How to: Photograph the Moon with HDR

This will just be a quick run through how I take photos of the moon. My equipment used is a Skywatcher 80ED telescope (equivelant of a 600mm lens) with a Canon 600D mounted to it. A remote trigger was also used.

Picture settings are set to Manual, RAW files, with bracketing switched on and ISO set to 400. I then use the live-view and 10x zoom on the edge to perfect the focus using the telescope. I'll set the shutter speed (no aperture don't forget!) so the moon has average tones and then take the 3 bracketed shots. I'll then adjust the initial shutter speed slightly to change the exposures further. This evening I took 5 sets of bracketed shots (15 photos in total). 

I then open every 3rd image to see the quality of it on a bigger scale. If I find a set of 3 that I'm reasonably happy with I'll load the 3 chosen images into Photomatix (or your preferred HDR-type program). 

In this case the B&W Natural preset gives a nice range of tones. 

I'm very new to processing HDR so I don't generally fiddle around with it to much. Once I've exported the HDR shot, I'll stick it in photoshop and touch up some of the layers. 

Finally, crop and save.

Report: First light with Evostar 80ED

I returned home from work yesterday just to meet the delivery driver at the door, to receive my new Skywatcher 80ED telescope. Unboxing it I felt like a child at Christmas, slowly taking pieces out of their protective bags and looking at them wondering what each bit did and what goes where. I first mounted the scope on my CG-5 and just played around with the balances, counterweight, and just getting a feel for it. There it stayed until it got dark (my girlfriend wasn't too impressed with it being left in front of the TV and her being too afraid to move it knowing I've spent an entire months salary on it all).

Then a miracle happened, I had clear skies. They weren't perfect as here in the UK has been very hot and muggy, so there is a slight haze lingering around in the evenings, and I went out pretty early - Polaris was quite faint as it wasn't long after full sunset, but I was eager to get out there and playing. Having lined up the mount with Polaris, I had a look through the camera's viewfinder (camera attached with a t-ring to the back of the scope) and was greatly surprised to find Polaris in sight, not right in the middle, but it was there. I then aligned the mount with Arcturus, Dubnhe and Deneb? (I think!) and took this opportunity to line up the finder scope, which always surprises me by how much you can see through them.

First target was the globular cluster in Hercules (M13). I took a few exposures, and initially noticed I was slightly out of focus. To fix this I navigated to the nearest bright star using the GoTo and used the 10x digital zoom to make tuning much more accurate. The fine-tuning focuser really helped too. Back to Hercules and things were much clearer, though in fairness it did seem to come out similarly to when I was capturing it with my 300mm lens.

I tried out a few other targets, the pinwheel galaxy was unsuccessful, and I couldn't even make out the feint shape of it like I could with my 300mm. The Dumbbell nebulawas visible, but a little faint, and again similar result to the 300mm lens. So I decided not to get too disheartened and went back to the Hercules cluster. I took roughly 4 minutes worth of 30s exposures, and ended up with the following result:

I'm happy with the result, but it's a little darker than I'd have liked but I didn't want to burn out the centre as I have with my previous attempts.

Here is the same target with the 300mm lens and around 15 minutes of exposure, I took this a week or so ago:

When comparing the two, I think the ED80 clearly shows more details and especially from a shorter total exposure. I now just have to find a way to prevent the middle from becoming burnt out and over exposed.

I have to admit, my first impressions of the scope are good, but there is a little doubt. The results from this first session were very similar to what I was getting with the 300mm lens. I know full well that this telescope is a good tube, and I know i'll be able to get some great photos with it, but at the moment I don't think I'm seeing that just yet. There is clearly much more room to work on and more to learn, and hopefully I'll be able to see real improvements compared to images with the 300mm lens (otherwise I'll feel like I've wasted a bit of money!).

Andromeda Galaxies

Andromeda is the closest galaxy to our own, and is getting closer. Eventually the two galaxies will collide and become one great galaxy (we're talking billions of years however). It's a good target for any astronomer, and on a clear night is visible with the naked eye. Currently it isn't in an ideal part of the sky for viewing, as it is quite low down and close to the horizon - it only starts to become clearer at around 01:00am.

The first sighting of Andromeda with the 300mm lens on the CG-5 mount came out pretty well. The following shots were taken from a few separate exposures and a few dark frames put together in Deep Sky Stacker.

I'm really happy with the fact I caught two other galaxies within it (click the image to see labels) as I didn't expect to be able to pick them up. I know the final image isn't great - but it's definitely something to work and build upon.

M13 Cluster in Hercules

M13 is a globular cluster within the Hercules constellation, formed of about 300,000 stars. This was one of my first target with my new tracking mount, as it's a little fainter than other targets but still visible with a pair of binoculars.

Having set the mount to find the cluster, I took a few shots and was a little confused - I couldn't see anything resembling a cluster and as it was one of the first uses of my new mount - being a total novice I was sure something wasn't right. So I popped indoors to check on Stellarium where the cluster sits within the Hercules constellation - a quick diagram drawn on a post-it note helped me pin point it. It turns out I had captured it, but it was a lot smaller and fainter than I initially thought. The first shot below shows the image I initially captured, if you click on the image you will see where on the image the cluster is.

The constellation of Hercules, with M13 visible left of centre at the top

This weekend just gone, I stayed at my parents who live on the coast and have much darker skies. I stayed out for a few hours before tiredness got the better of me. I had three targets in mind, one of them being M13 again. 

This time I took 16 minutes worth of exposures, with 8 minutes of 'dark frames' which are used to subtract any noise on the sensor itself. I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome, after a few hours trying to get a decent results from the shots I took - the clear build up of stars as it gets toward the centre is pretty fascinating. 

16 minutes of exposure on M13 - Hercules globular cluster

How to: Capture Star Trails

Meteor on the right

Star trails have been something I've wanted to photograph since I first became aware of them around a year ago. The patience of spending all night in the garden with your camera in the freezing cold put me off slightly, but lately due to a clear window and some clear skies, I've managed to get the same results indoors.

This guide will briefly (and as simply as I can) explain the process I took to get these results by stacking multiple images together to create one final long-exposure image.

The first step is to set the camera up. For these images I use continuous shoot mode, with 30 second exposure and a low ISO (around 400) to keep the grain down. I'll set the aperture once the camera is pointing at the sky as it depends on how dark/light the sky is.

I've been taking my latest star trail shots through a back window in a spare room. By positioning the tripod against the wall, I can get the camera as close to the window as possible (try make sure the window is clean too!). Adding a bit of support to the tripod legs to stop any movement or slippage during the night. 

Once my shutter speed, shooting mode ISO are set, and I'm happy with the aperture, I use a wired external remote with locking switch to begin shooting. Continuous shoot mode will continually take shots while the remote button is pressed.

I'll then, usually, go to bed. You will usually find the camera silent in the morning, having drained all battery life. I've been told that when the sensor is activated is when the camera uses the most power, so continuous shots drain it pretty quick - however you should still get 5 - 7 hours of shooting out of a full charge (on my Canon 1000D anyway).

I'll then review the photos on screen, checking every 15 - 30 shots for clouds. Some trails I have had to cut short as clouds tend to come along after a few hours, in this case, I'll discard these from the final edit.

To stack the good images I use a program on the Macbook called Starstax (will add a link). This program, simply put, takes all the photos you select and stacks them together. Very simple to use indeed so no real need to explain further in this.

The stacking will show you each image as it stacks it, 2 or 3 per second, which is interesting to watch as you can see your photo gradually building up - star trails gradually getting longer. Occasionally you may see a plane fly past, or if you're lucky a meteor suddenly appear. By watching the stacking process you can also identify any shots that need touching up, for example last night I had to edit 4 or 5 photos after noticing a neighbour used a spotlight, thus filling the shot with an over-exposed foreground and bit of lens flare. A quick touch up in Photoshop on these images quickly solves this. If you chose not to touch these up, and simply delete these images, you will have gaps in your trails.

Once the stacking is complete, you can save the final image onto your computer.

2 hours 38 minutes

I tend to open the final image in Photoshop to see if it needs any touching up or colours fixed. I generally make the sky a little darker black/blue as so much exposure can make it pretty light/purple. I may also touch up the light pollution at the bottom of the shot.

I'm now pretty confident with this process, but am continuing to play around with different angles and parts of the sky. I'm also trying to hunt down some meteors of course ;-)

Saturn on a Dobsonian

Saturn is definitely a favourite planet among stargazers. It was always my favourite planet as a kid, even having never seen it in the sky. There was just something damned cool about having rings around it, being different from all the other planets in our solar system.

Using BackyardEOS to capture images through the Dob'

One thing that fascinates me, and always surprises people when I tell them, is what the rings are made up of. The rings are formed of blocks of ice, varying from the size of a pea to the size of a house. Which is another surprising fact, that the rings are only about 30ft thick, so not very thick at all.

The images below were taken using my Skywatcher 8" Dobsonian telescope, with the body of my Canon 600D mounted onto it using a T-ring. As this telescope is stationary, requiring manual movement to find your target, Saturn passes through the view of the camera in around 20 seconds. In order to capture the images below, I used a piece of software called BackyardEOS (which Cheryl bought me for my birthday :-)), which has a feature that records short videos of your target passing by due to the rotation of the earth.

Saturn - using Canon 600D body mounted with a T-ring onto an 8'' Dobsonian 

Each video was around 200 - 300 frames, and each of the frames are then stacked using Registax 6 into a finished image. Stacking basically takes the 'best bits' of each frame, and puts them together. As the light from Saturn takes so long to reach us, it is often distorted.

To increase magnification, a 2x barlow lens was used between the camera body and the telescope, which magnifies Saturn by 2x. This can increase the image size of the end result, but by magnifying it twice, you are halving the time it takes for Saturn to pass your view - meaning shorter videos and less frames to stack together. I am very happy with both results and especially proud that I even managed to capture the Cassini Division - the black line that runs through the middle of the rings. This 'division' is caused by the gravitational pull from one of Saturn's moons (Mimas) causing the debris in the ring to veer off course, causing an emptier section of the rings.

Saturn - Taken with Canon 600D with 2x barlow adapter on a 8" Dobsonian

Each of the images have their good and bad points. I think the first image has better colouring, and is a sharper image as it's not as zoomed in, but the second image has a little more details, but is slightly distorted through less frames and more zoom. A lot of the skill and patience in astrophotography is required in the processing stages. Once you have captured your photos and data, it is using that information the best you can in order to find the best results. It can take hours to stack many images, which may not always achieve desired results. I'd like to one day give more information and tutorials about processing, but at the moment I'm pretty new to it and don't really know what I'm doing most of the time! 

Report: Hunting the Milky Way

Having never actually captured the Milky Way (that big ol' galaxy of ours) I went on an adventure last week and took advantage of a relatively clear evening. I drove over to the Isle of Sheppey, in order to find as darker skies as I could within a reasonable distance. A 25 minute drive saw me in the middle of a number of fields, surrounded by a country path, some noisy birds and, well, that was about it. See the red dot on the map!

I'm going to travel to a few places around my area to find dark skies, and to find appropriate places I could set up my new tracking mount, without getting too much unwanted attention.

I took my camera and tripod out, and once parked up positioned the tripod just outside my car window -using a wired remote I was able to snap shots of the night sky without leaving my seat.

As it got darker, and my eyes adjusted, the milky way became more and more visible to the naked eye as a misty streak of stars drifting from one horizon to the other. I took a few hundred photos, but only happy with a few - it seems the milky way is a pretty tough target regardless of its size. Balancing the exposure to capture the feint stars, without filling the shot with light pollution was also a challenge.

The below shot was my favourite from the night, with the Milky Way clearly visible rising up above the horizon. The majority of the light pollution came from over the water in Whitstable. I may in future try move further West to reduce the light pollution, but like with many aspects of astrophotography - trial and error seems to be the way forward.

An adventure into space

My first lunar capture (September 2008)
1/200, f3.5, ISO 64, 303mm

I'm not quite sure how to begin, it feels as though I should be all excited and enthusiastic about this new journey into the realms of astrophotography.

But in truth, I've been doing astrophotography longer than I have been into photography. The photo on the right was taken on the 13th September 2008. Back before I knew what DSLR's were, before I was regularly uploading photos to Flickr, and before I had any idea how seriously I'd get into the hobby. I had a Fujifilm Finepix S5700, a simple inexpensive point-and-shoot which had a 10x optical zoom. Having figured out what manual was, I captured this shot at 10x zoom on a tripod outside my window. I remember it being a big accomplishment, as I didn't think such photos were possible without huge telescopes or big fancy lenses. I think with a bit of time and effort (same with a lot of things) you are able to push the boundaries laid out by your equipment.

Since then, I've managed to advance a little further into astrophotography, having captured photos of Saturn, Jupiter and more recently the Sun. As astrophotography is a huge hobby to get into, requiring a lot of patience (and money), I'm using this website as a way to monitor my progress and share my favorite photos, whilst sharing what I have learnt to help others going through the same process.

I've invested in a Celestron CG-5 GoTo tracking mount, which (once aligned after a few frustrating hours!) allows you to take long exposures of the night sky, by cancelling out the earths orbit effecting the movement on the stars. This is one of the first steps into capturing deep-sky objects (DSO's) which require longer exposures due to being so feint and not visible to the naked eye. A photo of the CG5 will be in the Equipment page linked here.