Eagle River Nature Center Big Dipper and Orion

[totalyfrozen]

Went to the local Astonomy Club meeting tonight and took a few pictures, it was so nice out but a little chilly at -15. These were the only two that came out, the rest were blurry. Still working on getting the focus right in the dark.

[hw771230]

Very cool to see the constelations turn out. I'm sure I spelled that wrong, but it's late.

If you are trying to get something in the foreground in focus (like I try for in northern lights photos) I would reccomend a mag light or something similar. I aim the camera at something I want to be in focus, light it up with a bright light, then let the autofocus do it's thing. Then I switch to Manual focus and frame the shot. It seems to work for me.

Caleb

[totalyfrozen]

Yes that works great, I have used that trick a few times. I was just trying to get the stars this time though. Didnt want to screw up peoples night vision.

[Bonish Photo]

How long do your batteries last at -15 degrees?

Very cool shots. I've found that if I focus to infinity, then back off just a hair, the shot is in focus. If I try and just go to infinity, then they're usually a tad out of focus.

I've also found that having something in the foreground like your first image usually makes the image a bit more interesting. I wasted a ton of shots one night with everything in focus and nothing blurred. Problem was it was just a bunch of stars and I didnt find anything interesting in the images. i.e. no good constelations or any shooting stars.

I also have a headlamp that has a red filter, so I can adjust any of the camera settings and I dont ruin my night vision. It works great and doesnt use up battery life on the camera by turning on the backlight on the LCD.

Pat
www.everymilesamemory.com

[totalyfrozen]

The battery was already half gone anyway so I was only able to get 24 pictures.

I was also shooting at ISO400 i did some at 800 and 1600 but they come out too grainy. I also need to get a new lense since I was just using the stock lens that came with the XTi.

The second picture with Orion has mountains in it if you lighten up the image you can see them.