Mike Salway, Creator of the 'Ice in Space' astronomy forum and one of Australia' leading nightscape photographers was guest speaker at the February 2013 Macarthur Astronomy Forum.
This was Mike's second talk to MAS, the first being in February 2007.
Mike Salway, from Ice In Space with MAS President, Chris Malikoff
Nightscape photography (or Starscapes or Landscape Photography) is a relatively recent genre of astro-photography that has developed over the last few years due to the many improvements in camera technology. This includes an explosion of powerful low cost digital SLR cameras, with higher ISO capabilities, with less noise, less "hot pixels" and increased sensitivity, all allowing better images from longer exposures.
The technique of a nightscape imager consists of creating wide angle shots of the nightsky, which might include interesting foregrounds such as water, mountains, rocks, buildings or trees. The objective is to provide beautiful images of twilight scenes, star trails, time lapse images and the wide-field night sky. It also includes conjunctions, Milky Way and other astronomers at work.
The gear needed is simple: basically a DSLR camera, a tripod and if possible, a Polarie or Astrotrac mount to follow the motion of the stars and a few other minor accesories. The total equipment package is all small, portable and affordable.
Mike Salway's talk consisted of some fantastic images and plenty of tips.
Mike's tips:
- Foreground,
- location,
- night sky,
- occasional clouds,
- composition,
- 1/3 foreground, 2/3 sky,
- image processing.
What makes a good nightsky photograph?
- A good understanding of the nightsky,
- having a good eye,
- using your imagination,
- technical aptitude,
- the right tools,
- advance planning,
- post image processing,
- variety, patience,
- an understanding family,
- an ability to travel,
- access to dark skies and
- presentation skills.
That rules me out then!
One of Mike's best tips was to make sure you have a checklist of items to take on field trips. Unfortunately, I can relate to that with two instances. The first was flying to England with my tripod in the suitcase, only to find out after arrival that the tripod's camera mounting plate was still attached to my son's camera in Australia. The second was even more embarrassing. I bought a polarie mount in June last year and for various reasons I had no opportunity to use it until October. When the time came for a dark sky field trip to Stargard, off I went went, suitably excited, with everything carefully packed - except the new Polarie itself!
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