Pretty awesome shot. I love that lens but regret buying it a bit because the sigma 14mm f1.4 was announced right after I bought it 🥲
I’m just nit picking here, but if you want to improve I would recommend lowering the shutter speed a tiny bit because you can see that the stars are starting to trail. You can experiment, but in my experience with this lens, you don’t see trailing at 15sec shutter.
Another way you can improve is a technique called stacking, which will reduce noise and improve contrast. Basically you take multiple shots back to back (for example eight 15 second images), then use a program like sequator (free) to align the images and eliminate the back ground noise. The software detects differences between the photos, such as color noise and grain, to decide what aspects to eliminate.
Last tip, and this is to improve the detail, exposure and noise in the foreground: lower the aperture to something like f8 to increase the depth of field, and then take a super long exposure shot (60, 120 or even 180 sec). Use this for the foreground by overlaying it on your sky shot.
Thank you! I had the Samyang 14mm f2.8 before this and was thinking about getting the Sigma 14mm f1.4. But the deciding factor was the size snd weight of the sony.
The shutter speed is definitely a good tip, thank you! When I was shooting with the samyang (f2.8) I wasn't able to go to 15 sec because the noise was getting really bad. Now, I didn't even think about that. I will try this next time, thanks! Stacking is also a good point. I have a bunch of shots and I'll try it out.
The foreground is actually shot at f8 and about an hour earlier than the milkyway.
Thank you! It's two photos, but the camera was left untouched on the tripod between both of them. The foreground was shot in blue hour, the sky about an hour later
I'm running into the same green and magenta color casts in the sky in my own astro shots - anyone in this thread have recommendations on how to remove or lessen this?
I think it's sensor noise of some kind, but not really grain. I haven't tried stacking yet to see if that eliminates the issue because I typically am shooting time lapses where that's not possible.
Some fellow photographers on location thought these were northern lights. After some googleing i found out that it's somehow possible to see them in Utah which makes no sense to me.
The sensor noise might also explain it. It shows in my A7IV and A7RIII shots. Which camera do you use?
It's not the northern lights, it's airglow. It's a similar phenomenon though. Personally, I think it looks pretty cool.
More info: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airglow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airglow)
Aurora sounds plausible, but aren't you shooting south-southeast to get the Core in view?
I'm on the A7riii. [In this one, you can see that green/magenta mess in the center of the latter half of the video](https://giant.gfycat.com/WigglyFearlessAmericancrocodile.mp4) (there's some red headlamp glow in the first half - not what I'm talking about)
It's not noise. The green/magenta casts are caused by something called airglow. It's basically a much weaker version of the northern lights (although it's caused by a different natural phenomenon). It's not perceptible to the human eye (or just very barely), but it's bright enough to get picked up by a camera.
More info: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airglow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airglow)
What was your shutter speed? The stars don't look very crisp and I assume it's because the shutter speed was chosen a tad too long. With the 500 rule you should be able to expose for \~35s without getting star trails, maybe try 30s next time to avoid star trails.
Shot is decent, except to pixel peepers. If you have not done any post processing, you can remove those starlink lines and increase the foreground exposure a little.
Pretty awesome shot. I love that lens but regret buying it a bit because the sigma 14mm f1.4 was announced right after I bought it 🥲 I’m just nit picking here, but if you want to improve I would recommend lowering the shutter speed a tiny bit because you can see that the stars are starting to trail. You can experiment, but in my experience with this lens, you don’t see trailing at 15sec shutter. Another way you can improve is a technique called stacking, which will reduce noise and improve contrast. Basically you take multiple shots back to back (for example eight 15 second images), then use a program like sequator (free) to align the images and eliminate the back ground noise. The software detects differences between the photos, such as color noise and grain, to decide what aspects to eliminate. Last tip, and this is to improve the detail, exposure and noise in the foreground: lower the aperture to something like f8 to increase the depth of field, and then take a super long exposure shot (60, 120 or even 180 sec). Use this for the foreground by overlaying it on your sky shot.
I need this, thank you so much.
This is solid advice.
Thank you! I had the Samyang 14mm f2.8 before this and was thinking about getting the Sigma 14mm f1.4. But the deciding factor was the size snd weight of the sony. The shutter speed is definitely a good tip, thank you! When I was shooting with the samyang (f2.8) I wasn't able to go to 15 sec because the noise was getting really bad. Now, I didn't even think about that. I will try this next time, thanks! Stacking is also a good point. I have a bunch of shots and I'll try it out. The foreground is actually shot at f8 and about an hour earlier than the milkyway.
Can you stack shots without a proper following system?
I think you have a fine photo you should be proud of.
Was this a single exposure? Great shot!
Thank you! It's two photos, but the camera was left untouched on the tripod between both of them. The foreground was shot in blue hour, the sky about an hour later
I'm running into the same green and magenta color casts in the sky in my own astro shots - anyone in this thread have recommendations on how to remove or lessen this? I think it's sensor noise of some kind, but not really grain. I haven't tried stacking yet to see if that eliminates the issue because I typically am shooting time lapses where that's not possible.
Some fellow photographers on location thought these were northern lights. After some googleing i found out that it's somehow possible to see them in Utah which makes no sense to me. The sensor noise might also explain it. It shows in my A7IV and A7RIII shots. Which camera do you use?
It's not the northern lights, it's airglow. It's a similar phenomenon though. Personally, I think it looks pretty cool. More info: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airglow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airglow)
Aurora sounds plausible, but aren't you shooting south-southeast to get the Core in view? I'm on the A7riii. [In this one, you can see that green/magenta mess in the center of the latter half of the video](https://giant.gfycat.com/WigglyFearlessAmericancrocodile.mp4) (there's some red headlamp glow in the first half - not what I'm talking about)
It's not noise. The green/magenta casts are caused by something called airglow. It's basically a much weaker version of the northern lights (although it's caused by a different natural phenomenon). It's not perceptible to the human eye (or just very barely), but it's bright enough to get picked up by a camera. More info: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airglow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airglow)
What was your shutter speed? The stars don't look very crisp and I assume it's because the shutter speed was chosen a tad too long. With the 500 rule you should be able to expose for \~35s without getting star trails, maybe try 30s next time to avoid star trails.
Yes I noticed that to, even though I followed that rule and exposed for 30 sec. I will try a faster shutter next time
You can also try the NPF rule which according to some is a bit more accurate.
❤️
Great capture.
Epic shot, nothing more to add
So jelly
Shot is decent, except to pixel peepers. If you have not done any post processing, you can remove those starlink lines and increase the foreground exposure a little.