Orion in the Moonlight and mist

[xelasnave]

well if one could get some decent sky one would not get so bored. Stormheads either side of the sky brightened by the near full Moon, moisture and wind. Used 300d thru 150sn used occassion to practice polar alignment, focus check gear etc. Used a 4 holed harmen mask to focus and capture which seemed to give me an edge. Took a lot but this is the salvage effort.
alex

[Itchy]

Hey Alex,

Polar alignment looks pretty good! At leat at the image scale you have posted. How long was this exposure?

Cheers

[RB]

Looking good Alex.

Details?

[xelasnave]

The reason little detail is because I was more interested in dialing in polar alignment. I did use all iso settings (even 100) and ran it unguided for up to 80 seconds, I may have been able to get longer but the photos just went pale because of the Moon and the moisture. I was very happy to be out there and finally knowing what I was doing on alignment. I combined the best two one for the burn out area, as I call it, and onother which burnt out in the centre had a little nebulosity.
alex

[seeker372011]

80 seconds I think is very good polar alignment

[xelasnave]

It seems to work better if I dont try to guide it manually so I am trying it that way. But it is becoming clear each additional second from here on in will be hard won.
alex

[FOOTPRINT]

Hi Alex,
Yes 80 Sec. unguided exposures show good alignment, and if you can stack 5-6 of these the result should be a damn good picture, however any picture taken with the moon up is only good for point sources (starts Etc.) neblua get melted out, by the way do you have Paint Shop Pro, if so you can enhance a lot in the EFFECTS-enhance photo, darken the background with respect to the object also.

cheers...Jim

[atalas]

It's looking good Alex, now If you can just block out the moon !

[xelasnave]

Thanks Jim, I only have photshop elements (the one that came with 300d) and Microshop Picture It and I am not real flash with those, my game is to get better with captures in the mean time.
Thanks Louie the clouds are doing a good job on the Moon block out.
Going bush tonight the bar maid from the pub is giving me a lift home so I will try again if the clouds lift. I left the tripod in place and removed the mount head, so hopefully polar align should get better again.
Thank to all for the interest and encouragement.
alex