davew

Hi Steve, You may not realise this but you've just caught PN G75.5+1.7 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soap_Bubble_Nebula so well done Now all you have to do is spot it ! It shows very slightly better on the Tiff. Dave

This is a very timely shot for me as I was thinking about a moon shot in a city environment ( I believe I have a city close by ! ) I love the subtle earthshine but the light pollution would probably kill it round here. Did you try a longer focal length as the 300 may be a bit short for what I'm thinking ? A lovely misty shot Dave.

The winterfest star party is really chilled both in temperature, so bring warm clothing, and in atmosphere. It's a small event so you'll soon get to know everyone. I hope to see you there, Dave.

yep Are you going ? Dave.

That first one is stunning. If you'd pasted an image of M31 on to it you couldn't have positioned it better. I think we need to see some more of Wicklow. Please. Dave.

That's really nicely put together. If you hadn't explained what you did with the sky I'd never have guessed it's so smooth. Dave.

I like the contrast you've retained with the mill against the sky. I think that light pollution has helped for once ! Dave.

I've noticed on my own photos of reflections that the stars can show up if the water is selected and then you have two sets of stars. A suggestion of mine would be to take, say 20 subs or so as a test and restack them in Sequator and see if they begin to show. You never know ... Dave.

I'm really liking your light painting Paul. I also like the effect the clouds have on the stars and sky. Dave.

98 subs ! Now that's what I call a serious effort. No wonder your Milky Way makes my attempts look insipid Just out of a matter of interest, did you select the water as well as the sky in Sequator ? Dave.

Those colours leap off the screen don't they ? The filter has made a good job of the Hyades. Dave.

Two more lovely shots with loads of wonderfully detailed texture. Dave.

Well spotted ! I also like the way the sea blends into the sky and the way you've processed the colours. Dave.

Two lovely shots again ! The Tor reminds me of the grit area of the Pennines I like to shoot in and the rocks look quite familiar. You have the advantage of the skies though. If you don't like the sky glow too much then you can visit here - http://www.deepskycolors.com/archive/2010/04/26/hasta-La-Vista-Green.html and download the little app. There are three strengths of green removal and if they all turn out to be a bit strong then you can apply the app to a layer and then reduce the transparency to taste. At the same time you can alter the colour balance and then reintroduce the green layer, again to taste ... If you can understand what I mean ? You've done a nice job of the image towards Plymouth and I particularly like the reflections of the lights in the water. Keep 'em coming Mike, Dave.

Wow. Lovely shots. I hope we get to see more over the winter. I agree with Paul that the flowers look really good and I actually like air glow. Dave.

I know exactly what you mean. I had a long look at it close up and also stood up behind my chair to get the overall view and it still holds up for me. I thought about light painting the Iron work ... Nah. A long exposure for the water ... No. Higher or lower with the tripod ... again no. I rather like the " Haze " round the moon through the thin clouds too. Dave.

Good job I'm writing because I'm all but speechless ! What a lovely shot and nice write up. I have a feeling that shot could sell as it's a beauty. Thanks for the effort put in Paul, Dave.

That has turned out really well. A successful first test. Did you modify the camera yourself ? If so, did you find it easy to do ? I have never used a modified mirrorless camera but if I did I'd either use Michael's method from the post above or just make the background areas a neutral grey where there's no Ha clouds. I think some people also use a custom white balance using a grey / white card. Dave.

I keep coming back to look at that moon shot. One of my favourites this year. Dave.

Beautifully balanced, painted and processed. Love it. Dave.

Yep, you were almost next to me ! The image I posted here was - Nikon Z6, 10 x 20 seconds, ISO 1600 at f1.8 and the light painting was 2x 10seconds, ISO 800 at f2.8. If you want to go to this car park again, and I've been round there many times, then you really do need to cross the road and get away from the headlights. There's no where in the car park or on the way to the look out that gives any cover. Almost directly beyond the gate at around 20 metres is an open view. The lone tree is at around 50 metres to the right. If you feel frisky then turn left through the gate and walk about 50 metres back parallel the road then turn right and go onto Owler Tor rocks for some good foreground interest. Don't walk directly to the rocks from the gate or you end up having to carry your gear up and over a few of those rocks. The SW Adventurer would be a great idea to supplement the static shots. You can do 30 second subs straight from the camera or 60 second subs ( Or any time really ) with an intervalometer. Try out a few settings with the lens closed down one stop and maybe reduce the ISO so you don't blow out the highlights ( Sky beyond ) Also get a few foreground shots. If you chose your spot carefully then you can image some of the heather that's still blooming. Have fun, Dave.

Hi Iwols, Were you stood near a blue van by any chance ? If so, that was me as we seem to have parked in the same part of the car park at the same time ! I went walk about however. I've had a quick look at some of your images and I think you've made things really difficult for yourself by not realising that you don't want to be imaging car head lights. Been there and done that so my first piece of advice is to get any bright lights behind you or better still, out of sight. Those head lights have even illuminated some dust spots on your lens by the look of it. The second would be to get out of the car park. Being in there almost forces you to aim up and not get any foreground interest / framing. There was a gate directly opposite the car park entrance that took you away from the worst of things. Just to demonstrate, I was across the road in the field about 50 feet from you at 10.30 and took this shot. You can't even tell the road is there but you can still see the far light pollution. This was a number of subs that were stacked in Sequator and it's probably the only stacking app you'll need for static camera shots. https://sites.google.com/view/sequator/introduction There are a few YouTube videos on how to use it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw0Y9y1axdA and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4C8iLozEmY Once you have a stack then you can make a start on processing and knocking down the bright orange. As you can see, I've also done some light painting so ignore that for now. As to where you could go then if I lived in Donny I'd probably go East into Lincolnshire. I've been in the Ragby area a few times and the Lincolnshire wold area is good too. Don't point you camera at Lincoln or Grimsby and you're quids in Try and compose your images as if you were doing a daylight landscape or you'll only catch a few hedges or tree tops. Dave.

I think the extra time you've spent collecting data has paid off. I really like the dust lane. Dave.

Silky smooth and crisp at the same time. Not an easy trick to pull off ! Dave.

Thanks Martin, FLO, SGL and everyone who had a go. Thanks Jody who does some really nice foregrounds and Adam who gets wonderful colour in the Milky Way. BIG smile, Dave.