Milky Way

crimbfighter · Mar 28, 2018

We are vacationing in AZ this week and I went out late last night to try and capture the Milky Way. Back home the galactic center doesn't come as far over the horizon, if at all, and the desert air helps with clear images. I drove about an hour east of Phoenix into the Tanto National Forest and found a spot. I didn't have much time to plan it, so I did the best I could with the location. I use an app called Photo Pills to plan where the Milky Way will be and instead of scouting, I used google maps street view to try to work out a couple possible locations. The galactic center was only visible for about an hour so I had to work quick. This was actually my first attempt at shots like this. I rented the Tamron 15-30 for the trip specifically for these shots.

1. 14 shot pano, 15mm, f/2.8, ISO 3200, 1/25sec

2. Single exposure, 15mm, f/2.8, ISO 3200, 1/25. Shot as the sky was getting light from the rising sun.

Destin · Mar 28, 2018

Impressive for your first time man! Especially that pano! Hard to believe that’s 15 shots!

Peeb · Mar 29, 2018

Wow! Nice.

Dean_Gretsch · Mar 29, 2018

You are off to the races! I think you will be anxiously awaiting the return visit now!

BrentC · Mar 29, 2018

Sure doesn't look like your first time. Excellent shot, love the panorama. How quickly do you have to move going from one shot to the next for the panorama? Or is the start movement slow enough you can take your time?

Fujidave · Mar 29, 2018

Two great shots, but that first one is just stunning and you have to view it on Flickr to really get a look at how fantastic a shots it is.

tirediron · Mar 29, 2018

VERY cool... in thir.. *cough* *cough* years behind the lens, I don't think I've ever even attempted a night sky shot... I need to get on that!

Destin · Mar 29, 2018

tirediron said:
VERY cool... in thir.. *cough* *cough* years behind the lens, I don't think I've ever even attempted a night sky shot... I need to get on that!

It’s definitely a unique challenge! I imagine it wasn’t really possible with old film cameras because the shutter speed you’d have needed would have given you star trails rather than points.. it seems to me that photographing the Milky Way is a rather modern phenomenon only made possible by the high iso quality of newer camera bodies.

Fujidave · Mar 29, 2018

I wish I could of put your 1st shot in for POTM, just can`t figure out how and that`s after reading it.
PS: At last just sussed it

Jeff G · Mar 29, 2018

WOW! very nice, I'm going to have to look into the process for trying this.

crimbfighter · Mar 30, 2018

Destin said:
Impressive for your first time man! Especially that pano! Hard to believe that’s 15 shots!

Thanks! I have dabbled in astro stuff before, but never have I attempted a shot like these before.

Peeb said:
Wow! Nice.

Thank you!

Dean_Gretsch said:
You are off to the races! I think you will be anxiously awaiting the return visit now!

I know, right?! This is my first visit to AZ, but I have a couple friends who live near Phoenix, so I don't think it'll be my last!

BrentC said:
Sure doesn't look like your first time. Excellent shot, love the panorama. How quickly do you have to move going from one shot to the next for the panorama? Or is the start movement slow enough you can take your time?

Thank you! I took one shot right after another without delay. When you look at the full res image, you can already see some star trails in the middle of the frame from where LR used the edges of some images. I think if you really know what you're doing and are willing to spend a lot more time in post than I did, you certainly can take more time between shots. Some people stack 3 images to make each image of the panorama which helps reduce noise, but you're talking at least a minute and a half for each of the shots you stitch together, not to mention if you are taking a fourth image at low ISO for the foreground. You can see how quickly time can add up and the more changes between each image makes stitching that much harder. I think if you do that, you're going to really push the capabilities of what can be successfully stitched together. I could definitely see two exposures for each stitched image, one for the sky and one for the foreground.

Fujidave said:
Two great shots, but that first one is just stunning and you have to view it on Flickr to really get a look at how fantastic a shots it is.

Thanks!

crimbfighter · Mar 30, 2018

tirediron said:
VERY cool... in thir.. *cough* *cough* years behind the lens, I don't think I've ever even attempted a night sky shot... I need to get on that!

Haha, I imagine it's thirty-ish years of practice for finally giving it a shot!

Destin said:
tirediron said:

VERY cool... in thir.. *cough* *cough* years behind the lens, I don't think I've ever even attempted a night sky shot... I need to get on that!

Click to expand...

It’s definitely a unique challenge! I imagine it wasn’t really possible with old film cameras because the shutter speed you’d have needed would have given you star trails rather than points.. it seems to me that photographing the Milky Way is a rather modern phenomenon only made possible by the high iso quality of newer camera bodies.

I think you're right. I remember as a kid my dad helped me take photos of Haley's Comet as it went by and with the highest available ASA film, all we got were star trails with the comet being a longer trail to set it apart. Perhaps with fancy NASA equipment it was possible, but I think it would have been hard with a standard film camera. Not to mention the act of stitching these images together today takes significant distortion of the original image to put them together. Complex distortion that probably wouldn't have been possible pre-digital.