First attempt at astrophtography

[den12386]

Hi, this is my first attempt at astrophotography. I took this shot of the moon on the 28th November 2012. I attached my Nikon D5000 to my new Skywatcher 707 refractor with a T2 ring and used the live view to focus the image. I used a setting of iso 200 and an exposure of 1/250 taking the shot as a RAW file. I tweeked the shot in Photoshop lightroom 4 and processed the final image from 2 images in photomatix. I am very pleased with the result as I don`t know much about processing astro shots compared to landscape shots I am used to. What do you think of it, any comments most welcome. Thanks Dennis.

[Matt Scunthorpe]

I think thats an awesome image. So bright and crisp

[RikM]

Smashing first image Dennis. Well done.

[steppenwolf]

Excellent first image, Dennis, nicely caught.

[JamesF]

Absolutely. Nice image of the full moon.

James

[Letchy]

Micro moon!! nice image.

[jammo]

Great first image, if there's an image to be your first astrophotograph then a glorious full moon is it :)

[kaybee]

Agreed; very nice image.

[Beulah]

That's a lovely sharp image - great composition as well.

[Hawksmoor]

Excellent image Dennis, particularly liked the framing with 'the Moon sailing through a dark sea' . To date, I've never taken a picture of the full moon, I think youv'e inspired me to give it a go.

[spaceboy]

Great effort !!

[tingting44]

not bad at all for your 1st shot buddy! may i suggest a crop to get the moon nice and central and a bit bigger

[sologuitarist61]

Very well done that is a great first image

[Stargazer33]

Agreed, very nice image and placing the full moon on the intersection of the thirds really adds to the composition. I can definitely see you have a photography background even if astro-photography is new to you.

Well done for a lovely first image.

[ollypenrice]

I agree. Upper right is good and very natural for the eye.

Olly

[ItIsOnlyMe]

Nice image, great focus and contrast. Well done you!!

[den12386]

Thanks for all the nice comments about my first astro shot. I am pleased that everyone likes it. i have always wanted to take a nice shot of the moon and I think I have done it. I am also keen to try afocal photography and will buy an adaptor for this and use my compact digital camera. I will have another go at the moon when the weather allows to see if I can get a better shot.

[Aenima]

Its nice, well captured and natural looking.

I like it

Regards

Aenima

[dhodg]

Awesome photo! Can't wait to see more

[nptncodge]

Hi, this is my first attempt at astrophotography. I took this shot of the moon on the 28th November 2012. I attached my Nikon D5000 to my new Skywatcher 707 refractor with a T2 ring and used the live view to focus the image. I used a setting of iso 200 and an exposure of 1/250 taking the shot as a RAW file. I tweeked the shot in Photoshop lightroom 4 and processed the final image from 2 images in photomatix. I am very pleased with the result as I don`t know much about processing astro shots compared to landscape shots I am used to. What do you think of it, any comments most welcome. Thanks Dennis.

very inspiring den 12386, i find i have problems with my astro imaging, my dslr nikon d40x when on manual focus tends to move its settings particulary when on a steep angle,ie pointing right up, one slight movement of camera or accidental knocking of tripod tends too alter the focus ring,bit dissapointed with that,also it doesnt have a live view capability which is another handicap,particulary when trying to image double stars, are most cameras of that price range a bit sloppy on the manual focus range i ask myself, anyway great shot keep up the good work den

[den12386]

Thanks for all the encouraging comments. This is my second attempt tonight, this time a crescent moon. Hope you like it......... Den