Hey everyone, here's my first go at imaging the Milky Way. I had a clear sky recently, so had a go with a single exposure on a tripod. I worked some of the light pollution out in CS5. Cheers,

---------- Post added 09-13-15 at 07:55 PM ----------

This was in a city suburb, so hopefully the next time I get to do this I can get some dark sky !

[12345]

Looks pretty good for being near a city! Looks like the stars were just starting to blur a little, if you want to keep them still, you'll need to shorten the shutter speed a little. i.e, if it was 30 sec, you'll want to back off to 25 sec., etc.

[markoneswift]

Appreciate the comments mate, thank you :-)

[12345]

You're welcome!

[csa]

For being in a city suburb, that is really an excellent image of the Milky Way! I do agree that the stars are starting to "stretch", so try a shorter exposure time. But again, excellent!

[markoneswift]

For being in a city suburb, that is really an excellent image of the Milky Way! I do agree that the stars are starting to "stretch", so try a shorter exposure time. But again, excellent!

Thanks man, yeah maybe a tad too long on the exposure. The city I live in is large by New Zealand standards but generally NZ is so sparsely populated that the skies are pretty dark even in the cities lol.

[gifthorse]

Nice first try. The Milky Way is just making its way into the Southern hemisphere so the view will get even better over the next few months. You might try stopping the lens down a little from wide open which will help sharpen the stars. (I know, shorter exposures and stopping down. But once you start night photography, you can't stop.) NZ is a very good place for Milky Way images. Te kaha and Hicks Bay look like good places to go. Here is a link to a light pollution map to give you some places you want to go to. Light Pollution map There are videos on Youtube that show how to post process for the Milky Way that are very helpful. Good luck and please keep posting here as you progress.

[markoneswift]

Nice first try. The Milky Way is just making its way into the Southern hemisphere so the view will get even better over the next few months. You might try stopping the lens down a little from wide open which will help sharpen the stars. (I know, shorter exposures and stopping down. But once you start night photography, you can't stop.) NZ is a very good place for Milky Way images. Te kaha and Hicks Bay look like good places to go. Here is a link to a light pollution map to give you some places you want to go to. Light Pollution map There are videos on Youtube that show how to post process for the Milky Way that are very helpful. Good luck and please keep posting here as you progress.

Thanks for the comments, appreciated. The map is cool and I've had a look already. The only downside is, the darkest sky in NZ is to be found in the South Island but I'm in the North.....Oh well, might get down there some time :-)

[SunValley]

You have very dark sites on the north island as well. If your target is in the north part of the sky just find a gray spot as far south from the red zones and you'll be allright. Nice first pic. If you have a few bucks available you may want get your hand on a cheap A, M or K28/2.8. Works pretty well even wide open. Not as wide as the 18-55 but photomerge panorama of Photoshop elements works like magic to stitch multiple frames.

Clear skies and good luck.

[markoneswift]

You have very dark sites on the north island as well. If your target is in the north part of the sky just find a gray spot as far south from the red zones and you'll be allright. Nice first pic. If you have a few bucks available you may want get your hand on a cheap A, M or K28/2.8. Works pretty well even wide open. Not as wide as the 18-55 but photomerge panorama of Photoshop elements works like magic to stitch multiple frames.

Clear skies and good luck.

Thanks again, looking closer at the map I can see there's plenty of almost totally dark sky just a 20 minute drive from where I am (Hamilton) out towards Raglan (on the coast). That's a nice easy road with some stunning scenery so I may well head out that way and see what I can see :-)

[gifthorse]

A 28mm prime is my preferred lens for night sky photography.






Abandon all hope, ye who enter here. After you're hooked on night photography, you'll want to start photographing meter showers, the International Space Station and maybe Iridium flares

[markoneswift]

A 28mm prime is my preferred lens for night sky photography.






Abandon all hope, ye who enter here. After you're hooked on night photography, you'll want to start photographing meter showers, the International Space Station and maybe Iridium flares

Lol, thanks for the post. I'm already hooked and have been doing night photography for quite a while. I'm just new to 'Pentax' night photography and trying to squeeze what I can from the kit lens until I pick up some alternatives. Here's a few samples of what I've done before (with 'other' cameras !! )