Night Sky

[Genevieve]

I used a nikon d40 with a manual focusing 28 mm nikkor lens. Please tell me what you think

[BigWingBoy]

Genevieve,

WOW! Are you a newbie? These shots look like you are a seasoned pro. I shoot the night sky too. These are GREAT. Sharp, dark background, the stars are bright pinpoints, the time lapse shots make me dizzy. Outstanding! Thank you for sharing.

Gene Harriman
Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

[dcclark]

Very nice, but let me point you to the forum rules -- please post only one photo, with EXIF (exposure) data, and ask specific questions.

My general comment is that even startrail photos need a subject, so #2 is my favorite.

[kgb224]

Outstanding night pictures captured by you.

[Preacherman]

Hello Genevieve, and welcome to DPS. I hope you enjoy being with us and post many more great shots like these. Given the quality of these shots, I can see we have much to look forward to. Keep clicking and posting. I will watch out for you. God bless. PAUL

[Genevieve]

Thanks guys! Sorry about posting more than one picture at once, I'll remember not to do that.

EXIF data for the first star trail picture:
Camera: Nikon D40
Exposure: 1250.4
Aperture: f/3.5
Focal Length: 28 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Second star trails:
Camera: Nikon D40
Exposure: 701.1
Aperture: f/3.5
Focal Length: 28 mm
ISO Speed: 400

Stars:
Camera: Nikon D40
Exposure: 30
Aperture: f/3.5
Focal Length: 28 mm
ISO Speed: 400

[tmblx]

ive tried this kind of photographs several times.
but the results never came as i want.
i only got black skies with lots of colorful pixels of grain
as i remember, ive tried to shoot with exposure longer than 20 minutes.
i always use lowest ISO. and take medium aperture. (8 to 11)
my gear is Canon 30D with standard lens kit.
then, my question is where do the grains come from?

[Genevieve]

maybe your sensor heats up? I herd that can cause noise. Where are you shooting? is there lots of light pollution? I usually keep my aperature wide open and focus to infinity, sometimes i go to f/5.

[ranjit_a]

Very nice.

I have tried my hand at shooting star trails but the only thing that i have not been successful at is identifying polaris (both in the less starry, polluted city skies and in non-polluted, starry skies).

See one of my attempts here. Picked up a bit of noise from the horizon, though...
+Rex's Star Trails on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Camera: Nikon D70s
Exposure: 689 sec (689)
Aperture: f/3.5
Focal Length: 18 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Shot with a wider aperture as i didn't want to expose longer - low battery.

So do you identify Polaris or the north star? The astro links on the internet haven't been too helpful.

[dcclark]

Originally Posted by ranjit_a

So do you identify Polaris or the north star? The astro links on the internet haven't been too helpful.

Polaris is the north star (assuming we're talking about the northern hemisphere anyhow). The easiest way for me is to identify the big dipper -- it's an easy to find constellation. Follow the two end stars on the dipper (not on the handle) "up" into the sky, and they will point right at a star. That's the north star.

Having a compass also helps.