[Storm Chaser]

This is my latest attempt, I think out of focus a bit and over exposed maybe? All I know, this is alot of stars! Any help would be great! Thank You- Brian

Attached Images

 

[BigDave]

I think this is quite good. It is hard to get an area where there is not light spill from the ground. As for the exposure, I think you could have gone a couple of seconds longer to bring out even more!

[Storm Chaser]

I think this is quite good. It is hard to get an area where there is not light spill from the ground. As for the exposure, I think you could have gone a couple of seconds longer to bring out even more!

Will give it a try next time I get out! Thank you for taking the time to comment!

[SKYGZR]

Bump the ISO 1600-3200, stop down the lens a stop or two

[madphys]

1) You can easily up the iso up to 1600 or even 3200.
2) Go with exposure at least 15 seconds - 20 or 25 are even better.
3) Milky way (or stars in general) NEVER looks good without at least some post-processing. Thus I would suggest find an easy post-processing tutorial for milky way shots. For example

You Tube

You Tube

one is ok.

[carrrlangas]

Hi Brian, I also agre that you could expose for a bit longer. A good rule of thumb is that you can use time value as high as FocalLength/500 before you see star trails in your photograph.
Are you doing PP? if so, you could try the clarity slider to make the stars stand out.
Regarding composition, It would be nice to make out more of the foreground. The horizon and forground serve as anchor for the starry sky.[COLOR="Silver"]

[Auzzie-Phoenix]

Another option is the O-gps1 astrotracer unit and bulb mode. At 17mm f/4-4.5 ISO 640, you could probably pull off 150 second exposures (suggest external cable remote with timer). The K5 series uses the same sensor as the k-30/k-50 cameras, and all are fairly well tuned for higher ISO with less grain. It's not a magic fix for all things astro, but it is a nice tool to have in your arsenal. The downside to using an astrotracer, however is that you will get blurry foreground images due to the sensor tracking the stars, so you would need to do independent exposures for ground based objects and then an astrotracer shot of the stars, then merge the two images in post processing.

[henrikpedersen33]

This is my latest attempt, I think out of focus a bit and over exposed maybe? All I know, this is alot of stars! Any help would be great! Thank You- Brian

Nice shot! You sure have a lot of stars. I need something to break the foreground, maybe a yellow tent lightend from the inside - something to break all the black.

[mhrish]

I agree the sky looks great, but I think it needs some foreground interest, maybe a barn or an unusual tree or an old house or something.

[gifthorse]

It still astounds me how many stars are visible when you get away from the lights. I agree with the advice given. A little more exposure and some post processing. The K5 will easily handle 3200 ISO. Stopping down a stop or two will sharpen the stars nicely. Conditions permitting, aiming the camera to the South will point toward the center (brightest part) of the Milky Way. It's still a nice image. If you want some night practice, the Perseids meteor shower will peak on the night of August 12th/13th. This should be a good year for the Perseids.

[dhart2]

1) You can easily up the iso up to 1600 or even 3200.
2) Go with exposure at least 15 seconds - 20 or 25 are even better.
3) Milky way (or stars in general) NEVER looks good without at least some post-processing. Thus I would suggest find an easy post-processing tutorial for milky way shots. For example this one is ok.

Thanks for the tutorial link.

[Photogoof]

This is my latest attempt, I think out of focus a bit and over exposed maybe? All I know, this is alot of stars! Any help would be great! Thank You- Brian

Beautiful!