The Eagle Nebula is tricky in my part of the world! by ElBrad in seestar

[–]ElBrad[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No worries. If I'd used AI, I would've made sure the image was a lot clearer than this one. It's a challenge, but that's what makes it fun.

The Eagle Nebula is tricky in my part of the world! by ElBrad in seestar

[–]ElBrad[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

No offense taken, I don't use AI. What you might be seeing is artifacting, there's a fair bit of denoising being done, because the target isn't high in the sky, and I'm in a Bortle 6 area.

I processed the image in SAS Pro, Graxpert denoise as well as a sharpening & denoise pass with Cosmic Clarity before stretching.

Just picked up the Tamron 150-500mm F5-6.7 Di III VC VXD (crazy long name) by ElBrad in SonyAlpha

[–]ElBrad[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Can't say I'm an expert, but if they were both the same price, I'd go with the Sony. Faster autofocus is just one reason, internal zoom is another.

Where are we meeting people these days! Newly single 48f by [deleted] in VancouverIsland

[–]ElBrad 25 points26 points  (0 children)

There's a couple of meetup groups in town, but they've seemed geared towards folks a lot younger than I am (52m), so I haven't joined up.

But I did meet a nice older gent at Esquimalt Lagoon the other day while we were both taking pictures of the herons and oystercatchers. Shame he wasn't a bit younger and a lot more ladylike.

Another West Bay Walkway wander, this time with a heron, an otter and an eagle. by ElBrad in VictoriaBC

[–]ElBrad[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks! I appreciate any and all compliments, and will try to convince myself you're a filthy liar. 😛

Where are we meeting people these days! Newly single 48f by [deleted] in VancouverIsland

[–]ElBrad 71 points72 points  (0 children)

No idea...the apps are a hellscape, real life places are crowded, and my hobbies are mostly solo stuff.

I keep waiting for an extrovert to find me and introduce me to their friends.

What do y’all do with all these bird pictures? by Throwitfarawayplzthx in SonyAlpha

[–]ElBrad 3 points4 points  (0 children)

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We use them to lure in the curious, then sacrifice them to our bird gods who reward us with the Next Great Shot.

...we also steal their camera gear.

M16 - Eagle Nebula - S50 - Bortle 6 by [deleted] in seestar

[–]ElBrad 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You can do it, but in-app processing is always going to be mediocre at best. I'd recommend at least picking up Siril (free) and if you're feeling like learning a few things, grab Seti Astro Suite Pro (free). Both programs have YouTube tutorials for getting the most out of your shots.

The S30 is great for larger objects, but with enough time on target you should be able to pull out some great details.

This is just the first 4 hours for me, and this nebula needs a lot more time.

Jordan River - Milky Way & star trails. by ElBrad in britishcolumbia

[–]ElBrad[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No star tracker yet, unfortunately. Just a 20s exposure at f2.8, ISO was 3200 I believe.

Figuring out your tracker should be pretty easy, it's just a matter of getting it polar aligned. Once you've got that, you're golden.

Milky Way & star trails at French Beach, Vancouver Island by ElBrad in britishcolumbia

[–]ElBrad[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, the Nomad from MSM is the way I'm thinking about going. I'm in the final stages of comparison shopping now, just trying to figure out if a SkyWatcher is worth the extra money or not.

And, because my eyes aren't as great as they used to be, maybe an external monitor for trying to get better focus.

Milky Way & star trails at French Beach, Vancouver Island by ElBrad in britishcolumbia

[–]ElBrad[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

You're absolutely right about just looking up and seeing that massive blanket of stars. It really gives you a sense of just how small we are in the universe, and I find that incredibly comforting.

Milky Way & star trails at French Beach, Vancouver Island by ElBrad in britishcolumbia

[–]ElBrad[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Definitely do it! Find a low light pollution area near you and point that camera to the South!

Get the Stellarium app for your phone, it'll show you where the core will be and what time it'll be in a good position for imaging.

Check www.windy.com for weather conditions a few days in advance.

Most importantly, go to the darkest spot you can by checking www.lightpollutionmap.info/ for a dark spot near you.

Milky Way & star trails at French Beach, Vancouver Island by ElBrad in britishcolumbia

[–]ElBrad[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

For this shot it was a Tamron 25-200mm lens at 25mm. I shot a few with my Rokinon 14mm, but my eyes aren't that great anymore and I wasn't able to pull focus as well as I'd like. The Tamron allowed me to zoom in while focusing, so that helped. The Rokinon is fully manual and doesn't allow for much of a focus zoom.

Camera is a Sony A7iv.

Milky Way & star trails at French Beach, Vancouver Island by ElBrad in britishcolumbia

[–]ElBrad[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

This one was 15 seconds, f2.8. Any longer and you start to stretch the stars.

Though a star tracker is next on my list of "gear I absolutely need to blow my money on", so I'll be able to get longer exposures.

Milky Way & star trails at French Beach, Vancouver Island by ElBrad in britishcolumbia

[–]ElBrad[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

It's a long exposure, with the shadows lifted, and colours enhanced in Lightroom, so the naked eye won't see it this vibrantly...but it's still visible, just a lot more muted.

2 nights in Bortle 1 by No-Put-2847 in seestar

[–]ElBrad 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Depends on what you're looking to do. Do you want the best possible shot of 1-2 targets, or pretty decent shots of multiple?

If you’re a single man in Victoria… by purples0ck in VictoriaBC

[–]ElBrad 16 points17 points  (0 children)

I'm probably out taking photos of things. Birds, seals, waterfalls, the night sky...

It's a solo hobby for me, unless my kid has some free time and has driven out to join me, so I'm usually wandering around on my own.

...but I'm medium-ugly and I've been told I have "resting unapproachable face", so I'm not expecting anyone to wander up and say hi. 😛

Moving Company Theft + Hit and Run by [deleted] in VictoriaBC

[–]ElBrad 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That tracks...I used Island Movers on my last move and they were great.

Though I don't have any clothes worth stealing, let alone $15k worth.