Bloke Loc: Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

I managed to find the time to do some PP work on my MW shots, after watching a few youtube videos about it. May not be the best in the world, but my FB friends like them!

I appreciate any comments and suggestions!

the Northern end of the MW as it passes through Cygnus

(Download)

Sagittarius peeking over the trees, with the centre of the Galaxy behind...

(Download)

Right at the end, the clouds moving in. Sagittarius in great form, but the MW is fading

(Download)

Oknoder Loc: Western North Dakota

These are really great, and the best thing is that you can save all your raw files, and reprocess them once you get a handle on the software of your choosing. I am constantly going back and adjusting the images and even adding additional subs to increased the detail in image.

Even if like you end up like me, and the majority of your images never see the light of day, remember we entered this hobby for our own enjoyment, not others.

Well done,
Matthew

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Those came out great, Phil!

CAUTION: The Force is drawing you in.

Bloke Loc: Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

Yeah, I know - it's too late! I have another potential site to check out, but it's in a local park which closes at dusk. There is no impediment to getting in, no fence or anything, but I don't want to get arrested. I have to find out who to contact to get permission, but I don't anticipate it being a problem. The park is in town, but on the south side, so I am hoping there won't be too much pollution. It has a big open field, surround to North, East and West by woods, but with an open vista to the South. If it is dark there, that would be perfect. I will certainly be going out to get some more of these, and I want to try and capture a timelapse of the MW wheeling across the sky. To do that, I am going to need hours of good, clear weather of course. I could go back to the same place, bit it was a bit frustrating not being able to see down towards the horizon a bit.

I am also thinking of taking my gear along on one of my day-trips to the beach. I go to Ocean City, MD - a 400-mile round trip - and normally just hang out for an hour or two, get my boardwalk fries, and head home again. It's as much about the drive as the destination... However, just South of OC is Assateague Island, which is completely undeveloped. It's famous for the wild horses. If I got a few miles south, the sky should be completely unpolluted. Of course, at the coast there is always a risk of clouds rolling in, but I think it's worth a try. Instead of heading back, I can just hang out for a bit, then head for the island and set myself up to try things out. If the worst comes to the worst, it just means I am driving home in the dark. It will even make it easier to get past the traffic of Annapolis and Baltimore...

I want to stock myself up with stuff to process over the winter, when I cannot stand the cold long enough to get much taken.

dlmorris Loc: Loma Linda, Ca

Nice set! When you do your time lapse, I found that taking 20-30 sec subs, with about 5 sec between them, will give you a nice movie, plus you can stack them into a nice star trails exposure. Good luck!

Bloke Loc: Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

That's what I figured for the exposures, but I normally try to get just a second or so between. Is there a reason to leave 5 seconds? All my attempts so far have just been mundane stuff like clouds.

dlmorris Loc: Loma Linda, Ca

I used 5 sec simply to give the image time to download to the card. If you can go shorter, by all means, do it! My best attempt covered a time period of about 3 hours. A few clouds drifting through actually add interest. I need to get out and try some more....

Bloke Loc: Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

That makes sense. It did take a second or two to 'finish' my individual shots. Maybe I need to time that and see just how long it was. Pretty sure it wasn't much more than 2 seconds, but I wasn't in any rush.

I realize that the shooting time for an astro timelapse is going to be a lot longer than for daytime. My passing cloud shoots are taking a shot every second normally, so it only takes 10 minutes or so to get a usable movie length. Shooting 2 or 3 frames per minute, we are looking at close to 8 minutes per second of video.

It was noticeable how much the MW had moved in the minute or so between my shots last week. I guess I could run Stellarium for an idea of just how far and fast it moves over an hour or two...

dlmorris Loc: Loma Linda, Ca

I think you have it pretty well figured out. Then just run the movie at about 24 - 30 frames per second, and it will be perfect!

CraigFair Loc: Santa Maria, CA.

Hi Phill, great start. The photos are really good but in #2 I went in to it and raised the Contrast all the way and and adjusted the Noise Reduction.
That brings out the black sky without loosing the light painted trees. And reduces the High ISO Noise.
Craig

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

A faster card stores the image faster, in my experience.
I went to Nikon and checked the highest speed and largest capacity recommended card (SD type) for my DSLR, then got one.
I haven't waited on storing since. ;)

Bloke Loc: Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

Can you post the edit? I had run it through LR before posting it...

CraigFair Loc: Santa Maria, CA.

Sure Phil here goes. I just tweaked it a little.
I only had a JPEG to work with.
Craig

(Download)

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Still it's downright purdy, Craig. :thumbup:

Herself64 Loc: The Big Lake(Michigan)

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:
Annie