Milky Way (first attempt)

Neil Burnell

Neil Burnell

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Decided to have a crack at the milky way last night as conditions were perfect. This is the first time I have tried and was amazed how visible it was to the naked eye. The shot is a vertical panoramic shot with my 21mm at 15s | 2.8 | ISO2500. I was hoping to shoot longer for lower ISO but anything over 15s and I had star movement, would be nice if someone on here could maybe explain why that is, as from what I read before I should of been able to go to 21s???

Anyway, heres the shot, it's not perfect, but I'd like to learn to get better and try at some other locations on the coast.

Crit for this is very much appreciated, the stitch isn't perfect so there might be the odd duplication on a few stars.

 
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The great thing in this shot is the coolest
balance between Earth and the galaxy! (y)
 
Absolutely stunning Neil. Excellent composition. That spot has tonnes of more possibilities too. 15 seconds is fine, I found out in mine that longer definitely results in trails... simply due to the Earths rotation.

Where abouts were you when you took this?
 
IanClark said:
Absolutely stunning Neil. Excellent composition. That spot has tonnes of more possibilities too. 15 seconds is fine, I found out in mine that longer definitely results in trails... simply due to the Earths rotation.

Where abouts were you when you took this?
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Thanks Ian :)
This is the Brownstone Daymark near Brixham / Kingswear.
 
IanClark said:
Absolutely stunning Neil. Excellent composition. That spot has tonnes of more possibilities too. 15 seconds is fine, I found out in mine that longer definitely results in trails... simply due to the Earths rotation.

Where abouts were you when you took this?
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In hindsight I should of taken a few when the Corn was grown :(
 
Great shot for a first attempt.

Where I guess you're getting mixed up with the exposure time is that the 500 rule is based on a full frame camera so if you are using a Nikon for example that has a crop sensor then you have to figure in the 1.5x crop factor so using the 500 rule for your focal length on a Nikon you get 500/(21x1.5) = 15.8 seconds, hope that makes sense?

John
 
Happysnapper79 said:
Great shot for a first attempt.

Where I guess you're getting mixed up with the exposure time is that the 500 rule is based on a full frame camera so if you are using a Nikon for example that has a crop sensor then you have to figure in the 1.5x crop factor so using the 500 rule for your focal length on a Nikon you get 500/(21x1.5) = 15.8 seconds, hope that makes sense?

John
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Brilliant, thanks John makes sense now.
Any critique so I can improve next time out?
 
Happysnapper79 said:
Great shot for a first attempt.

Where I guess you're getting mixed up with the exposure time is that the 500 rule is based on a full frame camera so if you are using a Nikon for example that has a crop sensor then you have to figure in the 1.5x crop factor so using the 500 rule for your focal length on a Nikon you get 500/(21x1.5) = 15.8 seconds, hope that makes sense?

John
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Ah I thought that made sense, but I'm actually on FF.
 
Nice one Neil. Don't think anyone is going to spend time looking for duplicate stars in that lot.
 
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Just a long shot but is there any chance you have the camera in DX mode? Its the only explanation I can think of.
 
Great shot, light years ahead of my first attempt......



OK, I'll go get my coat :exit:
 
The reason for the star movement is partly down to the people making the rule up are basing it on you facing North I think. If you shoot in a different direction the stars will appear to move more, so the rule needs to changed to a shorter exposure. Possibly pixel density does play a part too with your D810?

Anyway, back to the photo, superb! It is really a lovely shot. What software did you use to merge the panorama?
 
Steve Law said:
Excellent image, I'm impressed!
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Thanks Stephen

Craig_85 said:
The reason for the star movement is partly down to the people making the rule up are basing it on you facing North I think. If you shoot in a different direction the stars will appear to move more, so the rule needs to changed to a shorter exposure. Possibly pixel density does play a part too with your D810?

Anyway, back to the photo, superb! It is really a lovely shot. What software did you use to merge the panorama?
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Cheers Craig, interesting regarding SS, I went again last night and had to shoot at 13s as was getting trails at 15 on the edges.

Andrew Moore said:
This looks superb! Perhaps a breeze wobbled the camera a little in the attempts over 15s? I wouldn't have thought looking north vs east/west etc would make a difference for such a short period
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Thanks Andrew :)

tonybassplayer said:
Great shot, light years ahead of my first attempt......



OK, I'll go get my coat :exit:
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Thank you Tony :)
 
Very nice, lovely composition.15 secs is best you'll get without a tracking mount. How about taking a sequence of shots and stacking them? That's what I would do; take 6 or more and stack them up with a free program like Deep Sky Staker or CS6 if you're lucky enough to have it! You'll need to mask the fore-ground as the stars will move between each shot.I admit, it's a lot of work, but with that back-drop, it'd be worth it :)
 
Farmerjim said:
Very nice, lovely composition.15 secs is best you'll get without a tracking mount. How about taking a sequence of shots and stacking them? That's what I would do; take 6 or more and stack them up with a free program like Deep Sky Staker or CS6 if you're lucky enough to have it! You'll need to mask the fore-ground as the stars will move between each shot.I admit, it's a lot of work, but with that back-drop, it'd be worth it :)
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Thanks Jim, see my next post, I've done exactly that ;)
 
Maybe it's higher altitude so you are closer to the stars and can see them moving quicker? :D

Absolutely stunning picture, you must be very proud. I thought you had played around with the picture and added the building in post - I can't believe that's a place and has so little light spill from surrounding areas.

That's anohter thing I'm loving about moving down to rural Devon, I sit in the garden at sunset, no sounds, as the light fades bats swoop round the garden and slowly the sky starts to glow with stars. My daughter had never seen stars properly before, she's 10 but we'd always loved in West Midlands, she was mesmerised. One day I'd be happy to capture images half as good as this.
 
NDevon said:
Maybe it's higher altitude so you are closer to the stars and can see them moving quicker? :D

Absolutely stunning picture, you must be very proud. I thought you had played around with the picture and added the building in post - I can't believe that's a place and has so little light spill from surrounding areas.

That's anohter thing I'm loving about moving down to rural Devon, I sit in the garden at sunset, no sounds, as the light fades bats swoop round the garden and slowly the sky starts to glow with stars. My daughter had never seen stars properly before, she's 10 but we'd always loved in West Midlands, she was mesmerised. One day I'd be happy to capture images half as good as this.
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Thanks Mark, the only pollution was from Start Point in the distance and the odd boat which were easily cloned out, milky way was very visible.
 
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