Photography Bay

Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips

How to Do Milky Way Exposure Stacking When Auto-Alignment Fails in Photoshop

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[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzVSm64zq44&w=700]

Photoshop’s automated alignment tools are quite impressive; however, they aren’t perfect. When auto-alignment fails to work the way you need it to, sometimes it just means you have to do the work yourself.

In this video from Ian Norman, he walks us through the process of processing Milky Way astrophotography images by manually aligning them in Photoshop in order to reduce noise and bring out more detail in the images.

If you are looking to improve your astrophotography images, Ian’s videos are worth a watch. Even if you are doing other types of image stacking, you can probably learn a thing or two from Ian’s workflow.

 

Nikon D810 for Astrophotography Coming This Week?

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Nikon D810

New rumors suggest that Nikon will announce a special version of the D810 for astrophotography in the next couple of days.

If this turns out to be true, expect a similar setup to Canon’s 60Da, which features a modified infrared filter and a low-noise sensor with heightened hydrogen-alpha sensitivity and allows the camera to better capture red hydrogen emission nebulae and other cosmic phenomena.

[vai Nikon Rumors]

Astrophotography – New Book

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Astrophotography

Astrophotography is a new book from astrophotographer Thierry Legault.

In the book, “world-renowned astrophotographer Thierry Legault teaches the art and techniques of astrophotography: from simple camera-on-tripod night-scene imaging of constellations, star trails, eclipses, artificial satellites, and polar auroras to more intensive astrophotography using specialized equipment for lunar, planetary, solar, and deep-sky imaging. Legault shares advice on equipment and guides you through techniques to capture and process your images to achieve spectacular results.

This book provides the most thorough treatment of the topic available. This large-format, richly illustrated book is intended for all sky enthusiasts—newcomers and veterans alike.”

Astrophotography retails for $39.95; however, it is currently available for $24.84 on Amazon.com.

It is also available for $17.99 as a Kindle book.

3.2 Gigapixel Camera Has 189 Image Sensors

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LSST Camera Lens

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory has designed a 3.2 BILLION pixel camera that it hopes to build in order to “capture the widest, fastest and deepest view of the night sky ever observed.”  The above rendering of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) shows just how big this 3 ton camera will be next to a person. [Read more…]

Canon 60Da Introduced for Astrophotography

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Canon EOS 60Da

The Canon 60Da is a new version of the popular 60D that is specifically designed for astrophography.  The 60Da features a modified infrared filter and a low-noise sensor with heightened hydrogen-alpha sensitivity, which allows the camera to better capture “‘red hydrogen emission’ nebulae and other cosmic phenomena.”

The Canon 60Da is priced at $1499 and comes with the RA-E3 Remote Controller Adapter and an AC power adapter to accomodate long exposures.  The 60Da is available at B&H Photo and other select Canon dealers.

More details in the press release below. [Read more…]

The Imaging Source’s New Telescope Cameras

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Interested in photographing the night sky? The Imaging Source, a company known for high quality imaging equipment, is now offering a line of telescope cameras.

I’ve done just a little bit of star-gazing with a camera in my hand. Astro-photographers seem to run into two problems continuously: first, the cost of equipment makes it an expensive hobby, and second, any photos taken with relatively cheap equipment are guaranteed to have a definite noise problem. The Imaging Source says that their cameras are low noise, however, and the prices are certainly affordable — the cameras range in price from $390 to $870.

There’s one heck of a meteor show in August, and I think I know what I want to photograph it with.