First ... watch this video:
https://www.lonelyspeck.com/noise-free-astrophotography-with-starry-landscape-stacker/
The idea here is to take as many similar exposures of the Milky Way as possible, then stack them using the Starry Landscape Tracker* software, which serves to align the stars (as their relative positions will have changed with each exposure).
I start with as few as 36 frames and shoot as many as 60. Exposure is 15 to 20 seconds each, wide open at 1600 or 3200 ISO. Of course, I use the widest, fastest lens I have -- a 12mm, f2.0 Rokinon. After getting the Milky Way exposures, I shoot 12 to 20 'dark frames' -- photos taken with the lens cap on -- at the same exposure duration and ISO. It's important to do this immediately after shooting your 'real' frames, as ambient temperature affects the noise characteristics of your camera's sensor. The dark frames, when fed into Starry Landscape, serve to map out the noise pattern of your sensor.
All photos are converted to 16-bit TIFF files and opened in Starry Landscape. It then aligns them and allows you to export a TIFF file that you can then further edit in Photoshop or Lightroom.
* Requires Mac-only Starry Landscape Tracker
How-to on stacking Milky Way photos to reduce noise & increase clarity.
First ... watch this video:
https://www.lonelyspeck.com/noise-free-astrophotography-with-starry-landscape-stacker/
The idea here is to take as many similar exposures of the Milky Way as possible, then stack them using the Starry Landscape Tracker* software, which serves to align the stars (as their relative positions will have changed with each exposure).
I start with as few as 36 frames and shoot as many as 60. Exposure is 15 to 20 seconds each, wide open at 1600 or 3200 ISO. Of course, I use the widest, fastest lens I have -- a 12mm, f2.0 Rokinon. After getting the Milky Way exposures, I shoot 12 to 20 'dark frames' -- photos taken with the lens cap on -- at the same exposure duration and ISO. It's important to do this immediately after shooting your 'real' frames, as ambient temperature affects the noise characteristics of your camera's sensor. The dark frames, when fed into Starry Landscape, serve to map out the noise pattern of your sensor.
All photos are converted to 16-bit TIFF files and opened in Starry Landscape. It then aligns them and allows you to export a TIFF file that you can then further edit in Photoshop or Lightroom.
* Requires Mac-only Starry Landscape Tracker
Other posts tagged with Astrophotography , Photography