Snickers or ......

[BlueCorn]

Milky Way?

 

[delusions]

Wow, amazing pic. Sorry for the newbie question, but how do you shoot stars that well? Other than a tripod, exposure, lens, etc?

 

[Recty]

Looks very nice. I plan on getting some night sky pictures here pretty soon, it's finally getting dark enough to do.

Question... what are the bright spots underneath the mountain line in the center?

 

[BlueCorn]

Thanks!

Recty - the lights on El Capitan are climbers, roped in for the night.

delusions - this is a 30 second exposure at f/2.8 and ISO 1600. The scene is a full 180 degree field of view due to my use of a 15mm fisheye lens.

Cheers

 

[Recty]

Cool, thanks.

Do you use the cameras auto long exposure compensation setting that I believe helps to reduce noise? I cant remember the exact name for it, but it's where it basically takes another picture with the mirror not flipped up?

 

[BlueCorn]

This is a 30 second exposure. The default "auto" setting doesn't do a dark frame unless you're beyond 30 seconds. That said, I've turned that to off on my camera. I've done some testing and I actually prefer the image without NR turned on.

 

[squid_fart]

That and it doesn't take twice as long to do night shots.

Beautiful shot beerguy, bowl of milk!

 

[Recty]

This is a 30 second exposure. The default "auto" setting doesn't do a dark frame unless you're beyond 30 seconds. That said, I've turned that to off on my camera. I've done some testing and I actually prefer the image without NR turned on.

That's kind of what I was leaning towards. The Northern Lights were out the other night and I tried a shot with my camera with the dark frame setting on and it pretty much wiped out the northern lights... so I'm afraid things like the Milky Way which is just kind of a misty appearance would just get wiped out too.

 

[AquaPython]

we are almost aligned! just 3 years, and two months to go....

 

[BlueCorn]

You can do it manually, after the shot, if the mood strikes you.

After you're done shooting for the night take a shot with the same ISO and shutter speed with the lens cap on (in a dark place just in case your cap leaks a bit). Load your image and the dark frame up in PS as layers and set the blend mode to difference.

 

[Reef Bass]

the lights on El Capitan are climbers, roped in for the night.

While I wouldn't presume to even imply that your pic could somehow be improved, I find it interesting that you chose to leave those in. I'd have whipped out the clone brush while cursing the climbers and their light pollution. :uzi:



When talking candy, it's Snickers big time.

 

[BlueCorn]

Yeah - I could very easily remove them but climbers are a big part of Yosemite.