Venturing out a bit from some of the more common targets I might typically shoot, I decided to shoot the lobster claw and bubble nebula. Luckily it is in just the right spot where I could get 6 hours each night. Lights: 24 total hours of Ha, OIII and SII (600 second subs) Darks: 10 [...]
Wow, such an honor to have Nico Carver of Nebula Photos critique my photo of the Elephant Trunk Nebula (along with an astonishing 359 other photos)! Crazy amount of dedication this guy has to the astrophotography community. I even got featured as the second photo in on the YouTube thumbnail. If you have 9+ hours [...]
Lights: 16+ total hours of Ha and OIII Darks: 10 x 600 second exposures 30 flat and 30 bias exposures Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM Pro Telescope: Sky Watcher Esprit 100 Guiding: 50mm f/3.8 and ASI120MM Mini Computer: ASIAIR Plus Mount: Sky Watcher EQ6-R Pro Power: Jackery 240 Processing: PixInsight, BlurXTerminator, StarXTerminator, NoiseXTerminator and Photoshop
Man, after way too many months of clouds, rain, being gone, etc. during new moons, I finally got some clear nights to shoot the Rosette Nebula in the famous SHO Hubble palette. Lights: 12+ total hours of SII, Ha, OIII and 10 x 30 seconds of R, G, B for the stars Darks: 10 x [...]
Although not my longest integration time for an astro photo, this was probably my most complicated to compile as it was my first 2 panel mosaic taken over multiple nights with multiple filters. A lot to line up! I'm thrilled with the rainbow-esque colors I was able to achieve by really pushing the OIII data. [...]
I first shot this nebula a few month back from my in-law's Bortle 4 skies, but had issues with focusing and had to throw out most of the frames. Since its size pairs so nicely with my telescope/camera combination, I just had to try it again. This time from my own Bortle 7 skies, but [...]
We spent 3 nights camping under Bottle 2 skies at Plasse's Resort at Silver Lake. Our campsite was probably the worst from a camping standpoint being in full sun during 90 degree days, but it was perfect for astrophotography. I ran into some issues with the ASIAIR app on the first night when it only [...]
This is a closeup of the Cygnus Wall (or Mexico) in the North America Nebula. I shot a wider field of view of the North America Nebula when I first started this hobby. I guess you can say I've made some improvements since then! This photo contains just over 15 hours worth of data all shot [...]
Well, I ended up selling a lot of my astrophotography gear and picked up a used ASI1600MM mono camera and filter set. All I can say is that the results you can achieve are night and day different. The files are so clean even after just a few hours of integration. I still have some [...]
You know that photo NASA took back in the '90s with the Hubble telescope called the Pillars of Creation? Well, that iconic photo was the first photo to get me interested in space. This is my first attempt photographing the Eagle Nebula, which if you look closely, features the pillars in the center. I ended [...]
Having shot most of the beginner winter astrophotography targets already, the famous Rosette Nebula was next. The major accomplishment on this one was the fact that it includes over 8 hours of integration from multiple nights.
Although this is a winter target for me, it seems very fitting of what California looks like in the summer... on fire! I finally feel like I am making decent progress with this very difficult niche of photography. From an image capture standpoint, I've made a lot of errors, but continue to learn from them [...]
This composition of Orion's Belt, that includes the Orion and Horsehead nebulae, has been on my "to-do" list ever since I got into astrophotography. I've shot them each individually, but I really wanted to get them in a single shot for ease of processing, printing, etc. For this, I used my 275mm Radian Raptor and [...]
We finally had some nights without clouds and rain, that coincided with a new moon, which gave me the opportunity to shoot the Horsehead Nebula sitting in Orion's Belt. By no means is it award winning, but I'm happy with the progress I'm making. This is 20 x 5 minute exposures with dark and flat [...]
Like most people, I've had a lot more time at home recently than I'd probably like. Add to that a baby that doesn't like sleeping through the night and you get the perfect recipe for astrophotography. I mean, what better use of time in the middle of the night do you have? The 3 photos [...]
I've always been fascinated by the stars since as far back as I can remember. I've done star trail and milky way photography before, but am now just getting into deep sky astrophotography. It's a little tough from the light polluted skies in my backyard (Bortle class 7), but waiting for a moonless night with [...]
Since I was not fortunate enough to have any clouds for my sunset photo at North Lake, I figured I'd try to squeeze in a Milky Way shot of Bishop Creek (just West of Aspendell) looking up towards the mountains. I knew it was a bit late in the year to attempt a Milky Way [...]
My wife and I were given a 2 night stay in South Lake Tahoe this weekend (thanks Judy!). I somehow convinced my wife to go up with the kids early Friday afternoon so I would have to drive separately and have my own car for some astrophotography. Bonsai Rock, on the east shore of Lake [...]
The Kalalau Lookout is probably one of the most beautiful locations I've been to. Had our trip not been so last minute, I definitely would have made sure to get a permit and backpack the Kalalau Trail. Since there aren't too many compositions of this location and fiery sunsets are very rare, I had the [...]
I've imagined this photo in my head for years, but have just been waiting for the stars of the Milky Way to literally align with the horizon of Yosemite on a moonless night. Summer is the best time of year for this, so there are only a handful of moonless nights that it can happen. I [...]
