Not the best night for star photography last night, but that didn't stop me from taking some shots!
The beach at Wildcat Cove is part of Larrabee State Park in Washington, which closes at dusk, so I had to park outside and sneak back in to take this shot. It was low tide, so climbing over the slippery rocks to get to the waterline in the dark was an interesting experience!
The bright object dead centre is Jupiter. Also visible are Orion's Belt, Aldebaran, Rigel, Capella and many others! Some of the banding of the Milky Way is very faintly visible, but there was too much moisture in the air to allow the structure to show well without heavy processing.
The glow of Victoria on Vancouver Island is very clearly visible on the horizon, as well as some lights on the nearer islands. Some very faint reflections of the brightest stars are just about visible on the water.
30 second exposure at 16mm, f/2.8, ISO 1600 for the stars, and 5 minute exposure at the same settings for the foreground rocks (lit by the light of a house to my right), manually blended.
I'm a British software developer and photographer living in Vancouver, BC. I mainly photograph landscapes, cityscapes, night scenes, and water.
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Have you tried live view for focusing? On my camera I'm able to see the brighter stars/planets in live view, and zoom in to them while adjusting the focus to get it perfect. I'm not sure if the D60 has a sensitive enough live view mode though?
If you can't do this, the easiest way is to adjust it by trial and error -- set the camera to maximum sensitivity (to make the shutter speed as short as possible, it doesn't matter about noise as you won't use these shots) and take a shot of around 5 seconds. That should pick up enough detail to let you see the brighter stars when you review the photo on the screen and zoom in. From there you can adjust the focus slightly, take another shot, and check it again to see if it's better or worse -- it can take up to 5 minutes to dial it in perfectly, but then it's set for the night.
@abirkill Thanks Alexis for your awesome knowledge in this regard. Unfortunately the D60 does not have live view mode...in fact I have not heard of it before. I did manage to get a focal point from Jupiter also but the shot also produced some orbs from the fairy lights in the area I was shooting also. I will persist and hopefully get a good shot soon. Thanks for the handy hints...so appreciate it.
stunning shot ~ I have been reading up on your blog about star shots ~ very informative thank you ~ I will hopefully [when we get clear skies be hoping to try] ... FAV
a stunning shot and a FAV. This sort of shot is on my 'to do' list when we finally get some descent weather/clear skies so your explanations are a great help.
I love your night shots and its cool that you know what your looking at.
I don't know how to put two photos together a 30 second exposure and a 5 minute exposure.I have lightroom 4 and taught myself how to use it kind of ....Maybe I need somthing else to do it?
Now that's cool! Love the vibrant blues.
You've got some very cool place names over there - although this one makes me think of Enid Blyton ('Five go to Wildcat Cove') ;)
Have you tried live view for focusing? On my camera I'm able to see the brighter stars/planets in live view, and zoom in to them while adjusting the focus to get it perfect. I'm not sure if the D60 has a sensitive enough live view mode though?
If you can't do this, the easiest way is to adjust it by trial and error -- set the camera to maximum sensitivity (to make the shutter speed as short as possible, it doesn't matter about noise as you won't use these shots) and take a shot of around 5 seconds. That should pick up enough detail to let you see the brighter stars when you review the photo on the screen and zoom in. From there you can adjust the focus slightly, take another shot, and check it again to see if it's better or worse -- it can take up to 5 minutes to dial it in perfectly, but then it's set for the night.
I don't know how to put two photos together a 30 second exposure and a 5 minute exposure.I have lightroom 4 and taught myself how to use it kind of ....Maybe I need somthing else to do it?
You've got some very cool place names over there - although this one makes me think of Enid Blyton ('Five go to Wildcat Cove') ;)