Newbie, Amateur Photographer

[mpg]

Hi First post so a big Hi...

I'm not really into astronomy but i am a very amateur photographer.

This one was just testing how fast my lens was/is and I caught a shooting star.

092 by mpg Photo's, on Flickr

These ones I tried a little harder.

018 by mpg Photo's, on Flickr

road by mpg Photo's, on Flickr

Moonrise by mpg Photo's, on Flickr

Weybread Lake by mpg Photo's, on Flickr

Its the Milky way shot that brought me to this forum.

I'm struggling to process it any tips?

Thanks

Matt

[knobby]

Nice shots... You've caught Orion nicely rising from the lake in the last one

[leelee970]

Very nice indeed.

[wxsatuser]

Nice pics. :icon_salut:

[swag72]

Welcome to the forum Matt - I used to take pictures with my DSLR, got a scope and mount and thought 'how hard can it be?'!! Stacking your images is a good way forward, you can get free software (DeepSkyStacker) where you put in your, say, 50x60s subs for example and it spews out a stacked image all aligned. You will get much better signal if you stack images.

If you go to the FLO website, the book section, make a purchase of the book 'Making Every Photon Count' - this is something of an imagers bible and really does give you loads of information in easy to understand terms. It is the best book you will buy.

If you look in the imaging section, most people put their kit in the post and how many subs they took - This will give you an insight into the amount of data that we seek to produce an image.

Most of all, enjoy it and keep your hands firmly in your pockets. Do NOT reach for your wallet at any time otherwise you will very soon be broke!!! AP knocks normal photography into a tin hat for the money you can throw at it!!

[klytus]

Wow!! very nice well done mate, what equipment were you using may i ask? If i can one day get shots like that i'd be very happy.

[mpg]

Thanks Folks. I know its not strictly AP as such. I'm really after getting some good milky way landscapes. But who knows where that will lead me.. I've seen some amazing Andromeda shots.

I was using a Nikon D7000 and a rented Tokina 11-16 2.8. @30 secs I rented that lens to see if it was any better (faster) than my Nikon 12-24 f4 . Its faster but there is a lot more distortion on the edges.

The first shot (the Lucky one) was my nifty fifty and about 15 secs

I need to give this stacking thing a try. I'll just feel a bit of a cheat stacking a number of images and the photoshoping some foreground interest.

[Sandancer10]

Welcome to SGL and I think your photo's are excellent - from a fellow photographer who enjoys AP.

[PhotoGav]

Great pics. Really love the road one, great depth. Stacking and processing certainly isn't cheating - it would have to be easy to be cheating!!!

Yes, I can concur with all comments made about AP - it's costly in both time and money, but highly addictive because it's so difficult and the results never cease to amaze! You've made a fantastic first step on this very off-road road. Actually, your pics are inspirational. I must take the camera off the telescope and put it on a tripod sometime soon. Bet you don't repeat the shooting star frame for some time!

Enjoy the journey...

Gav.

P.S. This forum is an absolute gold mine for help, advice, ideas and opinions.

[Robny]

Nice images,

I also like the road one, very nice

The last image... is that a montage of  couple of images or is that  a single shot?

Rob

[sologuitarist61]

Hi mpg and welcome to SGL, there are many photographers here and a forum especially for photography - look forward to seeing some of your work. :-)

Sent from my it900 using Tapatalk

[frugal]

I love the road shot. It has a beautifully surreal quality to the way that nothing seems quite normal.

Were these all single shots, or did you stack multiple exposures together?

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk

[mpg]

Thanks to everyone.

All single shot albeit long exposures generally around the 30 secs mark if shooting a 11mm.

The road one was a very quick set up and shoot as you can see the bright light at the end was another car coming. I had the Idea and what i wanted to achieve. It didn't come out as I wanted as i had to pack up and move on. I've had to increase the exposure by quite an amount and is given it a bit of an HDR feel to it.

The lake shot:

First time i tried i nearly got wet as it was that dark. I took a number of shots but I keep coming back to that one.

This is just a point the camera straight up and press the remote.

I'm still amazed at the amount of stars.

Straight up trees by mpg Photo's, on Flickr

[pianorealm]

Well done on those photos! Is it a particularly dark site you took them from?

Howard