|
Picture Perfect Share your photography tips, techniques and prize captures here. |
|
Share | Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
08-07-2016, 11:52am | #1 | ||||||
Barn Raising I
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: There's someone in my head but it's not me
Posts: 4,525
Thanks: 2,695
Thanked 2,060 Times in 876 Posts
Gameroom Barn Bucks: $308343
|
Milky Way Panorama
I've been fascinated with Milky Way photos for a year or so now, especially panoramas where the Milky Way looks like a rainbow. I tried to stitch several shots taken last fall together but had no luck at all - the arch of the Milky Way was nearly directly overhead.
I was more prepared this year after finding some resources that would show the Milky Way's exact position on any date/time. Due to the earth's rotation, the Milky Way appears to rise just as the sun and moon do and as it's just rising it appears as a "rainbow" or arch reaching 180 degrees from horizon to horizon. Each night through the summer, the "arch" rises a little earlier and by September, as it gets dark enough to see, it's too high in the sky to easily capture as a panorama. Since March or so, each month around the new moon I've visited an old 19th century fort a couple hours west of Ft. Worth that's known for its dark skies as it's 40-50 miles from the nearest large city. Several trips were a little disappointing as haze or clouds affected the clarity but conditions were great last Tuesday. The shot below is a panorama covering a little over 180 degrees. It's 5 shots in portrait mode stitched together. Exposures were at 14mm for 25 seconds, f2.8, ISO 3200. I used a small LED panel to add some light to the foreground. Did it look exactly like this? Not quite, but close. I made adjustments in software to contrast, brightness, saturation, etc. and used noise reduction to reduce the noise inherent in long exposures on digital cameras. This mainly brought out the detail in the core of the Milky Way, the section furthest to the right. The yellow and orange light along the horizon comes from a couple small towns a few miles away. There is also a faint green tint visible a few degrees above the horizon that I believe is "air glow", a phenomenon similar to auroras but caused by ultraviolet rays. PM me if you want to try some Milky Way shots and I'll send you some good web sites to get you started. If you don't give a rip about photography, I'd still encourage you to find someplace really dark to experience the sky. Most of us live in areas so polluted with light that we never see the Milky Way. Here in the DFW area you can almost count the stars you can see on both hands. |
||||||
The Following 5 Users Say Thank You to TripleBlack For This Useful Post: |
08-07-2016, 12:04pm | #2 | ||||||
Charter Member
C6 Modulator Barn Stall Owner #27 Barn Raising I,II NCM Supporter '13,'14,'15 Bantayan Kids '13
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Lone Star State
Posts: 29,424
Thanks: 16,018
Thanked 7,063 Times in 4,385 Posts
Gameroom Barn Bucks: $100108568
|
I'd have to head out to West TX to see that many stars!
Beautiful! |
||||||
The Following User Says Thank You to wwomanC6 For This Useful Post: |
08-07-2016, 12:16pm | #3 | ||||||
Barn Raising I
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: There's someone in my head but it's not me
Posts: 4,525
Thanks: 2,695
Thanked 2,060 Times in 876 Posts
Gameroom Barn Bucks: $308343
|
Thanks. Surprisingly you don't have to go too far. The skies get pretty dark just west of Palo Pinto. Dodson Prairie Church is a decent location for shooting the Milky Way and it's only 5 or so miles west of Palo Pinto and a couple miles south. Ft. Griffin is quite a bit further west and probably darker though I haven't been to the church at night yet.
|
||||||
The Following User Says Thank You to TripleBlack For This Useful Post: |
08-07-2016, 6:32pm | #4 | ||||||
Goldilocks
Barn Stall Owner #905 Bantayan Kids '13,'15
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: My butt's been wiped.
Posts: 30,981
Thanks: 5,227
Thanked 16,607 Times in 7,133 Posts
Gameroom Barn Bucks: $1009320
|
Outstanding.
|
||||||
The Following User Says Thank You to Giraffe (He/Him) For This Useful Post: |
08-07-2016, 7:27pm | #5 | ||||||
Barn Raising I
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: There's someone in my head but it's not me
Posts: 4,525
Thanks: 2,695
Thanked 2,060 Times in 876 Posts
Gameroom Barn Bucks: $308343
|
|
||||||
08-10-2016, 12:44pm | #6 | ||||||
A Real Barner
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Winston Salem NC
Posts: 30,058
Thanks: 10,935
Thanked 10,517 Times in 5,423 Posts
Gameroom Barn Bucks: $29466197
|
That is absolutely gorgeous. Love the old fort in the foreground. The only places in NC to get that dark of a sky is out in the country side away from the major cities. But better in the mountains, and really great out on the Outer Banks. I may even try the banks soon.
|
||||||
The Following User Says Thank You to OddBall For This Useful Post: |
08-11-2016, 3:27pm | #7 | |||||||
Barn Raising I
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: There's someone in my head but it's not me
Posts: 4,525
Thanks: 2,695
Thanked 2,060 Times in 876 Posts
Gameroom Barn Bucks: $308343
|
Quote:
It's cool that the folks that run the place are very friendly to astronomers and night photographers. We call, leave the admission in an envelope (a whopping $4.00) and they give us the combination to the gate. It's worth the drive just to see the stars. |
|||||||
The Following User Says Thank You to TripleBlack For This Useful Post: |
11-14-2016, 9:25pm | #8 | ||||||
A Real Barner
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Down the Shore,New Jersey Elev.3 feet.
Posts: 18,617
Thanks: 4,584
Thanked 11,026 Times in 5,151 Posts
Gameroom Barn Bucks: $1007997
|
|
||||||
|
|
Support the Barn: |
Download the Mobile App; |
Follow us on Facebook: |
||