Our neighbors called to say Neowise Comet was visible with the naked eye, even better with binoculars, from our decks. It was such an incredible night, between all the stars, the Milky Way, and the comet that I ended up photographing until after 1:00 a.m. It was all very exciting to watch, with these two as the stars, but also satellites and shooting stars. Definitely better on black.
Awesome night sky... so beautiful. I've taken/posted a few stop action pictures but I'm clueless about how to add to the discussion threat to make it show up on hot topics. Tips please? Sorry... I haven't participated in many challenges.
OMG this is stunning Taffy!! I have always wanted to see the milky way and here it is plus a comet!! Jumping on a plane to join you!! LOL!! If only!! Top shot!!
@rjb71 Yes -- I was using ISO between 2500 and 4000, opened to 2.8 for 14mm, and shutter speed from 15 - 25 seconds. I don't remember which one this is but suspect it was about 20 seconds. At 25, I was getting the little star trails.
I had read about the comet being visible but the tree line here obscures it. This is gorgeous! Some day I will find a place where I can shoot a sky like this one.
This is AMAZING and from your deck . Lucky you .... I Love it..... I really couldn't see it when I captured it a few days ago. I hear it should be the brightest on the 22nd.
@rjb71 We are really fortunate -- we are one of the few dark sky places left and know how lucky we are. There's a group on the island who are working to get official designation as we have dark skies throughout the island -- east, west, north, and south.
@rosiekerr Thanks! My fast super wide f2.8 doesn’t need the adaptor for the Z-mount and I needed to get set up quickly. But the Z6 is my favorite. Just limited in lens choices.
Spectacular night sky with the comet and the Milky Way! I'm green with envy! We've been trying to see the comet but it's too low to the horizon from where we are.
Out of this world! An amazingly beautiful capture of this breathtaking vista. I think the street lighting prevents us here from seeing this wonderful sky with all those stars. A very huge fav.
@rosiekerr I'd recommend the Z6 without reservation -- easy to use, intuitive, great quality. I just have been disappointed that it's taking awhile for new lenses, but part of the delay has been since the pandemic as there were a few that were announced as available and then they've been backordered since end of February. The new Canon mirrorless has gotten great reviews.
Hello Taffy! I am just seeing this photo and it is amazing. I appreciate your response to Richard Brown on the settings you used! I'm wondering what lens you used, as well. We live in a rural setting in Alabama, USA, but there are still lights around that may obstruct the view of night skies. I would love to learn how to do what you have accomplished here. Any tips would be appreciated! Thanks!!
@thewatersphotos Hi Gary and thanks for the kind comments. What camera do you use? Here's what I've learned over the years: Use the lowest HIGH ISO that you can get by with, without a lot of noise in the photo. On my Nikon 610, I do best if I can keep it at 2600 ISO and keep the shutter speed under 20 seconds. Over 20 seconds on any system and you're going to get little light trails. But there are caveats...if shooting northern lights, for example, you can have ISO at 3200 or higher so that you can reduce exposure in post processing and that gets rid of noise. With stars, more likely you will have to, in post processing, up the white slider, shadows, and that's going to increase noise. I don't have a denoise program other than what comes in LR. For astrophotography, I use Nikon's 14-24mm f2.8. It's an amazing lens, probably the highest quality I own. There are also formulas you can find online for optimal settings, but once you've done that a few times, you'll more or less know what your system does well and what it doesn't, and at this point, I don't do any computation to sort things out. I start at f2.8, 14mm, shutter speed 20, ISO 2600 and take a shot. Then, look at the LED screen. Then, adjust accordingly.
I use a Nikon 7100 and typically use the 18-140mm lens, which goes down to f3.5. I also have a Nikon 35mm f1.8. Which do you think would work best? I did try to use the 18-140 the other night to take a shot of the moon, but the focus was difficult, even manually.
I'll use your suggestions and try for the comment again tonight. I really appreciate your help!
@thewatersphotos The 35mm will not give you the broad expanse of sky but should work to give you context. Use the 35mm because speed of the lens is the most important part and anything over f2.8 is not going to get you what you want. the f1.8 will let you set your ISO to less than 2600 I suspect. I don't know the 7100 from my own use, but it's a great camera body. A few things to do before tonight: set to manual focus but earlier in the day when there's light, use autofocus to something far away to get the sharpest image you can get. Set up your camera on the tripod and don't touch the lens. Then, tonite, start with the basic settings and for each scene that you really like, shoot it at 2600 ISO, 3200 ISO, and 4000 ISO; and then shoot it at 2600 ISO but change the shutter speed to 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, and even 15 sec. So spend time making sure you have the scene you want, and shoot it with these combinations. One will likely be better than the others but you won't know til post processing so cover your bases. Move the tripod to get slightly different scene, mostly sky but grounded with a tree, or a barn or whatever might work. Once you've done all that, you can change lenses and try it again with the 18, but with ISO starting at 3200. It's fun and you'll figure out what's best for your camera setup.
This is spectacular, Taffy! I didn't even hear you say you had done this or had even seen it! Quite amazing sight, capture, and processing -- and your neighbors who called you deserve a print of this!
@jyokota Funny you would say that. I sent them the file and they are going to put it on their wall! I was really flattered. But sadly, had to take away some of the crisp detail as if enlarged, the noise will really show. If the winds calm down and sky clears, I'd try again tonight with the Z6 to see if, even with a slower lens, it would be sharper.
@joemuli I agree with Joey, this is a piece of art. And now that I have seen the one with the comet...you should have an exhibit of astrophotography! fav, of course
I had read about the comet being visible but the tree line here obscures it. This is gorgeous! Some day I will find a place where I can shoot a sky like this one.
Well done!
Ian
I use a Nikon 7100 and typically use the 18-140mm lens, which goes down to f3.5. I also have a Nikon 35mm f1.8. Which do you think would work best? I did try to use the 18-140 the other night to take a shot of the moon, but the focus was difficult, even manually.
I'll use your suggestions and try for the comment again tonight. I really appreciate your help!