M8 (NGC 6523)-Lagoon Nebula

timatworksg · Post by **timatworksg** » Sun May 30, 2010 10:39 pm

Been slowly getting my feet wet with Astrophotography and have yet to do anything serious really, but my scope was set up for visual on the 22nd May evening thru my balcony window. Was called out for some drinks and chat with a friend and got back around midnight. Decided to scan left of Scorpio and caught the stars of M8. Was curious and hooked up my DSLR for fun to see what would happen. Here's the result, which is nothing fantastic. Mount wasn't in perfect alignment to start with (hence the elongated stars & short exposure) but the shot did spur me on, to keep the enthusiasm of Astrophotography alight! At least I know where I'm headed so far! There is light pollution from a park lamp in front of my 2nd floor balcony window.

Details: Celestron 80ED/2" extender/VixenGP/IOptron GotoNova/Unguided/Fuji S3 at prime focus/ISO800/10s X 8/DSS/PS CS3-levels and curves

Post by **Airconvent** » Sun May 30, 2010 11:20 pm

Nice attempt, timeatworksg.
You can try using a LPF to cut down the city light glow.
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timatworksg · Post by **timatworksg** » Sun May 30, 2010 11:44 pm

Thnks Airconvent, yeah agree. Gonna get some stuff (aka: spend more money) next week and probably filters.
Still lots to learn and lots of experimentation to go...but fun and always enjoy planning and thinking, failing and trying again...with importantly, no obligations! haha!

Gary · Post by **Gary** » Mon May 31, 2010 1:07 am

Nice! I like it.

Post by **weixing** » Mon May 31, 2010 9:17 am

Hi,
Very nice!

Anyway, I would suggest before you buy any filters, try at least 1 min of exposure per shot. IMHO, if you are not doing any guiding and shoot after mid-night, you might not need any filters.

Have a nice day.

guangwei · Post by **guangwei** » Mon May 31, 2010 7:44 pm

nice pic for a start

Bergkamp_ · Post by **Bergkamp_** » Mon May 31, 2010 8:11 pm

Keep it up!~

timatworksg · Post by **timatworksg** » Mon May 31, 2010 8:40 pm

Thanks all for the comments, encouragements and feedback. Lots of things I learnt from it and plan to make the changes next time I shoot the stars. First improvement is to actually plan for it rather than this Unplanned M8..hehe!

@weixing : Thanks for the encouragement! I will try before filters as this shot was taken when M8 was around 30degrees from my balcony window. Hard to get good alignment from my window hence the 'unplanned' shot. I get proper alignment when I lug everything to my next door carpark top level, which is where I wish to do the next 'planned' shooting. Ideally I'd prefer to shoot when the nebula is higher so it's away from low level light pollution. Will try that next for my next exercise.

@croy : Thanks bro! Noticed the coma,...which could have come from the curves adjustment made in PS resulting in a little 'moire'. No coma on the original files. Didn't stretch it much, but perhaps I did a little.hehe! I will admit that I didn't care much in the post process as I just dived in, did the stack and jumped to PS. As it was 'unplanned' it was more a test. And normally I would shoot RAW but did JPEG this image...which didn't give me much to play with in the start. Agree with the star colors. I'm surprised as well at how it turned out! I do enjoy shooting with the 80ED, though with it's limitations, it's a nice little workhorse for now...till I decide on something else.
Yes the S5 is the dynamic range leader. Have always loved the Fuji's from both my S2 and S3. Even my wife's Fuji compact digicam makes her look like a pro photog. I have been using my S2 & S3 for like 8 odd years doing my stock image shooting in the past and they never let me down, except for the S2 going green on me once! But they always delivered especially when I shoot the models in studio's and outdoor! The dynamic range as you mentioned, makes everything rich and pleasing! That plus my prime lenses,...yum!! So......tempted to get the Fuji 'S' series DSLR??...hehe!
Anyways, will spend more time in DSS, with more images to stack and in PS next test shot. Least I know where to head now. More experimentations ahead!
** I owe you my 'lightning' shot near Sentosa. it's in a Portable HD in office. Will grab it back and post it here**

@Gary, guangwei, bergkamp : thanks bros!!!

Nest step, more planning, since I know what to expect from my DSLR, rooftop where I get better tracking, waiting and longer exposures. Will let you know when I get the chance!
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