|
Grab DeepSkyStacker (DSS) its free, when you want to get shotsof the sky without landscape elements you take a bunch of shots with the same settings at the same time and use DSS to register (align) and integrate (stack) the shots into one high bit file you can process in gimp etc. I shoot dslr + lens + tripod mostly, no telescopes involved. Not ideal but basically the same approach you'd take with a tracking scope and imaging camera. Try to understand what a photo actually is and what you are looking at. Its about recording photons (signal) but other factors introduce noise into the picture, particularly ISO, but not exclusively. Also understand that you never record "black", black is where no photons were recorded in a picture. Nor should the "black" space be pure black in a photo as its never absent of photons so dont clip your blacks to pure black when you process. Astrophotography is all about signal to noise ratio; how to improve or nboost the signal and also reduce the noise. So by taking lots of the same photo, registering and integrating them the noise gets averaged down a large degree and signal gets strengthened (not brightened) so when you process with curves etc you can push the faint signal further to make it visible without ruining the photo with noise (which integration reduced already to a lower amount). Noise is never removed and signal never perfect. Its a balancing act of understanding what you are doing and whats going on with signal and noise to tweak either hardware or software workflows to get a picture YOU find acceptable. Everyone has their own workflows for their skill, knowledge and gear, but DSS is free and a good place to start, just try to keep your subs (individual photos) to a short enough exposure time so the stars dont streak and dss will align them much easier. Later you can look at tracking mounts to take longer exposures without star trails, look into darks and flats (but not essential, I rarely bother).
Above all take notes! its frustrating as hell starting out trying to understand what to and when, so write stuff down so you can easily repeat those steps while you work on the next steps. My tips are more for taking photos of the sky only without landscape. With landscapes you need to learn about composition to try to capture an interesting shot, so maybe try going out during the day and find a view to photograph at night , take some test shots in different directions from spots you can safely setup again in the dark. So like a deadtree or ruined building in the foreground to add interest and depth (not dominate) can work well for a nightscape, you could also put a torch behind it out of sight to create a stark silhoutte without ruining the starscape. if you want star trails in the shot then work out where the south celestial pole, its in the same spot 24/7 and when scouting a location during the day work out where it will appear in relation to your landscape elements so have some idea of where the swirls will look in the shot. Depends the look you're after.
|