now. Moon shots only!

[JBW]

Brian, excellent.... pp very smooth and those colours are very subtle...., and you are right, astrophotography is very much about pp and 'artistic' interpretation after you have generated the basic image.
Are you using DeepSkyStacker or another program?

I'm still waiting for a decent spell of clear night skies... nothing but short interludes between cloud and rain storms for a long while now. Moon shots only!

I am using DSS in conjunction with Capture 1 Sony Pro and if needed GIMP for some final touch ups.

I never thought that subtle would become one of my photographic skills.

I have a problem you may be able to help me with. Right now all I can do is go out and aim my camera roughly where I want it and then hope to line up closer with a few adjustments.

When i took this series I had accidentally lined up perfectly on a messier globular cluster. being unable to see it on my LCD I moved away and found this shot.

If I was to get a 300 / 600 zoom would I be able to see what I had shot or would I still need to wait till I got into the computer?

I have thought about tethered shooting but cables and darkness guaranty I pull something down.

Brian

[James G]

When i took this series I had accidentally lined up perfectly on a messier globular cluster. being unable to see it on my LCD I moved away and found this shot.

If I was to get a 300 / 600 zoom would I be able to see what I had shot or would I still need to wait till I got into the computer?

No 'easy' way to solve this though I use a couple of methods which are not too fiddly to put in place.

1) I have used 'Sighting' points (Matchstick and Blutac) at the front and rear of the lens to line it up on the area of sky I'm interested in. ( A dab of luminescent paint on each stick means I can see the points and align them without using a torch.) It is low tech but resonably effective if you are fairly familiar with the area of sky you shoot.

2) For the fainter objects I have the same problem as you do though I usually wind the ISO up as hoigh as practicle and take 'test' shots in the hopes of seeing something identifiable in the field of view.

[JBW]

No 'easy' way to solve this though I use a couple of methods which are not too fiddly to put in place.

1) I have used 'Sighting' points (Matchstick and Blutac) at the front and rear of the lens to line it up on the area of sky I'm interested in. ( A dab of luminescent paint on each stick means I can see the points and align them without using a torch.) It is low tech but resonably effective if you are fairly familiar with the area of sky you shoot.

2) For the fainter objects I have the same problem as you do though I usually wind the ISO up as hoigh as practicle and take 'test' shots in the hopes of seeing something identifiable in the field of view.

High ISO sounds good.

[Jeff S]

I have thought about tethered shooting but cables and darkness guaranty I pull something down.

Ha, ha. Now you're talking my language. I have my hands full with a tripod and camera in the dark. I can just imagine what I would do with cables.

[JBW]

Ha, ha. Now you're talking my language. I have my hands full with a tripod and camera in the dark. I can just imagine what I would do with cables.

And imagining is much less expensive than actually doing