One of my other hobbies (well, obsessions, really)

chris_todd

Members
As some of you know, I also have amateur astronomy as a passion, and my family and I recently spent a week attending the Winter Star Party in the Florida Keys.

While there, I did some night sky time lapse photography, and made some of my first baby steps into deep sky wide field astrophotography. That was not entirely successful, I made a lot of mistakes, and objectively speaking the results of 2 out of 3 of my attempts suck, but I'm proud of them nonetheless, and though I'd share.

The time lapse video:
https://vimeo.com/38301021
(Anyone know how to embed Vimeo video here?)

The three astrophotos featured at the end of the video:
http://www.photobucket.com/2012WSP/
 

chriscoli

Administrator
Wow! That was fantastic. Of the 3 pics at the end, i liked the middle one of Orion the best! (although pics of the orion nebula are always nice, too) :D

Amataeur astronomy was one of those hobbies that I was REALLY into as a kid, but sadly kind of lost touch with as an adult.
 

chris_todd

Members
Thanks, Chris!

Funny, that 50mm shot was the one I screwed up the most. I overexposed the flats so they were useless, causing the decreased illumination in the corners. I also screwed up the flats, so the image is noisier than it should be, and I messed up the processing, making it look overexposed and under saturated. But I'm learning! :). Next time will be better.


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As somebody with a totally untrained eye, the time lapse and the 3 stills were all very cool and I saw none of the flaws you noted. My Dad was a solar physicist and had us outside looking at stars all the time, but none of it stuck w me, except Orion's belt!
 

Tony

Alligator Snapping Turtle/Past Pres
Awesome time lapse and shots, Chris. It's amazing how much more you can see down south, away from the city lights and smog. How long were you down there for? Get a chance to get in the water?
 

chris_todd

Members
Awesome time lapse and shots, Chris. It's amazing how much more you can see down south, away from the city lights and smog. How long were you down there for? Get a chance to get in the water?

Thanks! We were there for a week, and on the last day we spent some time at Bahia Honda State Park, just one island over from the star party site. Very cool beaches and the water was fabulous.


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