The Great Orion Nebula in Orion's Sword
The "fuzzy" spot in the middle is the Great Orion Nebula (M42). Astronomers refer to this as a star nursery, where stars are being "born"....
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The "fuzzy" spot in the middle is the Great Orion Nebula (M42). Astronomers refer to this as a star nursery, where stars are being "born".
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Aug, 2016Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken in the wee hours of the morning at the Civilian Conservation Corp Portal Bunkhouse on the eastern side of the Chiricahua National Monument in Arizona.Time
This was taken at 4:53am on August 14, 2016. We had rented the Portal Bunkhouse for the night and I really couldn't sleep, so I decided to get up and take a few astrophotographs. Astrophotograhy is one of my favorite forms of photography and I seldom get opportunities to do it.Lighting
Being new to Arizona, I didn't have dark skies like this back in Tampa, FL and this location was fairly remote. I really wanted to capture Orion's Sword with the Great Orion Nebula being the focal point. The silhouette of the mountains just added to the magnitude of the shot.Equipment
I used a Sony SVT-65 with a SAL70400G2 lens. The mount was steadied on a tripod so that I could use a one second shutter at an f/6.3 aperture and an ISO of 3200. Since my batteries in my wireless remote were dead, I used the camera's 10 second timer to allow the mount to stabilize after manually pressing the shutter release.Inspiration
As stated earlier, I really enjoy astrophotography and I seldom get good opportunities to do it. I love the constellations in this area of the night sky. The open star cluster known as the Pleiades or Seven Sisters is at the top, followed by Taurus the Bull with his gleaming red eye. Hunting Taurus is Orion with his faithful dog, Sirius. Sirius boasts the brightest star in the night sky.Editing
No post-processing was involved with this image. I strive to do as little post-processing as possible. Sometimes I may tweak a few things, but I prefer my images to be "au naturale".In my camera bag
I typically have two camera bodies in my bag, a Sony SVT-65 and a Sony a700. To keep with the theme of two, I have two lenses also, a Sony 18mm-200mm that I bought with the a700 and the beautiful (and expensive) SAL70400G2 lens. I also have a T-mount adapter to allow me to connect either camera body to my meager Meade telescopes. I carry a flash, but rarely use it. I also utilize a wireless remote, two tripods, and a monopod.Feedback
Astrophotography greatly lends itself to digital photography. I couldn't imagine trying to take night sky pictures with film. I would burn through rolls and rolls trying to get the settings just right. With digital, I can keep shooting and tweaking. My suggestions to taking astrophotograghs would begin with finding the darkest sky you can find. Get away from the cities and towns and their darn street lights. Next, bring some bug repellent. Bugs love to nibble on you in the dark. As for camera equipment, a tripod and wireless remote are a must. If you don't have a wireless remote, the 10 second timer is the next best thing. Shorter focal length lens will capture full constellations better and a longer focal length will get you zoomed in on certain features of constellations or Messier objects. A high ISO will allow for faster shutter speeds to get your stars to be pinpoints, otherwise you will get star trails. Don't expect Hubble quality images, you won't get them from here on Earth. Finally, I have a question for you. What's the greatest distance you've taken a photograph? I have a image where my subject was one billion miles away. I have captured Saturn through my telescope. The orb of the planet as well as the rings are visible. Nothing like the Cassini images, but Saturn nonetheless.
