Astro Photography

 

Photographing the heavens

(updated Sat., June 22, 2019)


This page focuses on my photographs of the night sky, of astronomical objects.






Astrophotography, definition of:


as·tro·pho·tog·ra·phy noun \ˌas-(ˌ)trō-fə-ˈtä-grə-fē\



Definition of ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY

:  photography involving astronomical objects and events






As I mentioned in http://vanvooren.us/Photography/Photography_Interest.html, my initial interest in photography started with a desire to photograph the stars, planets, Halley’s Comet and other object in the  night sky.


My nitial efforts were not so good - many poor images with blurs or nothing captured.


Fast forward to the mid-2000s and the Kodak Z1275 & Z1285 cameras an things were different.  With the ability to set the exposure time to up to 8 seconds, ISO to 800, use a tripod, and to set a timer so I wasn’t touching the camera as it took the picture, images improved dramatically.


There is a link to a good article on how to take good astrophotographs, and I share some of my favorite images, below.






Outdoor Photographer magazine’s November, 2016 cover photo and story is “Under the Stars.”

The issue (I’ll post a link as soon as they make it available) includes several awesome articles, including: 


  1. -“Star Struck,” by Mark Edward Harris / Photography by Shane Black - http://www.shaneblackphoto.com


  1. -“Shooting Meteor Showers,” Text and Photography by Glenn Randall - http://www.glennrandall.com


  1. -“Behind the Shot” - “Lost Lake Milky Way” - by Kevin Shearer - http://kdsphotography.smugmug.com


  1. -“Nikon D500” - astrophotography - Text and Photography by Tony Rowell - http://tonyrowell.com


Thank you to the writers and photographers, and to the OP staff, for this great “Under the Stars” issue!



And, to see some of Shane Black’s time-lapsed videos, please see:


  1. -“Adventure is Calling” - https://vimeo.com/76820114


  1. -“Adventure is Calling II” - https://vimeo.com/shaneblack/adventureiscalling2


  1. -“Inushuks Under The Stars” - https://vimeo.com/54400762


  1. -“Dancing Lenticular clouds over Mt. Rainier” - https://vimeo.com/171332456








See the November, 2014 issue, ...

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Landscape Astro Photography

Tips, techniques and gear for exploring the exciting world of creating starry sky scenic photos Article Icon Author

Text & Photography By Adam Woodworth


http://www.outdoorphotographer.com/how-to/shooting/landscape-astro-photography.html#.VVV1SM5hevk


... Adam Woodworth shares some very practical guidance, including


“I'm usually shooting at 25 seconds, ƒ/2.8, using ISO 3200 and a focal length of 14mm. This will give you stars that look close to pinpoints in a large print, but your foreground will be out of focus (and, most likely, underexposed) because you're focused for the stars at ƒ/2.8. For stars with minimal trails, as a rule of thumb, you can divide your focal length into 500 or 400 to get a maximum exposure time. (I prefer dividing into 400 for smaller trails.)”



See also:


Introduction to Landscape Astrophotography

November 27, 2013 by Adam Woodworth


https://luminous-landscape.com/introduction-to-landscape-astrophotography/








To capture good astrophotographs, you need a good camera and/or a good app for your smart phone.






I recommend ProCamera, by Cocologics, and the amazing LUX+ / Low Light Plus in-app purchase.  For only a few dollars, you get the ability to take AMAZING astrophotographs.


Once you download the app, and select the LUX+ setting, you can make images like these. 


Thank you, Cocologics!



These two photos show how much benefit you get with the Low Light Plus in-app purchase:



Holy Infant Church steeple, and Jupiter

Standard Camera mode




Holy Infant Church steeple, and Jupiter

this is just the way my eyes saw it!

LUX+ / Low Light Plus mode












Mike’s favorite astrophotographs:



These are some of my favorite night photographs:



you can press Control and + or - to zoom in and zoom out










June, 2019


I captured both of these images the same night.


I used the ProCamera’s LowLight Plus mode, and the Olloclip Superwide Pro lens to capture this image of Jupiter and Scorpio... Jupiter bright mid-left, just to the left of our chimney... Scorpio to the right of the chimney. 

ISO 2500, 1 second exposure






I used the PProCamera’s LowLight Plus mode, and the Olloclip Telephoto Pro lens to capture this image.  Yes, I apparently did wiggle the tripod a little.

ISO 1000, 1/3 of a second.








June, 2019

I am thankful that the new iPhones (and Samsung) have two lenses, for wide-angle and telephoto views.


I am even more thankful that Olloclip makes lenses for your smartphones.  The TelephotoPro lens is awesome.  One night I used the Pocket Tripod Pro, ProCamera’s LowLight Plus mode, and the Olloclip Telephoto Pro lens to capture this image. 

ISO 100, 1/30 of a second; -2 exposure









June, 2019

“Mackinac Moon,” as captured while walking our dog, Backes (named for the hockey player), on our family vacation to Mackinac Island.








May, 2019

While this is not a crisp photo, I consider it a very good image because it is of our dog, Backes (named for the hockey player), and the moon, and it was hand-held... no tripod.







August, 2018

A few weeks later, as the summer continued, the planets position in the skies changes, as they, and us on earth, continued our paths around the sun.








July, 2018

We were blessed to visit Hawaii on summer vacation.


The night skies in Hawaii were more cloudy than we expected on the trip, which was ok, but it did mean that we didn’t see the stars too often.  But this night I was able to see three of four of the bright planets currently visible in the night sky (Venus had already set, to the west / right), and captured this view from our balcony. 







April, 2018

Crescent moon and Venus above our house







March, 2018

Mercury and Venus were close in the night sky on the drive home, so I pulled over and captured this great image.


Venus:      brighter, lower

Mercury:  fainter, a bit up and to the right.








June, 2017

We visited many places on our family summer vacation in 2017, including staying at Devils Tower Lodge next to Devils Tower National Monument.


After a day climbing with Gabe and Julius, we relaxed.


Just before bed, we ventured outside, where it was pitch black... and captured these star trails and airplanes flying acoss the sky.