Milky Way suggestions

Cosmic (Daniel) · #1 31-05-2011, 03:03 PM

I took this picture last night 30th May. Its 5 x 120sec exposures at 200 iso aperture 5.6 using the canon 550d with EF II 50mm lens. Processed with CS5 levels and curves adjusted. Its a pity that I couldn't get more of the milky way in the fov, 50mm seems just a little to narrow.

Any suggestions with aperture settings, iso, exposure, processing ect ect would be greatly appreciated. So my next days off I can give it a real good crack and possibly better my polar alignment and get the settings spot on.

Thanks,
Dan.

A23649 (Nathan) · #2 31-05-2011, 03:34 PM

that looks really good, i think you have all the settings are spot on but let the more experienced amateurs have their say

adman (Adam) · #3 31-05-2011, 05:49 PM

Looks good!

I think that the main issue is the gradient you have from top to bottom - do you have some light pollution creeping in from that angle?

More subs would definitely make a difference, and it was good to see you stopped the lens down to f5.6 - it reduces most of the chromatic abberation. It would be nice to frame it so that you give Eta Carina a bit more room in the bottom left, as it is such a focal point. You really get a good impression of its sheer size in widefields like this.

I like the FOV that the 50mm gives - sure its not the wide, sweeping vistas that something smaller would give, but it sure does give a nice sense of scale when you see the cross and eta carina all in one like that.

Cheers
Adam

Cosmic (Daniel) · #4 31-05-2011, 06:31 PM

Thanks Nathan and Adam for your kind words. Good to know I'm on the right path.

Adam I think you maybe right, 25meters away there was some down-lights on in my kitchen that was giving off soft light. But I really should of put the southern cross more higher framing Eta slightly better doing so. I'll definitely be getting the framing better, I have a problem with jumping the gun tho

.

irwjager (Ivo) · #5 31-05-2011, 08:07 PM

Hi Daniel,

That is actually very nicely framed. Coal sack and Eta Carina all-in-one; how cool is that!

I tried cleaning up the light pollution a bit (it's a bit hard working with a heavily compressed JPEG). Apart from the light pollution, there seems to be some green in your image which is usually a color reserved for a handful of deep space objects. If you see green in your image (especially a widefield) try the free HLVG (Hasta La Vista Green) PS plug-in.
Processing the milkyway is pretty straightforward when it comes to color; it's white! (they don't call it milky way for nothing

) That's because the average color of all the stars is white. The exception of course are prominent nebulae such as Eta Carina.

Very nice & hope to see more of your work here soon.

Cheers,

graphworlok (James) · #6 01-06-2011, 01:43 AM

Great picture.. nice job getting Eta Carina and the cross in!
Rather than offer any suggestions, i only have questions -

What mount
How did you calibrate the mount
Did you use a guider, etc
Any chance of a full res image

I think thats it...

mswhin63 (Malcolm) · #7 01-06-2011, 08:48 AM

Hi Daniel,

I am not much of a AP at the moment still learning a few things myself, nice sharp stars, a bigger resolution image would show more. I am still learning to guide my new gear as well so I understand how you are feeling. I usually take minimum 20 shots while learning.

The only thing I can see that need checking is ETA is a bit purple. I checked your histogram and it is possible the "Red" and "Green" may have been a tad over cooked. If not then the White-balance setting on the camera needs to be adjusted.

For super wide-field I prefer 18mm and 50mm I use to be a bit more selective (eg: small constellations)

You can have look at my camera to get lens ideas. The centre of the Milky-way in my shots are 18mm while Southern Cross and pointers encompass in 40mm nicely.

ob1knob (Alan) · #8 01-06-2011, 04:46 PM

i agree with Malcolm, go with 18mm or less. btw, what time of night did you have to go out and see the milky way? i drove down the coast last weekend and missed it at 10pm / 5am

Cosmic (Daniel) · #9 01-06-2011, 06:37 PM

Ivo, excellent how silly am I "milky way..white" makes allot of sense. I think its easy to over do the processing part. Your advice is top notch, and thank you for the future encouragement!

James, the mount that I used was eq6 pro. Ready for it..... and some 100 mile hr tape lol because honestly that's all I had for the time

Very rough alignment was done..no drift just guesstamation will Polaris. I also add a pic at half res as size was a problem with flickr.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/6352560...n/photostream/

Hi Malcolm, yeah im still learning the processing part of this. I think next time ill reference images like yours to get it more realistic. My only problem atm is paying 500 odd for a small mm lens, they get pricey very quick hey. Your site looks great some very nice work there indeed, ill be ref that pic of the milky way for my next processing. Cheers.

Alan about 2200hrs it was around 30 degrees south. The sky is quite dark where I live, so im lucky.

Thank you all for your input to helping me refine my next imaging session.

Dan

mswhin63 (Malcolm) · #10 01-06-2011, 08:34 PM

This site - http://www.atalas.net/index.php?opti...xpose&Itemid=4 is absolutely brilliant for tuition on CS processing. It has even managed to help me with GIMP as well.

One day i will get CS5.

midnight (Darrin) · #11 06-06-2011, 04:10 AM

Yes as Malcolm says, I would strongly recommend you have a look at Louie's site as not only does he show you how, but listen carefully and you begin to understand why too. Especially levels which I have been spending a fair amount of time trying to experiment as it is one of the fundamentals for a good image.

Good luck!!

Darrin...

Cosmic (Daniel) · #12 06-06-2011, 07:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mswhin63

This site - http://www.atalas.net/index.php?opti...xpose&Itemid=4 is absolutely brilliant for tuition on CS processing. It has even managed to help me with GIMP as well.

One day i will get CS5.

Download all, just been watching them over and learning. Thanks for the site Malcolm, it definitely gives me a sense of direction now for processing

Quote:

Originally Posted by midnight

Yes as Malcolm says, I would strongly recommend you have a look at Louie's site as not only does he show you how, but listen carefully and you begin to understand why too. Especially levels which I have been spending a fair amount of time trying to experiment as it is one of the fundamentals for a good image.

Good luck!!

Darrin...

Absolutely Darrin, bloody good site! Its half the job this process business but half the fun seeing what you can reveal behind the darkness. My next attempt will be a serious one, and I look forward to applying some of these techniques used in Louise's site.