Night sky Nature photography

Ok Il give that a try. useing the technique long exposure can help with takeing photos of things like planets and stars have you used long exsposure for the planets before and if you have do you find the photos are better than without long exsposure?

There good Photos. Is the reason long exsposure better photos on a tripod cause it can be hard to keep the camara still during long exsposure? 

Zo Clark said:

There good Photos. Is the reason long exsposure better photos on a tripod cause it can be hard to keep the camara still during long exsposure? 

Yes.

There aren't many people who can hold a camera steady for more than a second or two max. Even the slightest movement is very noticable, especially when you have the contrasts of a night sky and a bright planet or interstellar object.

While smart devices are generally very good at resolving camera shake issues, they do have their limitations, whereas most other cameras, compacts, DSLR's and Mirrorless are more sensitive to camera shake, even with image stabilisation active.

Something to be aware of, while a tripod will eliminate camera movement, what a tripod will not do is eliminate camera movement when the shutter is depressed. There are two ways to overcome that movement.

• A remote shutter activation device [cabled, WiFi or smart device]
• Delayed shutter release/timer

A remote shutter release, predominantly for DSLR's and  mirrorless is usually a cabled device that plugs into the camera and allows you to depress the shutter without actually touching the camera, therefore no camera shake.

A remote shutter release can also be an infrared device that works on very short range line-of-sight like a TV remote but for the camera, not something all cameras can work with, that does the same, but without a cable.

The IR device often means I have to stand almost in front of the camera, which is great for family portraits where I (reluctantly) have to be in with the family, whereas the cabled remote means I can stand behind or to the side of the camera.

One final WiFi device, is a smartphone. Most major camera makers have apps to link the phone to a camera. That too can be an invaluable means of remotely activating a camera and can often have more benefits.

With my camera, what is true WiFi, unlike the small remote device which only works on line of sight, is the phone app. The phone app will allow more mobility plus, you can view on your phones screen along with some of the main camera controls, the all important shutter button and with some cameras, the ability to change some settings like aperture, ISO etc, what the camera is seeing, so if doing covert wildlife photography, what could be better.

There is a range limitation, but that is something only trial and error can determine how far the camera can be away from you.

The final alternative and not the best in my opinion, but it does work, is using a delayed shutter release, by activating the camera timer, where you can set the shutter to activate after a period of time, usually 2, 5 or 10 seconds. My preference using that method is 10 secs, often the longest delay, which allows the camera and tripod to stabilise before taking the photo.

Sorry if I've waffled, but hopefully that will give you a good insight as to what options are available.

Don’t worry your not rambling on your just adviceing and exsplaining. and what you said is very helpful. Im usually very good at keeping the camara still but with the night sky Its more difficult and there’s things like low light and lots of other things to take in to consideration. and sometimes you need to adjust the position of your camara  or telescope cause the planets seem to move. Our Brains percieve the sun and the other  planets  as moveing across the sky but the reason they look like there moveing is actually cause the earth is turning. Even though the earth is turning we can’t actually feell  it turning down here. To us we arnt on something that’s moveing cause we can’t feell or see any movement. that’s cause it’s at a speed the brain is unable perceive. But we are actually walking on a planet that’s rotating exstremely fast and faster than 100.

It takes 24 hours to complete a full rotation on its axis  that’s why we have 24 hours in a day and the planets and stars are allways there we just can’t see them cause it’s not dark enough. cause it rotates what you see and at what part of the sky there in at night depends on the time of day and the season. 

I find noticeing where they are in the sky at certain times  and useing the landscape like abouve a building, beside a tree quiet helpful when the planets seem to move somewhere else. 

if I use my camara with my telescope shakiness tends to be a problom The images are good but even though I been looking after it well the part that goes into my telescope stand is damaged and some parts have snapped off. I just put it in the stand it comes with One day then it made a noise and that was it. image stabilisation can be problom cause some of it is damaged but when stable the image you see is ok

But Regardless of what I use my camara with things like long or short exsposure settings and shutter are useful things that can help improve takeing photos of the planets. And there are times when it can really help to adjust the settings Il try some of the important things you mentioned and see if it improves them even more. 

 

this is my Telescope 

the photos of the moon I sent earlyer with my telescope was taken with these settings 

This is one of my best astronomy photos

And this is the settings that were used

The brain is very good at image correction, in fact, it's perfect for the vast majority of us, and cleans up the interference like haze, poor light etc, so we see virtually the perfect image.

Likewise cameras can, and along with additional software, like photo editing programs, achieve very close to that perfect image.

However, the original film cameras, with no tech involved, often shown a different picture, and one that really is just what the eyes see, without the brains manipulation. A classic is when looking (OF COURSE NOT DIRECTLY) into the sun, how the brain filters out the extreme light and haze to enable a clearer view.

Even smartphones in standard or auto setting are pretty damned good at manipulating a scene to make it comfortable viewing.

While you might be very good at holding the camera steady, and some people are, it is worth noting today’s cameras, and in particular smartphones, have very good image/optical stabiliser systems employed. And they are very good, and getting better, my latest camera has demonstrated that.

For smartphones it is an integral part of their makeup, and without which, many people who take party photos in exceptionally poor light, the photos would just not come out.

When I started playing with my latest camera, and with any new camera, I like to push the boundaries just to see where the limits are, I was astounded at how much tech has changed.

The best way to find out how effective your balance is, is switch off image stabilising, and see the differences. I think you will be amazed. I’m not familiar with smartphones, if I take a handful of photos on mine in a year, that’s it and all taken as a grab and shoot.

As for the shakiness when using the telescope, I get the impression that possibly the tripod mount or bush is faulty or broken. Some tripod manufacturers, and they tend to be the more expensive makes, not many, will offer replacement tripod mounts, but not many.

Also, there are some very good and nicely priced adapters that will hold the smartphone to the telescope eyecup to enable sharp images. There will be different types depending on the diameter of the telescope eyecup and which smartphone you have. They are available online or from all good camera outlets including some high street chains. I’ve seen some very good results where someone has used such a setup to record video, and the clarity is just fabulous.

He does use one of the higher priced scopes, but still uses I think a cheap adaptor and iPhone.

Cause thr clocks have gone back sn hour st  the time of writing it was 5:30. but if it hadn’t 

it would of been 6:30. either way it got dark at 16:59 this evening which is early

Probably not my best photo but it has been both 

Sunny and rainy and now it’s more predominantly cloudy so not the best conditions for watching the moon 

But it’s the best photos I could get so far. It has started raining so I will have to wait for better conditions 

18:42.

Conditions are abit better than earlyer now 

So Iv got better photos 

Moon