Get a free video download where I go over the basics of photographing the Milky Way. You’ll learn everything you need to get started including: What camera gear do I need? How do I plan a Milky Way shoot? How do I take photos in the field? How do I post-process my images? The video is over 1 1/2 hours long and is jam packed with information.
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I recently tried out a new software program for star stacking called Kandao Raw+. Up to this point I had been using Starry Landscape Stacker which has worked very well so I was a bit skeptical as to whether Kandao Raw+ could actually bring anything new to the table. But I was pleasantly surprised and the short summary is that Kandao Raw+ works extremely well and even handles problematic cases which cause difficulty for programs like Starry Landscape Stacker and Sequator.
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With programs like Starry Landscape Stacker or Sequator image stacking for noise reduction has become very easy to do.
The one question I get is how many images should i stack?
This question can actually be answered analytically with math. If you recall your stats class, the variance of the sum of n variables is the sum of their covariances. Therefore…
Ok just kidding. I won’t go into the math. But if you want to dig further look at the Wikipedia article on variance and assume that the photons have a Poisson distribution.
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For some reason I like taking photos of astro subjects from the middle of the San Diego. Usually this results in a lot of pain because the objects are so dim and the light pollution from the city tends to wash everything out. To some extent, one can bring out these subjects with post-processing but there is a limit because the data (and information contained in the data) simply isn’t there.
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Probably the most technically difficult shot to achieve in landscape astrophotography is a tracked panorama. But if you can successfully pull it off, it will yield the ultimate in image quality. I’ve done a few when conditions allowed (i.e. I had extra time for setup and I was able to carry of all the required gear) and thought I would share my equipment setup.
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