My first foray into photographing the Milky Way ended up with a respectable image, but there’s lots more to learn!
This shot was taken in our driveway about 11pm on 23 September 2017. If I waited a little longer the image could have been improved slightly just by having more time pass since the waning crescent moon had set. I wonder if it’s still casting light into the image.
I didn’t use the ‘Long exp. noise reduction’ feature in the menu settings, but will attempt that on future astro-photo nights.
With a tripod and wired release the camera settings were 30 second exposure, f/4.5 and ISO 3200 using a wide-angle Canon EFS 10-18mm lens with stabilizer off and manual focus on.
The red cast on the leaves at the top left was produced by the red tank light that I had inadvertently left on during the exposure. Those leaves are still in green in real life. Accidental light painting at its best!
To be fair the image was slightly enhanced via GIMP by layering the camera-provided jpg image over the RAW camera image with a ‘grain merge’ filter at 36% opacity.