I was keen to see if I could capture some good Milky Way images whilst on a holiday in the Northern Territory recently and wanted to do this whilst not having to lug too much around in the way of equipment. To this end, a Canon 60Da DSLR was used on a fixed tripod to capture the foreground data and the Milky Way data.
The location for the image is from the Yulara resort approximately 10Kms from Uluru and it is a composite comprised of a single foreground image taken at twilight and a second set of images taken a few hours later to capture the Milkyway. 30 x 15 second exposures (ISO 3200; f5.6) were taken to capture the Milky Way plus an additional 30 x 15 second dark frames. These were combined and processed in Pixinsight prior to merging with the foreground data using Adobe Photoshop CC. Things went reasonably well for the photo shoot though there were some clouds scudding across the sky above Uluru that had to be dealt with. That said, they probably add some additional feature to the final image.
What size are you getting it printed at?
I looked up Harvey Norman online prints after seeing another members mention and got a couple of prints done on a 400x500 canvas when it was on special at less than half price (normally $100 odd, got them for $40 each). My particular shots which is a full moon consisting of 10,749 individual images looks spectacular on the canvas as does one of my fire (and chemicals) in a coffee tin shots. I'm in the process of gathering bits and pieces to build a CO2 laser cutter and will design individual light guide boards to light up specific areas as I want. It's going to be a slow process, part financial and part lazy (health) but I'll eventually get to it.
HN also do the large poster size prints and panoramas on paper at reasonable costs with around a 10 day turn around period because they are printed in Glen Innes and shipped back to your local HN store for free pick up. Worth looking into if you haven't already.
What size are you getting it printed at?
I looked up Harvey Norman online prints after seeing another members mention and got a couple of prints done on a 400x500 canvas when it was on special at less than half price (normally $100 odd, got them for $40 each). My particular shots which is a full moon consisting of 10,749 individual images looks spectacular on the canvas as does one of my fire (and chemicals) in a coffee tin shots. I'm in the process of gathering bits and pieces to build a CO2 laser cutter and will design individual light guide boards to light up specific areas as I want. It's going to be a slow process, part financial and part lazy (health) but I'll eventually get to it.
HN also do the large poster size prints and panoramas on paper at reasonable costs with around a 10 day turn around period because they are printed in Glen Innes and shipped back to your local HN store for free pick up. Worth looking into if you haven't already.
Hi Leo, I知 still playing with different settings to try and get the final print copy brightness and contrast that I知 happy with. As is quite often the case, the print copy can lack in both these settings and I need to play with them before I知 happy with the result. I will run off some test prints at A4 with Office Works first and when I知 happy go for the final print, probably A3 or A2. When I知 sure I知 happy with the result I usually go for Image Science in Victoria. They produce very fine work with great attention to detail.
I have the Spyder X monitor calibration tool I purchased used from here (IIS) to make sure what I see on my screen is what I'm getting.
I have a Kodak dye sublimation printer and run off my images in 12x8 or 10x8 and get precisely what I see on my screen.
Though I noticed HN had a glass print on special for $120 odd the other day in a panorama format and am thinking of seeing how one of my old shots looks printed on the glass.
It's 12" x 18", I can stretch an old MW image to fit, I'm seriously looking into it if I can afford it.
I have the Spyder X monitor calibration tool I purchased used from here (IIS) to make sure what I see on my screen is what I'm getting.
I have a Kodak dye sublimation printer and run off my images in 12x8 or 10x8 and get precisely what I see on my screen.
Though I noticed HN had a glass print on special for $120 odd the other day in a panorama format and am thinking of seeing how one of my old shots looks printed on the glass.
It's 12" x 18", I can stretch an old MW image to fit, I'm seriously looking into it if I can afford it.
I have calibrated my monitors with an i1Display Plus unit (xrite Pantone) using the Calabrite software so the display settings should be correct or at least as good as they are going to be. My main image processing monitor is an AOC 4K 27" screen so whilst not exactly top of the range it is a reasonable one for this work. Regardless of the fact that I have the display calibrated as per the hardware/software tools, the printed copy always needs a lift in brightness and contrast before I print.
Regardless of the fact that I have the display calibrated as per the hardware/software tools, the printed copy always needs a lift in brightness and contrast before I print.
I always had this same issue when I used to get my images printed at the chemists locally. Then when both printers died the entire system, computer, software and Kodak kiosk with 2 printers was given to me. Then I was handed several boxes of new paper and ribbons. My son and I stripped both printers, found and rectified the faults and I print most of my stuff in 12x8.
Eventually going through the Kodak software on the computer my son found there was a setting which automatically adjusted images. It was quickly disabled and now what I see is what I get brightness and contrast wise. It's a tricky situation because it's absolute black, small bursts of brightness and varying contrast we rely on for astronomy images, very different to an average outdoor image.
