How to Photograph Stars and Meteor Showers (HD)

This is a video tutorial discussing the basics of photographing non-star trails stars and a little about meteor showers. It covers different topics into depth: high apertures, lens choice, slow shutter speeds, low / high ISO / ASA sensitivities, best camera settings, suggested exposure settings, tripod combination choice, triggering methods, and so much more. Example photographs are also included in this tutorial as well.

Download Lens Sharpness Chart in PDF format at this link: files.me.com/j.n.spina/t5ip3j

Download Lens Sharpness Chart in DOC format at this link: files.me.com/j.n.spina/gfdxlo

Update: One of the subscribers found yet another funny typo. At 20:32, on the second line from the top, the "y" is missing from "batter". The correction is "battery".

This video is available in High Definition (HD), hover the mouse above "360p" to extend out different video quality options, for HD (High Definition), click on 720p or 1080p. If you are having trouble watching the video smoothly, add this code, &fmt=22 to the end of this video's URL address then press Enter / Return to reload the video, it will play nicely in HD.

Music: Glittering Blackness by Explosions in the Sky (looped)

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Nikon
• Help
• Hotline
• Lilkiwiguy87
• Astronomy
• Astrophotography
• How
• to
• Photograph
• Space
• Solar
• System
• Shooting
• Asteroid
• Meteor
• Showers
• Stars
• Trails
• Tutorial
• Lesson
• Demonstration
• Slow
• Shutter
• Speeds
• Seconds
• Minutes
• High
• Apertures
• Low
• ASA
• Sensitivity
• Camera
• Menus
• Exposure
• Setup
• Setting
• Tripod
• Head
• Legs
• Manfrotto
• Gitzo
• Triggering
• Remote
• Cable
• Control
• Single
• Shot
• Self
• Timer
• Mirror
• Up
• MUP

[goldenguy12345]

Im on a fairly low budget and need a lens with a wide aperture... I currently have

18-55mm

28-105mm

75-300mm

Can anybody reccomend a lens ?

[Lilkiwiguy87]

Any F/2.8 wide angle prime lens will do (20mm, 24mm, or 28mm). Be sure to check KEH for used ones if you want to save some greens.

[GTOOtt]

Why did you turn noise reduction off?

[Lilkiwiguy87]

Why did you ask a question in the beginning of the video instead of finishing it?

Your answer is at 16:32.

[Lilkiwiguy87]

Unfortunately, we have to agree with Zorro on this one. Rules are meant to be broken.

[976boboti]

@superkiwizorro I'm glad that my comment made you lough :) But still, after adjusting the ISO you can check whether the resulting exposure is short enough to avoid trailing. This rule is not defied at all, I think the two get on well together! And please don't call it silly as it took a generation of astrophotographers to be attained in this precise form.

[superkiwizorro]

@976boboti LOL you crack me up!! that technique is soooo ancient dated way back before dslrs chimed in. with dslrs, you can adjust the ISO and defy this silly rule.

[976boboti]

There exists a formula to compute exposure times for trail-free star images.For the fastest moving stars (near to the celestial equator) any exposure in seconds shorter than 700/F,where F is the focal length of the lens in use, will yield essantially no trailing (for the hypecritical or those like me using a DX camera sensor 500/F may be a safer choice).Times for stars away from the equator grow more in the photographer's favour: at declination 50° the maximum exposure time goes up to 1000/F.

[LiberalJerseyman]

light pollution is horrible for photography

[flip117100]

@YoshiAshley TRing Adapter for whatever camera you have. Play around with the settings a bit. A remote to control your shutter will help with shake. For deep space you will need Auto guiders and maybe a CCD camera (specifically meant for astrophotography)

[superkiwizorro]

@YoshiAshley uhh this video is about doing it with a camera lens, not a telescope. start off with a regular lens first before considering thousands dollars worth of equipment that you won't be using much.

[YoshiAshley]

Great photos. I am extremely interested in astrophotography. All I have is a Celestron Powerseeker 70AZ telescope. How should I start off and what do I need?

[gatler05]

Nevermind! I knew it was Explosions! Great taste and tutorial.

[superkiwizorro]

@lilynick1 6. yeah but don't forget red back spiders, brown snakes, funnel web spiders, and koalas. they bite, hiss, and scratch.

[lilynick1]

Thank you for uploading this. I'm going out now to try my luck. Luckily no bears here in Australia to worry about. Might get kicked by a kangaroo if anything .....

[superkiwizorro]

@TechCrazy your answer is in the video. watch it again.

[TechCrazy]

Just curious why we need sandbags even in the "Mirror -Up" mode triggered with a remote control.

[superkiwizorro]

@CragScrambler you still can place the sandbag on top of viewfinder housing and around the lens. if you're using a WA lens, you don't have to tilt the camera up too much.

[CragScrambler]

Sandbag is useless seeing as camera is mostly pointing directly upwards

[Lilkiwiguy87]

Yup, correct. Remember this, 15-18mm range at F/8 is where image quality is at its finest but not so at other focal lengths and apertures. It doesn't mean the lens is totally useless, you can still use it but remember you're sacrificing the image quality.

[opihikaokid]

@ 15-18mm f/8.0 would that be the same for shooting images during the day time ?

[Lilkiwiguy87]

Truthfully speaking, any wide angle prime / zoom lens with a maximum aperture of ƒ/1.4 or ƒ/2.8 are more suitable for nighttime time lapses (especially for astrophotography). Using F/8.0 on the 10-24mm will require you to crank the ISO all the way up, which will result in loss of details due to graininess.

The chart lists lenses with apertures and focal lengths that prevent chromatic aberration and diffraction.

We're not "pros" but upload the images on Flickr then private message us the link.

[opihikaokid]

Thanks ,i have a nikon d7000 with the lens mentioned above .i have been doing night time time lapse,whats the best wide angle lens to use with the d7000 for this?("15-18mm range is safe to use at F/8.0.") is that a fixed chart or can i change the mm's & f/ and avoid chromatic aberration? or do i have to stay at these #'s to avoid? is there some where i can send you a few pictures to check out and see whats goin on in my image world?would love some pro feed back ,thanks sean

[Lilkiwiguy87]

Yup, that's correct, that's the maximum focus distance. If you want the foreground to be in focus at infinity, make sure they're further than 2ft or 0.5m, voila.

Chromatic aberration, yup, 15-18mm range is safe to use at F/8.0.

[opihikaokid]

@Lilkiwiguy87 Thanks ,i have the nikon DX AF-S 10-24mm f/ 3.5-4.5 lens.when i turn it to infinity just to the right it reads first number 2 ft/ 0.5 m, so thats the maximum focus point ?I have been doing a time lapse and loved your time lapse video.Also with the 10-24mm f/3.5 4.5 i think the chart for sharpness said 15-18mm @ f/8 to avoid that chromo (what ever stuff)once again thanks you guys ROCK SEAN