Photography of the Night Skys

Here is an excellent article by a fellow Texan that includes some very useable information on photograhy of the night sky with todays DSLR.It includes locations, equipment, processing and it probably the best such ariticle I have read on the subject. Sorry, I dont know how to make a link "hot" where you can just click to it. If someone would tell me how I would appreciate it. Joe Rogers

http://www.texbrick.com/photo/notes/starshots.pdf

Thanks, Joe. Looks interesting.

http://www.texbrick.com/photo/notes/starshots.pdf

Hey Joe,
Just below the Reply window is a hot link called 'Text Style Menu'.
Click on it, then copy the style you wish to use, paste it into the reply window, delete the http://www.naturephotographers.net' text and fill in the info. you want linked.

I read that PDF and it's really good! Timely, as well. I was planning on going out to the desert in NE Arizona (..where else? ) to do some night photography tomorrow. No moon, and plenty of clear, dark skies!
BTW, that Dark Sky Finder he linked to was quite cool!

I especially appreciated the focal length/time needed to produce static stars. I've seen 30 sec. exposures that showed star movement, so that info. was good to have. I don't much worry about limited DOF using wide apertures as I'll combine images in PS for that and other issues.
If you know this fellow, then give him a big 'Thanks!' for taking the time and effort in putting this one together.
If you're interested in star trail photography, Floris van Breugel has a good tutorial right here. A fine complement to the article you linked to.

Thanks again, Joe!

Nice article. In skimming over it, the only thing I noticed that I'd disagree with is that I wouldn't recommend turning long exposure noise reduction on in the camera. It takes as long to do the noise reduction as it takes to take the shot, so your productivity is cut in half and your battery won't last as long. The noise reduction it does is fairly minimal and doesn't seem to help with luminance noise, which is the hardest to eliminate. Lightroom, Photoshop, or third party software are better options, in my opinion, for noise reduction.

Why would anyone need a Dark Sky Finder? I can pretty much find dark sky every night by just going out into my yard and looking up. I'm so confused...

That PDF is awesome, thank you! I was just thinking the other day that was one area I still need/want to learn a lot in.

"The noise reduction it (LENR) does is fairly minimal and doesn't seem to help with luminance noise..."

What this feature actually performs is an automatic dark frame subtraction.
I use it with 30 sec.(+/-) exposures because my productivity is pretty minimal in the best of circumstances anyway.

Thanks Joe.

The fixed pattern noise it tries to eliminate does become pretty noticeable at 10+ minutes, though it then, of course, takes 10+ minutes to do the noise reduction. It certainly doesn't hurt at 30 seconds as it can't be duplicated out of the camera, though software can come close to doing the same thing, just in a different way. I just don't have the patience for what to me is a barely perceptible improvement. And since I'm normally about half as productive as you, this can at least make me as productive as you at night! But I might try some more direct comparisons with this on my 5DII.

One other thing is that the focal length/time isn't the only factor in getting static stars. The stars move much faster when you're facing directly east or west than when you're facing north (while the speed when facing south is somewhere in between). So you can get away with longer exposures facing north.

Okay, I get carried away with this night photography stuff, as I'm still trying to learn it.

Thanks for posting this. I have been planning on doing a little night photography and this site will greatly help me.

Pretty good write up. The Dark Sky Finder is way cool. Been looking for something like that for years now.