First attempt at Wide Field Astrophotography

[Zuluwoffle (Matt)]

So last night I finally had a crack at using my new D750 at some wide field astrophotography down the road with Orion setting and after 21 shots did some processing and noticed in one I scored the added bonus of a meteor.

Just thought I would share it and get any pointers that you may give about the shot and the processing. The big bright light in the middle of the pic was from cars with their headlights on so I wish I could have avoided that but with lots of people heading home and the location, it's something I will keep in mind next time.

Shot was taken on a Nikon D750 with a 24mm prime focus lens at f2.8 for a single 20sec exposure ISO3200 and processed using Lightroom.

Matt

[ZeroID (Brent)]

Hey Matt, pretty good I reckon. A meteor and a plane, quite scenic site. Yeah, the light can cause problems but your pic seems to have captured the whole scene quite well. You need to find a darker site to get more detail in the star field but your technique seems to be all good.
And I like the pic regardless ... Well done !

[Zuluwoffle (Matt)]

Thanks Brent for the reply.

Yeah I hear you about the darker site. Unfortunately all the traffic from people coming home from work didn't help and to the left of the pic a sport field had its light on which didn't help either but naturally I didn't realise that until it was too dark.

I have a place in mind for the next one that should be a lot darker but no where near a dark zone like BRETTI.

[raymo]

A good first attempt. Your stars are elongated, as 20 secs is too long an exposure for an unguided 24mm lens. My octogenarian's eyes are not the
best any more, but it looks as though the focus is slightly off.
raymo

[Zuluwoffle (Matt)]

Thanks Raymo,

I'll try a 15sec exposure next time to see if that's any better and you are right about the focus.

With the focus, could it be because of the lens being quite old? It's a 24mm Nikkor f2.8 AF-D so not the most expensive prime lens or could it be that I missed the sharp focusing by a smidge?

There is a little bit of falloff as well around the corners but that's to be expected with that particular lens full open.

[raymo]

Firstly,you are imaging the worst part of the sky for star elongation; if
you are able to centre your image on the South Celestial Pole area, say
around the Southern Cross, you will get far less star trailing.
I assume that you know that you don't focus on the lens' infinity symbol.
Turn on Live View and 10x magnification, and make the stars as small as possible.
raymo

[Zuluwoffle (Matt)]

Yeah I know about the star trailing and trying to focus around the SCP but my main focus was getting Orion setting.

I didn't actually know about the focusing part. My natural instinct was to set it at infinity so next time I head out I'll give the pointer you make about using live view a shot instead. Thank you for that.

[DarkKnight (Kev)]

Pretty encouraging first try, especially picking up some colour in M42 and capturing a meteor as well.

As has been said above forget about the infinity mark on your lens as most are not spot-on. I concur with the live view focus mode and aim for pinpoint stars.

Next time you have a crack at it try setting your Release Mode Dial to 'Mup' (Mirror Up) and if you aren't already doing so, use a remote shutter release and wait at least ten seconds after touching the camera/tripod before activating the shutter. This allows your set-up to stop vibrating.

Also have a play with Lightroom's 'De-Haze' filter which I find a handy PP tool for Astro shots.

As the shot is fairly clean you could also try pushing your ISO to ISO6400 and dropping your shutter speed to 15 seconds. The D750 is one of Nikon's best for low noise.Try different settings till you find the best combination.

And be warned, you are flirting with a photographic genre that can become an addiction.

RE your lens, have a look here .....http://www.photozone.de/nikon_ff/551-nikkorafd2428ff

Happy shooting.

[Zuluwoffle (Matt)]

Thanks Kev for the words of encouragement and the pointers.

Definitely looking forward to the upcoming New Moon this weekend so I can head out again with some new ideas.