Astrophotography - 34 seconds @ ISO 1600 f/6.3

Yeah, another new something to screw around with – astrophotography with my D700.  I’ve done so damned many sunset shots in my two years of shooting with my D80 that I wanted to see what happens when the sun goes down with it’s big brother, the D700.

So, I gathered up my implements of destruction (Nikon D700, Sigma 15-30mm lens, Bogen Manfrotto tripod and a manual cable release) and I went out into the pitch black night to grab this shot above.  This is ISO 1600 and it lets in just the right amount of starlight (actually, a bit too much). The D80 I could crank up to 1600 and it sucked wind – then would overheat.  I will assume that the D700x / D700s will do roughly… exactly the same in low light.  This is what they are built for!

These shots are a little on the bright side from light pollution.  I am 40 minutes north of Boston and about 10 minutes east of Manchester, NH.  Those lights really make the night sky dim.  But, to get something close by, heading down to the lake gives a nice wide-open expanse of space that I can use for testing.

27 seconds @ ISO 3200 f/5.6

Anyhow, I got to the lake around 9:00 p.m. and did several test shots across the landscape.  I started off at ISO 6400.  WAY too much light.  Turned the night sky into day.  ISO 4500, ugh, still daytime.  Same with 3200.  Way too much freaking light coming in.  The shot at the right is the 3200 ISO shot.  As you can see, it’s damned daytime looking.  And that’s at 9:45 p.m.!  The trees in that shot are so bright because I flicked my high-beams at them mid-exposure. But the D700 is so damned good that I really have to adjust my thinking for the next night out.

What I Need to Do

What the hell was I thinking?  I’m on a tripod here and no need for this crazy-high ISO.  1600 is too much light,especially if I want to start doing star trails.  I need to crank it all the way down to ISO 200.  Also, f/5 is stupid.  I need to be down around f/11.  This will allow for a nice long exposure (or series of exposure for star tracking).  Could I crank it to f/34 and leave it open a half hour?  Sure, but from what I read, I want to do a series of 30 second exposures.  120 of them an hour!  Then stack them in Photoshop CS5.  This will keep the dark skies dark, but the major stars really showing their stuff.  I hope to get out this week and play more with my ideas.  There is a bunch to learn with this!

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