Post your Milky Way shots

Since tonight is a "new moon", I figured I'd start a thread dedicated to Milky Way images.

I captured this night before last up near the top of the pass.

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Beauty! Love it. I've been racking my brain trying to figure out a spot around here that I could go set up for a Milky Way shot.

I absolutely love it. I don't imagine with my location and equipment I can get a decent one but I'm gonna try.

If you've never taken star photos, here's a couple of hints that will help. First, take your lens out during the day and focus on something as far away as you can see, maybe the moon or distant mountains, and take note of where your lens focuses at on distant objects. Some people even put a piece of blue tape to mark the spot. That way you'll know where to set your focus when you point it at the stars. (also - be sure to switch off your AF). Some people say open your lens all the way up but I tend to stop it down a half stop (this is a personal choice, I suppose) and feel it gives me a slightly sharper star "dot" than when I set it wide open. I set my ISO at 3200 and my shutter speed at 20-25 secs. Any longer than 25-30 secs and your stars will start to look like little tadpoles. Also, be sure to overlap your exposures more than you typically do for panoramas since it seems the algorithms have a harder time stitching together overlapping stars than it does landscapes. On that note, be sure to turn your "long exposure" noise reduction off if you're planning on making a panorama. The in-body NR doesn't seem to be any better than what you can obtain by using Nik, LR or PS, so no need to wait between shots (IMO). And finally, I always use a 3 sec exposure delay even when I'm using a remote shutter release. It gives the body/tripod system time to settle down after the mirror slap.

Good luck and remember to bring a flash light with you. And also remember to keep checking your focus throughout the shoot because it's very easy to knock it off a tiny bit.

Sittin by the campfire

Originally Posted by Photohiker

Scott, thanks for the heads up on the Rokinon 14mm, I am loving that lens

Pleasure mate its a great lens for night shots thats for sure just dont tell too many people