AstroJournal - A second try
This is a part of my #AstroJournal documenting my foray into #astrophotography.
Fixes
On the first trial run, I ran into some problems. Here are those problems and the fixes I have applied.
The Shakes
The tripod I use is very light - on purpose. I originally bought it for doing nature photography on short hikes in the nearby State Park. It is perfectly adequate for the short exposure typical for that use, but way too shaky for long duration shots. So, I :
- Added a weight to the center column of the tripod to help stablize it. (see picture below)
- Moved to using the auto-timer on the camera so that I am not physically touching it when the shutter releases.
The auto-timer on the D3400 has some limitiations. The only setting is a 10 second delay. It would be nice if there was a 5 second option. Just long enough to let me get my hands off.
I'm not Plastic Man
Trying to aim and focus at high angles is quite a neck strain. To help with this, I lowered the tripod a bit so I could kneel on a gardening knee pad and actually look up into the view finder. I also turned the camera into portrait position to more easily get my eye to the view finder. Still not great, but much better.
Current Setup
My current hardware consists of
- Nikon D3400 Compact DSLR.
- Nikon AF-P DX NIKKOR 70-300mm Lens.
- K&F Concept D225C2 Carbon Fiber Tripod.
- 2.5 lb plate from a now unused barbell set.
- generic gardening knee pad.
Every bit was "Borrowed" from something else. So far, astrophotography has cost me $0.
The Plan
The same as the first time.
- Try to get Venus through the tree.
- Try to image Jupiter with Aldeberan and the Pleides.
Execution
Jupiter was clouded out again for me. So that just left Venus - again.
Using the weight on the tripod made a huge difference in how much it moved when I pressed the shutter button. But far from perfect.
Using f/22 to try to get the tree limbs mostly in focus.
(300mm f/22 2.5 sec ISO 6400)
So, lets try again with the autotimer.
(300mm f/22 2.5 sec ISO 6400)
Nice!
Venus itself is overexposed, but still.
Things for next time
The knee pad was better than what I was trying to do before, but not great. I'm old and slow trying to get back up.
Wrap up
Got an actual round image of Venus in a kinda artsy way.
I'm happy with the progress I am making solving problems.