More night shots — Diary of an Automation Junkie

Tonight was a great night for stargazing without a hint of moon. Around 10pm, I bundled up and trundled down to the river.

Got a couple of nice shots of Orion and The Pleiades.

And, the Big Dipper…

And a tree in silhouette with stars overhead.

All the above were shot at f2.8 with 8 to 10-sec exposures for minimal trailing, and ISO 800 or 1600 (higher than 1600 just turns into fuzzy noise). To help pop the stars out, I pulled down the dark tones significantly in Lightroom. Without it, there’s just too much city glow in the sky. Still aiming to get out into the country soon.

While I was down at the river, I swung the lens around at the horizon and took some 30-second exposures at ISO 200. Stopping down to limit the light, or open wide for different looks.