The Milky Way, portrait edition (5d mkiii and astrophotography)

[@!ex]

OK, so Saturday night I was up at my family's cabin in Breckenridge CO for a relaxing weekend away from the city.  I almost always do some star trails when I'm up there and so after a few cocktails (more than a few) I took the camera out and set up a shot.  Right after we started shooting my brother noticed how bright the milky way was.  After a few test shots I realized that I coud get amazing shots of it Straight from camera!.  I threw my new baby into high noise reduction mode and then shot at f2.8 (14mm prime), 30 sec, 8000ISO.  I was able to get great stuff, with star/galaxy detail I had never seen before and with little to no noise (since it was a 30 sec exp, and a bit windy everything was going to be a bit blurry anyhow, so noise reduction loss of sharpness was of little worry).  This is a JPEG straight from camera!  Ok, not exactly fully straight from camera, I did a tiny contrast and sharpness adjustment, but that is all.  It was hard to sit still for 30 seconds with a few drinks in the veins and the wind blowing, but we tried pretty hard (note the blurriness)....  I'l post some of the other amazing shots I got, including a star trail and a time-lapse, but this unconventional portrait was just too cool for me not to show you guys/gals...


Hold Still by @!ex, on Flickr

[KurtStevens]

I'm in Fort Collins all the time, would love to go shoot some stars with you sometime.  Let me know.  Great shot by the way.

[AmbientLight]

  Thanks for the information.

I've got the same camera/lens combination. As soon as I get out of Europe (with intense levels of light pollution in my home area keeping me from astrophotography) I will want to try something like this.

[funkboy]

Pretty sweet & great composition.  It would be even better if the folks in the foreground had the same acutance as the rest of the frame; as it is that bit looks kinda wierd.  I'm not sure if it's from motion blur as you mentioned or simply lack of depth of field. 

[Menace]

What a nice image. Can't wait to see more from that shoot.

Cheers

[Bosman]

That's a cool photo!

[Yari200]

This is a great shot, considering the group had  to stay put for x amount of seconds and you had had a fe :)w drinks. I like the composition and of course, Milky Way looks fantastic. and no major changes? Cool photo

OK, so Saturday night I was up at my family's cabin in Breckenridge CO for a relaxing weekend away from the city.  I almost always do some star trails when I'm up there and so after a few cocktails (more than a few) I took the camera out and set up a shot.  Right after we started shooting my brother noticed how bright the milky way was.  After a few test shots I realized that I coud get amazing shots of it Straight from camera!.  I threw my new baby into high noise reduction mode and then shot at f2.8 (14mm prime), 30 sec, 8000ISO.  I was able to get great stuff, with star/galaxy detail I had never seen before and with little to no noise (since it was a 30 sec exp, and a bit windy everything was going to be a bit blurry anyhow, so noise reduction loss of sharpness was of little worry).  This is a JPEG straight from camera!  Ok, not exactly fully straight from camera, I did a tiny contrast and sharpness adjustment, but that is all.  It was hard to sit still for 30 seconds with a few drinks in the veins and the wind blowing, but we tried pretty hard (note the blurriness)....  I'l post some of the other amazing shots I got, including a star trail and a time-lapse, but this unconventional portrait was just too cool for me not to show you guys/gals...


Hold Still by @!ex, on Flickr

[@!ex]

Pretty sweet & great composition.  It would be even better if the folks in the foreground had the same acutance as the rest of the frame; as it is that bit looks kinda wierd.  I'm not sure if it's from motion blur as you mentioned or simply lack of depth of field.

Ya I wish it was a lot sharper too, but it was a DOF combined with a long exposure issue.  I was already at 8000 ISO so if I stopped the lens down I would have had to either go higher there and or longer exposure (1 stop more would have put us a 1 min).  The other thought would be to light paint us with a brief flash, but I tried with my iPhone light (only thing I had on me) and couldn't get it right.  Either way I was really surprised it came out at all...

[@!ex]

I'm in Fort Collins all the time, would love to go shoot some stars with you sometime.  Let me know.  Great shot by the way.

I'm always up for collaborations...

[Caps18]

That is a cool photo.  I've taken some 30 second pictures of myself and know how hard it is to stay still.

This type of photo is what Canon should use for a sample photo.

[@!ex]

Another shot from Saturday.  This one is looking out the other way, away from the cabin over the beaver ponds.  Again, only basic adjustments, levels, curves, (pushed the exposure a stop or so).  For the most part this is pretty much just out of camera (only in camera JPEG noise reduction).  I never knew that shots of the milky way like this were possible with standard gear, I've always been so skeptical of them (I guess a 5d mkiii with a 14mm 2.8L II, aren't exactly standard...)


Sitting on the Dock by @!ex, on Flickr

[Bosman]

Another shot from Saturday.  This one is looking out the other way, away from the cabin over the beaver ponds.  Again, only basic adjustments, levels, curves, (pushed the exposure a stop or so).  For the most part this is pretty much just out of camera (only in camera JPEG noise reduction).  I never knew that shots of the milky way like this were possible with standard gear, I've always been so skeptical of them (I guess a 5d mkiii with a 14mm 2.8L II, aren't exactly standard...)


Sitting on the Dock by @!ex, on Flickr

I am diggin what appears to be reflections of the stars on the water which i have not ever personally seen. You should investigate that and if you ever get northern lights incorporate calm waters in the shot reflecting it.

[risc32]

what timing! i just tried this very thing for the first time last week. I was wondering what could be done easily with my gear and a location i've been using for shots of the ISS. after a few shots i decided to jump in the frame myself. i didn't have my wireless shutter thingy so i really did jump into the frame. during this 30second exposure i was wonder if i was even in the frame, and if the coming truck's headlights would ruin the shot. anyway it worked, so i'll do more, and bring my wireless shutter tripper. I guess focus stacking would be the only cure for my being so far OOF.

[Tammy]

great shots.. inspiring.. =)

[jabbott]

Awesome shots, and hello from Boulder.