[ryderzx9r]

HI,
This is the first time that I have tried to capture the International space station flying overhead.
The shutter speed was 30 seconds.
There has been minor editing in Lightroom.
Looking forward to the feedback.
Andrew
P.S. I hope I have posted this right.
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[PJ1]

I will take your word that it is the ISS. Always fun to catch those things. I have caught Iridium flares. I have seen the ISS done with a long lens and stacked teleconverters. Not sharp but you could make out the general shape. It would be tricky to get in just the right position for that.

[ryderzx9r]

Yes it really is the iss. If you click on the photo you will see the other 4 photos of it as it moved across the sky. I wasn't trying to capture the shape of the iss only its trail.

[MossyRocks]

Nice capture. There are all sorts of pictures available in the night sky. As for ways to improve I would suggest framing being the key thing to work on. Either have more foreground so that it becomes interesting, or do just a star field shot with it in it. If doing a star field shot having the milky way or other astronomical objects in it adds to the picture. In both cases a 30 second shutter speed works reasonably well if you are shooting at the 18mm end but to get better pinpoint stars consider using the rule of 300, basically take the number 300 and divide it by the focal length you are shooting at and that is your maximum shutter length. If doing a star field think about upping the ISO as you will be able to get dimmer objects, so try ISO 400 ore even higher then stack the images and blend the ISS in the correct position.

If you like shooting the night sky I would also highly recommend getting a Hoya red intensifying filter for the lenses you use, as they are the poor man's light pollution filter. This will remove a lot of the sky glow you have, especially in the lower left of the image. Having that filter on will also enhance the contrast and details in dim astronomical objects that would otherwise get washed away with the light pollution. For images of the night sky editing in Photoshop or GIMP you will be able to bring out more details than Lightroom can but it takes lots of practice to get good results.

A while back one of the guys over in the astrophotography group grabbed a bunch of shots as it traveled over head hoping to get a reasonable still of it. Here is the thread about it. Pete was using a 910mm f/7 telescope for the individual shots with it in burst mode at ISO 1600, and 1/800s.

[ryderzx9r]

MossyRocks thanks for the in depth response. I like your suggestions especially the poor mans light pollution filter, I will have to get that for sure.
I will work on the framing of the photo as well, like you point out there are many pictures of the night sky so look for something diffrent.

Thanks for the link to the thread where the iss was captured through a telescope.

[MossyRocks]

MossyRocks thanks for the in depth response. I like your suggestions especially the poor mans light pollution filter, I will have to get that for sure.
I will work on the framing of the photo as well, like you point out there are many pictures of the night sky so look for something diffrent.

Thanks for the link to the thread where the iss was captured through a telescope.

Everyone has to start some where and getting pointed in the right direction early on helps a lot. Ask questions often and most around here if they know something on the topic and see the post will pop in and offer advise. I've grown a lot in my abilities since I started posting, reading, and asking questions here.

One more thing to consider if you wanted to do this again, get a release cable and put the camera into bulb mode and hold the shutter open with the cable during the ISS flyover. You will get more star trailing but will get an uninterrupted arc from the ISS. Then see about taking a shorter shot for the star field to get the nice pinpoint stars, and then maybe do a really long shot to get an illuminated foreground. Then you can blend all 3 in Photoshop to get a really nice image.

[Ex Finn.]

Well done for a single shot.
I shoot with high continuous and process in "Star Stax".
edit: when it is visible long enough.

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Last edited by Ex Finn.; 03-14-2019 at 03:57 PM.

[dan.a.nesheim]

I think this looks good. Though i would like to see more of the building, to ad tho the contrasting elements. House on earth and ISS up there.

[Biosaurus]

HI,
This is the first time that I have tried to capture the International space station flying overhead.
The shutter speed was 30 seconds.
There has been minor editing in Lightroom.
Looking forward to the feedback.
Andrew
P.S. I hope I have posted this right.
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Very nice, not too bright, great shot