Charlie Hein
Postmaster
Reged: 11/02/03
Posts: 8423
Loc: 26.06.08N, +80.23.08W
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Hi Folks!
I know that I was excited beyond belief when I saw my very first astrophoto! Some of the feedback we have been getting lately has told us that there are a lot of you out there who want to share your excitement at getting your first real astrophotos "in the bag" but may feel a little "put off" by what some of your fellow beginners with a bit more experience are able to do. I would like to help you to overcome this by offering you a chance to post your very first astrophotos right here!
With that said - I'm also hoping that by posting your photos here, other "newbie" imagers can see what to expect from their initial attempts at astrophotography. This is very important - we need to show other "newbie" imagers that what they are getting as a brand new imager is very "normal" - the point here is not to be perfect, but instead to really show where you actually started from. In addition, I hope that you will use the images you post as a definitive "baseline" to measure your progress over time. You are only a "newbie" right now - at this point in time. With time and practice you will definitely improve. Show us your very first steps up the ladder!
It is extremely important to me to keep this thread a completely safe place to post, and so if you wish to participate, I ask that you follow a few simple rules:
- 1: Images posted here must be from a users "first" attempts at astrophotography. The photo must be an astrophoto taken within one month of the poster's very first attempt. Remember, this is not a contest - this is a chance to proudly and safely show off your initial attempts at astrophotography.
- 2: Images posted here must not be more than one month old when posted. Please do not post any astrophotos taken prior to one month before today's date. The purpose of this thread is to document "new" beginners ("newbies"). While I appreciate seeing "newbie" images from imagers who are now more experienced, that is not the purpose of this thread.
- 3: Images posted here must have been set up by the poster and taken with the poster's own gear. Please do not post images taken with a friend's CCD camera on their equipment in their permanent observatory. That is not representative of what the typical "newbie" can do. Please understand and observe the "spirit" of what we're trying to accomplish here.
- 4: PLEASE - post once, and only once in this thread! We want as many folks as possible to post their initial tries at astrophotography, but after that it really isn't your "first try" any more. Any multiple posts from a user will be deleted - please take note of this!
- 5: Images posted here must conform to the standard Cloudy Nights requirements for posting images. Specifically, your image must not be more than 800 pixels in width, and also must not be moe than 100,000 bytes in file size. I understand that as a "newbie" imager you may not even understand what this really means, or how to make certain that your images are in compliance. Image editing is a skill that "newbies" must eventually learn. To that end, I will intercept any images that do not conform to the rules and edit them to bring them into compliance, and I will contact you in order to find out how we can help you to be able to post "legal" images - we want you to contribute!
- 6: THIS THREAD IS FOR PHOTOS ONLY! PLEASE DO NOT POST COMMENTS ON THE PICTURES IN THIS THREAD! Any commentary posted in this thread will be deleted, no matter how nice it is. Now this does not mean that I'm wanting to be a killjoy about this - I can post a separate thread for comments if you would like for me to do so - just send me a Private Message to let me know if this is of interest to you.
Charlie
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"He's dead, Jim - I'll get his wallet, you get his tricorder." - Leonard "Bones" McCoy
Weston CSC:
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Joselo
sage
Reged: 02/26/08
Posts: 450
Loc: Texas
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Hi...
Please feel free to critize my first attempt at Saturn, after abt 3 hours trying to focus, and deal w/ dew, I finally came up to this picture, using an AVI file of 600 frames.
Thank you all, this is truly a great community...
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APM 115 design by TMB
SV80S, and bunch of accessories
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Blixx
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/02/07
Posts: 512
Loc: CO. Aurora, USA
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Joselo,
That's a really nice photo. Way better that my first attempt. The colors look great, and it looks like your focus was spot on. Way to go!! 
Charlie,
Is this post only for your first attempt at AP, or your first try at say a glaaxy or nebula? I started taking photos in January, I got my first shot at a galaxy last night. Would it be ok to post it here or should I post it in the begening imagers forum?
Thanks,
Dan
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Celestron C6R ( The Yard Cannon)
Celestron Nexstar 130 SLT
Orion 100mm SkyView Pro
Celestron C80ED
Mead Telstar 60mm
Orion Starshot 2 Color
Mead DSI Color
Celestron NexImage
Orion 2x Shorty Barlow
Various EP's
CGEM Mount (At last!!!)
CG5-ASGT Mount
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john D
All you have to do is ask!!
Reged: 08/05/07
Posts: 5472
Loc: Midlothian, VA
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Post deleted by john D
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Meade ETX-125
Meade LXD55 mount
Philips SPC900NC webcam
Some Accessories!
My Blog
 -Midlothian VA
--Land Of The Free Because Of The Brave--
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Blixx
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/02/07
Posts: 512
Loc: CO. Aurora, USA
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Woops
I ment would it be better to post it here or in my own thread.
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Celestron C6R ( The Yard Cannon)
Celestron Nexstar 130 SLT
Orion 100mm SkyView Pro
Celestron C80ED
Mead Telstar 60mm
Orion Starshot 2 Color
Mead DSI Color
Celestron NexImage
Orion 2x Shorty Barlow
Various EP's
CGEM Mount (At last!!!)
CG5-ASGT Mount
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Charlie Hein
Postmaster
Reged: 11/02/03
Posts: 8423
Loc: 26.06.08N, +80.23.08W
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Folks, we specifically asked that this thread be kept solely for newbie photos and that folks not post comments here. I have put up a commentary thread now for this purpose. Please make use of it.
thanks!
Charlie
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"He's dead, Jim - I'll get his wallet, you get his tricorder." - Leonard "Bones" McCoy
Weston CSC:
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Stargazer22
newbie
Reged: 01/08/08
Posts: 3
Loc: Bedford UK
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Hi. Here is my first ever Astro Photo. I've had my Meade 4504 114mm Newtonian for about two months and took this one with my Nikon D40, no lens, holding it over the focusing tube. Things can only get better (ie more expensive). I hope you like it.
Adrian.
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Tim G
member
Reged: 12/10/07
Posts: 77
Loc: Atlanta, GA
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Quote:
Hi. Here is my first ever Astro Photo. I've had my Meade 4504 114mm Newtonian for about two months and took this one with my Nikon D40, no lens, holding it over the focusing tube. Things can only get better (ie more expensive). I hope you like it.
Adrian.
Adrian,
When you say no lens, do you mean no telescope eyepiece? If so, how far from the focuser must you hold the camera in order to bring the image into focus?
I'm asking because I'm considering doing this with a point and shoot camera.
For a relatively small price, your D40 can be outfitted with a t-ring adapter and tube that will insert into the focuser where the eyepiece goes.
Thanks,
Tim
A not so newbie that can't produce pictures as good as some of the newbie posts.
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Tim G.
Astrotech 80ED
CGEM 800
Orion XT10
Orion 4.5 Starblast
Bushnell 90mm Mak
Canon Xsi unmodded
Meade DSI Color
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Stargazer22
newbie
Reged: 01/08/08
Posts: 3
Loc: Bedford UK
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Hi Tim. I've since found out that it's called Prime Focus, i.e. no eyepiece and no lens on the camera. The telescope acts as the camera lens. I was holding the camera against the focusing tube with the tube about halfway out, exposure set to M and 1/60th of a second. I've seen the t-ring adapters that you mention and that's next on my shopping list. As for a point and shoot camera you might struggle to remove the lens. Have you considered a Philips Toucam or similar web-cam?
Adrian.
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john D
All you have to do is ask!!
Reged: 08/05/07
Posts: 5472
Loc: Midlothian, VA
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here is my bad first shot ever taken. camera held to the eyepiece. i was doing it wrong so it didn't come out good. but i have come a long way!
7/21/07
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Meade ETX-125
Meade LXD55 mount
Philips SPC900NC webcam
Some Accessories!
My Blog
-Midlothian VA
--Land Of The Free Because Of The Brave--
Edited by john D (04/20/08 11:33 AM)
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Tomal
super member
Reged: 03/24/08
Posts: 142
Loc: Norway
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This is my first astrophoto, its mars, camera held to the eyepiece, out of focus and blured.
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Celestron C8 203mm f/10
Meade 5000 series APO 80mm f/6
Sky-Watcher Newtonian 203mm f/5.9
Sky-Watcher Maksutov-Cassegrain 80mm f/12,5
Sky-Watcher Finder/Guide scope 50mm f/4
CG-5 GT
Canon 40D (Unmod)
SSAG
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AllanJ
newbie
Reged: 03/10/08
Posts: 4
Loc: Exeter,UK
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Here's my first image of Saturn. I'm a real novice, with my very first telescope only on its third outing, and first time with the camera properly attached. It's a Celestron NexStar 4SE, with a 25mm eyepiece and a x2 Barlow. The camera is a Canon Powershot A85 attached with a Scopetronix Digi-T, using an SRB-Griturn cable release bracket. I made two 300 frame avi movies,and have spent the cloudy nights since then learning to use Registax. I edited out some frames with VirtualDub then used Registax to stack 497 frames, and tweaked the wavelets, histogram, hue, saturation, etc - a good learning experience, even if the result is still a blur!
Allan
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thexfilez
member
Reged: 10/27/06
Posts: 29
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The only pictures i have ever posted before where some 1.3 megapixel shots of the moon and jupiter with my man made pvc tube to rest the little camera on the eye piece. After quite a bit of practice recently with aligning my scope and also with the purchase of a new DSLR, i decided i would try something more. My lens on my DSLR is only an 18-135mm, so it's nothing spectacular.
I have an Orion Astroview 6EQ, and i piggybacked a Nikon D80 on top. Picture enclosed.
Critics wanted on how to improve or any pointers.
thanks.
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Weiseguy
member
Reged: 04/01/08
Posts: 21
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Here is my very first photo, Jupiter, taken through a Walmart 60mm refractor with a Meade DSI imager that I bought on closeout (I actually bought it for the astronomy software). As a bonus, Saturn, my first photo with my new ETX125 and the same DSI imager. Getting from the raw images to this took a number of steps. Hand selecting the best images from the Red, Green, and Blue sequences, stacking each color with a 2:1 pixel ratio using the Envision Drizzle function, Combining the 3 color layers with a rough alignment in Meade's image processing program, Rescaling the image in Gimp to make the planets round (for some reason the meade FITS files are stretched in the Y direction), then rescaling to 2X followed by a fine alignment of the color layers. I gave it a little unsharp mask and then rescaled to origninal size.
At this point I'm anxious to get my scope back from Meade so I can work on getting some better image sequences to work with.
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haggy38
member
Reged: 04/29/08
Posts: 36
Loc: Bogota - Colombia
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Hi, this is my first attempt with telescopes and imaging, this is Jupiter.
Celestron 130 EQ
Nextimage.
10 seg .Avi
Regards,
Gustavo
Edited by Charlie Hein (05/11/08 07:52 PM)
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wbrogdo1
super member
Reged: 05/21/08
Posts: 134
Loc: Lakeland, FL
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my first saturn taken from video on my 8" dob
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http://www.brogdon.ws/astronomy
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wbrogdo1
super member
Reged: 05/21/08
Posts: 134
Loc: Lakeland, FL
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My first mars from 8" dob using meade video imager
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http://www.brogdon.ws/astronomy
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wbrogdo1
super member
Reged: 05/21/08
Posts: 134
Loc: Lakeland, FL
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And lastly my first shot with the meade dsi-c from my 5" sct
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http://www.brogdon.ws/astronomy
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cnstarz
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/22/07
Posts: 549
Loc: Kentucky, USA
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Here's my first DSO with my Walmart ETX-60 and a Meade DSI.  
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Matt
Apogee 50mm BB scope
ETX-60 BB
Meade 70-az
5" DIY Newt (wip)
C6-N on CG-4 GEM
Gallery
Edited by cnstarz (05/29/08 03:12 AM)
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glenluceskies
member
Reged: 05/21/08
Posts: 66
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Omega Centauri (NGC 5189) with a Canon Rebel XT 350D on a tripod. 9 x 5-second exposures, ISO 1600, using a 75-300mm lens at 200mm.
My first official DSO image !!!
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JackR
member
Reged: 02/20/08
Posts: 55
Loc: Surprise, Arizona
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I finally got all the equipment assembled and working. Decided, based on a couple of friends advice, to go digital and autoguided. This is the result.
M-13 on June 6, 2008 at about 2200 hours from our back yard in Surprise, AZ. The equipment used is as follows: Telescope - Orion AstroView 120mm Refractor. Guidescope - Orion 80mm Refractor, Orion StarShoot Autoguider, Canon 40D DSLR.
This was a 30 second exposure at ISO 1000.
I need work on focusing.
Edited by JackR (06/14/08 04:16 PM)
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Jayhawk86
member
Reged: 02/21/08
Posts: 32
Loc: Topeka, KS
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This is the best of my first attempt at photography last night, using a 21 mm Hyperion, thread adapter, 2" extension tube and Canon A640 camera.
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Steve H.
Celestron Nexstar 6SE
500 yds S. of the 39th parallel
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Tyr
member
Reged: 02/21/08
Posts: 15
Loc: Kentucky, United States, Earth
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Took these a while ago. Zhumell 8" Dobsonian scope, my left hand was the tracking device, my right hand was the camera attachment method 
Basically I just held one of our digital cameras up to the eyepiece. The picture of Saturn was taken when it was in opposition, the moon was...a little while ago, I can't remember when. They both suck, but I figured I'd inflict them upon you all anyway. "Real" imaging equipment and a scope that has tracking and everything are really expensive...
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Patrick C
newbie
Reged: 06/12/08
Posts: 4
Loc: Northern Indiana
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I finally took the plunge last month and bought a Meade LX90 8", LPI, and a DSI II color imager. Little did I know I should have invested some of that money in software. I'm using Envisage to capture and stack. I also use Registax, PSP 7, and PhotoFiltre to tweak as much as possible. Is there any other software out there besides Photoshop CS3 that can help with these images? From what I've read, PS is pretty much the choice of champions.
I'd like to see what other people out there with similar setups have done.
6-19-08
I took last week off and stayed up late!
5-31-08
This one suprised me!
6-18-08
Any suggestions, bad or good are appreciated!
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Aruta
newbie
Reged: 05/23/08
Posts: 1
Loc: Zeist, The Netherlands
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My first ever picture, 3.2 MP Sony Cybershot held directly to the lens of my ETX70
First image with my neximage on the ETX, 350 frames stacked with registax
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JShrum
professor emeritus
Reged: 08/14/07
Posts: 736
Loc: Bay City, MI, USA
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Well, I'm as new to this as possible. I got the camera this morning (NexImage), and imaged this as soon as Saturn was visible tonight (still somewhat light out) as I just couldn't wait for the weekend to try it...I've certainly got work to do. Couldn't even possibly tell you what settings I used...I just fiddled with it until it looked as good as I could get it in the short time I had (work tomorrow) and then captured about 30 seconds. This is certainly going to take some learning! 
Edit: I've now had the camera 25 hours and it's the same capture so I believe it still qualifies...I had a chance to reprocess the AVI this morning and although it's really no better, it's larger. 
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Jeff Shrum
Bay City, MI
CPC 1100 XLT
WO 2" Crayford 2-speed Focuser
OPT 2" Dielectric Diagonal
Sunset Astronomical Society
Edited by JShrum (06/25/08 12:02 PM)
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PhotonJohn
sage
Reged: 12/11/07
Posts: 465
Loc: Satellite Beach Fla
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Great image for a first try.
----John
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John
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Vixen ED 103S refractor
Takahashi EM 11 Temma II Jr
Astro-Tech AT66ED
SBIG ST-10E CFW-8
Meade DSI Pro II monochrome CCD
Moonlite CFL focuser
Philips PCVC 740K ToUcam
Registax 4.0
Photoshop CS3
MaxIm DL4
The Sky 6
Astro-Lab Roxy
Member Brevard Astronomical Society
"Starin' at the stars in a distant galaxy; wonderin' if there's someone out there starin' back at me!"
Fountains of Wayne
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PhotonJohn
sage
Reged: 12/11/07
Posts: 465
Loc: Satellite Beach Fla
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Great job Steve, nice focus and great detail.
------John
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John
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Vixen ED 103S refractor
Takahashi EM 11 Temma II Jr
Astro-Tech AT66ED
SBIG ST-10E CFW-8
Meade DSI Pro II monochrome CCD
Moonlite CFL focuser
Philips PCVC 740K ToUcam
Registax 4.0
Photoshop CS3
MaxIm DL4
The Sky 6
Astro-Lab Roxy
Member Brevard Astronomical Society
"Starin' at the stars in a distant galaxy; wonderin' if there's someone out there starin' back at me!"
Fountains of Wayne
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PhotonJohn
sage
Reged: 12/11/07
Posts: 465
Loc: Satellite Beach Fla
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Nothing wrong with that Moon shot! Great job.
-------John
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John
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Vixen ED 103S refractor
Takahashi EM 11 Temma II Jr
Astro-Tech AT66ED
SBIG ST-10E CFW-8
Meade DSI Pro II monochrome CCD
Moonlite CFL focuser
Philips PCVC 740K ToUcam
Registax 4.0
Photoshop CS3
MaxIm DL4
The Sky 6
Astro-Lab Roxy
Member Brevard Astronomical Society
"Starin' at the stars in a distant galaxy; wonderin' if there's someone out there starin' back at me!"
Fountains of Wayne
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Nils_Lars
Post Laureate
Reged: 01/04/08
Posts: 4273
Loc: Santa Cruz Mountains , CA
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I have been doing digital AP for a few months and this was my first try at it with the NexImage.
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Erik
Orion Atlas Self Hypertuned (EQMOD)
Orion ED 80
Williams Optics VII reducer
Celestron 8" SCT
Orion Starshoot Autoguider
PHD guide
Canon 500D Gary Honis Mod w/Baader filter
Astronomik CLS , 12nm Ha , and OIII clip ins
Bahtinov mask
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II and Nikkor 180mm f/2.8 ED lenses
NexImage webcam
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31986095@N05/
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Eric M
newbie
Reged: 07/05/08
Posts: 1
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First real attempt at a DSO, or, well...anything really! NGC5272(M3)
Large version!
Equipment:
Megrez 110 doublet APO on a Atlas EQ-G
Canon 40D
3 X 30-second exposures stacked is Deep Sky Stacker with shotty processing done in CS 2!
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Jefferson1964
professor emeritus
Reged: 07/15/04
Posts: 570
Loc: Mansfield, Texas
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My First Photo of a planet....
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10x70 Binos
Astroscan 2000
8" LX200GPS UHTC
ETX-125EC
ETX-125PE
The ETX Travel Buddies.....
DSIProII DSIPro
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NerfMonkey
professor emeritus
Reged: 06/12/08
Posts: 526
Loc: NE Ohio
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That shot of M3 is amazing.
I took a picture with a point and shoot digicam on a tripod at my grandparents' house in the sort-of country. It's the alignment of Saturn, Mars, Regulus and the moon. Let me know if I need to resize it.
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Mike
Zhumell 12", Oberwerk 15x70s
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StarBlazer
member
Reged: 04/12/08
Posts: 17
Loc: Sardinia, Italy
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Hi all,
First attempt is with a C9.25 on a Vixen SXD in prime focus with a Canon EOS 350d from my balcony in the city. It is at 1600 ISO and 1/250 sec. I can see I have a long way to go. 
Eros
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Celestron 9.25 on Sphinx D
Celestron 11x80 Binoculars from way back
Fullerscopes 6" Newtonian from even wayer back
Canon EOS 350d (Rebel xt)
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Kolenka
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 06/01/08
Posts: 1010
Loc: Seattle Area, WA, USA
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First AP attempt to get a usable result... Jupiter. Hey, seems Jupiter is a really popular guy, ya know? I am still tweaking the color levels though.
This was taken with an ETX-125 PE, and a Meade LPI. Captured using generic webcam software on a Mac, and then stacked using Lynkeos. I would say around 100-150 frames were stacked. Post-processed in Lynkeos, and then color boosted in iPhoto (wait, what?).
Next time around I will actually try post-processing in apps that have better filter controls. 
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Orion XX12 / Orion 80ED OTA / AT66ED
Nagler 7T6, 9T6, 13T6, 17T4, 26T5
Canon XS, TIS DMK 31AF03, AstroTrac TT320X
Northwest Astro Photoblog
Edited by Kolenka (07/08/08 11:59 AM)
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sang33ta
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 07/08/08
Posts: 767
Loc: UK
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I'm amazed at all those who's seem to start their 1st astro photo on $5000 equipment!  Is it in the spirit of this thread though 
My first astro pic taken through a 0.96" lens on a typical toy/camera store telescope. I think it was something made by Vanguard I forget the exact model 900x70 maybe. Single frame made with a Casio QV-2900UX camera held up to the lens. Mars, Jupiter, Saturn were all too hard to photo though this scope beause it needed a hig power lens and the thing wobbled real good and the camera was hand held. So I didn't keep it long.
Edited by sang33ta (07/11/08 08:32 AM)
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jblaschke
super member
Reged: 03/07/08
Posts: 112
Loc: New Braunfels, Texas
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My first DSO attempt: M11, the Wild Duck Cluster. Seeing was good, but gusty winds eventually drove me inside--this is actually a single 15-second exposure, as pretty much all the others had stars jumping around the frame. No way I could stack those... 
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Jayme Lynn Blaschke
6" Meade 645: f/5 wide-field Classic
Canon 400D unmodified
Edited by jblaschke (07/11/08 12:27 PM)
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jetair
newbie
Reged: 05/25/08
Posts: 4
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This is my first ever photo,taken on June 6th 2008.Just few days after I got my first telescope.
Edited by jetair (07/21/08 02:20 AM)
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Taqyon
sage
Reged: 06/17/08
Posts: 412
Loc: Cape Town, South Africa
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My first image:
The Movie:
Jupiter
8" Dob
NexImage
Registax
I'm doing something wrong somewhere, wow that Registax is complicated. Busy looking for a guide and then I'll be back with a vengeance
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Hein du Plessis
12" Black Diamond Skywatcher Collapsible Dobsonian
Celestron NexImage Webcam
Some Plössls
Powermate 5x
(censored)mW Green Laser Pointer
My Pictures
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john D
All you have to do is ask!!
Reged: 08/05/07
Posts: 5472
Loc: Midlothian, VA
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my first Jupiter. july 11, 2008. taken with a Phillips webcam.
more can be found here at my site
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Meade ETX-125
Meade LXD55 mount
Philips SPC900NC webcam
Some Accessories!
My Blog
-Midlothian VA
--Land Of The Free Because Of The Brave--
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john D
All you have to do is ask!!
Reged: 08/05/07
Posts: 5472
Loc: Midlothian, VA
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one more.
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Meade ETX-125
Meade LXD55 mount
Philips SPC900NC webcam
Some Accessories!
My Blog
-Midlothian VA
--Land Of The Free Because Of The Brave--
Edited by john D (07/22/08 12:06 PM)
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Kolenka
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 06/01/08
Posts: 1010
Loc: Seattle Area, WA, USA
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Quote:
My First Photo of a planet....
You know, that one is actually really good for one that looks like it wasn't post-processed much. I can actually make out the GRS without squinting.
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Orion XX12 / Orion 80ED OTA / AT66ED
Nagler 7T6, 9T6, 13T6, 17T4, 26T5
Canon XS, TIS DMK 31AF03, AstroTrac TT320X
Northwest Astro Photoblog
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Yedgy
professor emeritus
Reged: 07/22/08
Posts: 610
Loc: Phoenix, AZ, USA
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Wow, great photos, everyone! Here's my first: it's July's last quarter moon as it rose over Phoenix. Just seconds to spare before it was consumed by monsoon clouds!
This photo was taken with my pauper's astrophotography rig: afocally with a Canon digicam through a C8 with a 32mm EP. I assume my images will only get better as I continue throwing money into outer space.
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The Universe is an awesome place. I'm glad I live here.- Takahashi FS-60CB
- Takahashi FSQ-106EDXIII
- HyperTuned Atlas EQ-G
- Mountain Instruments MI-8P pier
- Spectrum-Enhanced Canon EOS 450D
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shane1
member
Reged: 04/21/08
Posts: 11
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this is what i think is a star on my sky watcher mak 127" but can anyone tell me what this is??? this is truly my very first pic of all time.
Edited by shane1 (08/12/08 09:15 PM)
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Djennings
sage
Reged: 07/03/08
Posts: 297
Loc: Katy, Texas
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Here is my first picture taken on my 8" Dob with a Phillips SPC900NP webcam. No tracking just a quick picture.
David
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palerider
super member
Reged: 06/19/08
Posts: 102
Loc: Rancho Cucamonga, CA
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Here's my very first attempt. Taken with a Panasonic FZ-7 on a tripod, no telescope. Cropped and edited in Picasa 2. Not sure if this qualifies but I thought I'd post it anyway.
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DeeSpeed
member
Reged: 08/17/08
Posts: 18
Loc: Charlotte, NC
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Sony DSC-H2 digital held to a 25mm eyepiece on a 6" Dynascope....Dee
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Taqyon
sage
Reged: 06/17/08
Posts: 412
Loc: Cape Town, South Africa
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Almost forgot, here are my first efforts:
Thanks everybody!
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DaemonGPF
Post Laureate
Reged: 03/22/08
Posts: 4040
Loc: New Mexico
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It's interesting to see that most everyone starts with the Moon, Juptier, or Saturn.
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-Josh
http://cleardarksky.com/c/AlbuqNMkey.html
My AP Gallery
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Tord Hoppe
member
Reged: 10/17/07
Posts: 21
Loc: Stockholm, Sweden
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Well, to counter that here´s my first effort. The shot was made with a Sony A100 DSLR mounted atop my ETX-70 with a Gorilla grip. No the sturdiest of mounts. Basically I throw up the scope on my balcony, no alignment, directed the scope/camera somewhere in the Andromeda direction. Did 4 light frames at 70mm/30 sec/ISO 400, about 10 dark frames and offsets (still not sure about the nomenclature). The setup was pretty shake to say the least with basically no tracking.
It´s been fun trying to use IRIS to process, register and stack the frames. I finally think I understood the tutorials because, well, at least I see some stars, lol.
Looking forward to refining everything from setting up the equipment, taking pictures and then processing the lot.
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10X 50 binos
15X 70 binos
Meade ETX-70
8" GSO Dobson
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cam1936
sage
Reged: 08/01/08
Posts: 297
Loc: Alberta, Canada
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Well this is my first. Not my intended target but my EPs and finder were covered in frost so I couldn’t find any DSOs. Shot at prime focus with a Canon 350D, one 1sec shot at ISO 400. I'm going to take another one at this exposure time to bring out the moons then merge it with another shorter exposure to bring out detail on Jupiter and have it not be so overexposed
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C8-SGT
Nikon 10x50 Action Ex
Canon 350D
Manfrotto tripod
Various EPs and accesories
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BrianFitz
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 07/17/08
Posts: 1803
Loc: Northern California
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Hi All,
Well, I just had the opportunity a couple of nights ago to take my very first photo in 30 years of observing. It was so cool. I posted a thread and I have to say that the
community here is so gracious and supportive. I look forward to making friends and web-buddies.
Here it is!!
Taken with:
Meade 10" f6.3 Classic
Phillips SNC 900
WxAstro/Registax/PS
250/1650 stacked
Pressed a lot of buttons
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Fitz
Meade LX200R 10" F/10
Meade 152ED APO
Stellarvue Raptor 80ED
Celestron CGE
Various EP's / Televue diagonals
QHY8 / QHY5 / Philips SPC 900 / Canon Xsi
20X80 Celestron / 7X50 Meade Binos
“Lots of "Dreams”
“The Skillful Illusionist Makes the Best Image" ~ Tony Hallas
Edited by BrianFitz (09/07/08 05:44 PM)
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WildBill
sage
Reged: 07/07/08
Posts: 273
Loc: Batesville Ar USA
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I took this photo tonight with a Kodak Z710 Digital and A Celestron Nexstar 114 SLT.This is my first Astrophoto.
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Edge Of The Ozarks Arkansas
Meade 70AZ-A 70mm
Celestron NexStar 114SLT
Kodak Z710 Digital
Canon T50 35mm
+35.82/-091.57
WildBill
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tagew
member
Reged: 05/02/05
Posts: 34
Loc: Stockholm, Sweden N59°20' E18°...
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Ok. Great thread to encourage people to post their firsts. Here's my first ever attempt. It's M57 and I did it over a year ago. The experience was so disappointing I gave up imaging completely. Alignment was off, focusing was a nightmare and I generally had no idea what I was doing. Looking at it a year later it isn't as bad as I remembered it, but quite far away from what I want to create :-)
Anyway. Setup is like this:
Celestron C6S on CG5 mount
DCI-c classic / envisage
After treatment with Photoshop CS3.
Edited by tagew (09/15/08 11:57 AM)
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DarkHorse
journeyman
Reged: 08/28/08
Posts: 5
Loc: Gloucester UK
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My first Moon snap shot on a budget scope and old digi cam.
11pm Thurday 11Sept08, through window glass at low altitude (17º from horizon).
Camera: Old A75 Canon PowerShot in auto mode, 3MP 2048x1536. Cropped to 600x600 for forum.
Seben 8 inch Navigator II (203mm 1000mm, EQ8 mount), practically a gift to me, second hand budget Newtonian clone scope, not recommended.
Set to full optical zoom and held up to the 30mm eyepiece viewer (33x).
Awaiting earth rotation motor tracking drive pinion to enable longer steady exposures.
--------------------
Only seen Jupiter and 4 moons, took some Lunar snaps... UK weather and Chinese optics enit!
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Rob Diehl
newbie
Reged: 09/17/08
Posts: 1
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Here is my first attempt.
3 targets: Jupiter, M31, M57. Light polluted sky.
8" LX200R tube on Atlas EQG mount with only polar alignment, not drift aligned.
Camera was a Canon XTi
No photo editing or enhancing.
I don't have the particulars on the images. The dimmer ones were about 30 secs. The brighter ones about 2 minutes. Jupiter was about 5 seconds. ISO was either 400 or 1600.
Wasnt really planning on shooting last night, only collimating. So, everything was kind of random and not documented.
http://cid-127032749f55e2d8.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/Astropics
Thanks.
Rob
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johnny9s
member
Reged: 09/07/08
Posts: 50
Loc: Whistler BC
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Here is my first attempt through my new Equinox 80ED. This is a 100%crop.
John
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NerfMonkey
professor emeritus
Reged: 06/12/08
Posts: 526
Loc: NE Ohio
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I'm not really a big fan of lunar pictures but that is amazing John. Those craters along the right edge are incredibly crisp. Wonderful job.
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Mike
Zhumell 12", Oberwerk 15x70s
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johnny9s
member
Reged: 09/07/08
Posts: 50
Loc: Whistler BC
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Thanks for the comment NerfMonkey. If the clouds ever leave I hope to shoot something different.
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lowdog
member
Reged: 09/15/08
Posts: 41
Loc: N. Suburbs Chicago
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First shot of M31 taken 9/20/08 with Vixen ED80SF using Orion SSDSI V2 mounted on a G11. Autoguided with OAG and a Orion ST80.
15x300sec Captured with MaximDL Essentials and processed
with Nebulosity2
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WO FLT-110
Vixen ED80SF
G11 Mount w/Gemini
ST2000
SSAG/Orion ST80/PHD
20x80 Steiner
Edited by lowdog (09/25/08 03:12 PM)
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gilligan
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/02/08
Posts: 1682
Loc: 47 miles east of Hell, Ca.
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Very first attempt at astrophotography,,I don't know the term "easy Object"
Whirlpool glxy. Taken 1-9-08
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My goal in life, Is to be the kind of person my dog thinks I am!
Blythe,Ca
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Pcenginefx
member
Reged: 07/22/08
Posts: 11
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My very first few photos using my new Meade LXD-75 SN-8AT scope and Color DSI II... the photos are pretty bad so sorry about that...
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WadeVC
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 12/02/05
Posts: 2831
Loc: Lodi, California,
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Why not...here is my first Astrophoto:
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Orion XTi10 f/4.7
Orion XTi8 f/5.9
Meade NGC 70mm f/10
Orion UltraView 10x50 Wide-Angle Binoculars
My Sketch Gallery
My Astronomy Blog
A wise man can see more from the bottom of a well than a fool can from a mountain top.
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joejoe
super member
Reged: 08/04/08
Posts: 117
Loc: Australia
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My turn.
Mizar + Alcor + star trails taken 26-Aug-2008 with a Nikon D50, Celestron 8SE (Alt-Az), 20 sec exposure. I must have had the long exposure noise reduction turned on - the background looks very back.
Edited by joejoe (10/03/08 06:26 PM)
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Subterralien
member
Reged: 10/27/07
Posts: 58
Loc: Colorado
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I don't really consider lunar shots my first real astrophotos at this point.
This would have to be mine despite how much more I've got to learn.
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-Alex
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sanlopez
sage
Reged: 12/03/07
Posts: 201
Loc: 36 09'46.69 N, 86 46'38.26 W
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Either Jupiter or a very awesome beach ball, taken w/ my C5 and a Meade DSI from Alys Beach, FL
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Celestron GPS C925
Celestron Nexstar 5
2005 Gretsch SSLVO
Fender Custom Vibrolux
1963 Galaxie 500 XL convertible
1973 VW type 181 "The Thing"
And an absolutely wonderful wife
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havok
member
Reged: 09/20/08
Posts: 26
Loc: West Jordan, Utah
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Here you go. I guess technically this isn't my first shot as I've taken a few with just my telephoto. This was my first using the camera and telescope though. It was a nasty night for viewing, so I figured it was a good night to figure out hardware. I got an opportune break in the clouds at the right moment and took the shot. =)
Taken with a Celestron StarSeeker 130mm and a Nikon D40. I was using a Barlow 2x and 25mm eyepiece. Quite a bit of love in PS as well cleaning it up.
Any comments or suggestions are welcome.
Thanks in advance,
Matt
Edited by havok (10/12/08 01:52 AM)
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Stardaug
professor emeritus
Reged: 08/03/08
Posts: 549
Loc: Ontario, Canada
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Hey all... I've been hanging out in the pro area trying to learn some pointers but I'm a total noob to this astrophotography stuff. Anyhow, this is one of my first attempts. Taken Oct. 11, 2008 when the gibbous moon was flooding the night sky.
* M57 Ring Nebula
* CPC800 8" SCT @ F10
* Unmodded 350XT
* Unguided
* 20 x 20sec lights
* 10 darks
* no flats
* Stacked in DDS
* Processed in PixInsight
--------------------
"Keep looking up!"
Shawn / Ontario, Canada
Celestron CPC800 SCT w/XLT & GPS // Skywatcher Equinox 80ED F6.25 500mm APO // Canon Rebel 350XT unmodded // Milburn EQ Wedge (a Meade model modified to fit my CPC)
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Alex Post
professor emeritus
Reged: 09/24/08
Posts: 516
Loc: Iowa, USA
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OK, you people are all super humans. My first astro photo is nowhere near the quality of the people above.
Still without any real astro equipment for AP, I wanted to capture M31. I can see it well through SkyMaster 15x70, but what about a picture?
This is my very first attempt using original Canon Rebel EOS that I bought in 2003. I mounted it on a cheap photo tripod and pointed straight up this morning, around 1AM CST. Standard lense that came with the camera (18-55mm). 8 exposures at 30 sec each, at 400 ISO with at f3.5. I stacked them with Registax 4.0.1.1 that I downloaded today. Then a bit more tweaking with Photoshop. I wanted to see if I can get "shape" of the galaxy extracted from the stack images. In doing that I pretty much destroyed all of the stars around it. I need to learn Registax much better, otherwise I can not seem to be able to preserve both the stars and the fuzzy objects.
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Bino: Celestron SkyMaster 15x70, WO Binoviewer
Scope: Celestron NexStar 8SE, Stellarvue 9x50 Finder
EP: Hyperion 8mm 13mm 2x21mm(bino), 14/28mm FTRs, StellarVue 23mm with Rigel Pulse Guide
Misc: William Optics 2" Dielectric, DewBuster, Celestron f/6.3 FLR, Canon 300D and XSi, JMI Motofocus, Hutech IDAS LPS 2"
Edited by Alex Post (10/19/08 02:23 AM)
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milikito
journeyman
Reged: 10/20/08
Posts: 7
Loc: Corinth, TX
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Hi,
This is not my first attempt to astrophotography, but it is my first post! I thought I could show my first and best attempts to M57, for comparison. The three on the left were taken with a Nikon D70 (unmodified) at prime focus on a Celestron NextStar 4 SE unguided. They're all single shots barely stretched with PS. First shot is 88 seconds, second 71 and third 104, from Aug and Nov last year. Yes, that was before I knew about stacking, trailing stars and about everything else! 
The last one is with my current CPC 800, still unguided, same camera and 96 exposures of 30 seconds each (48 mins). I took this one May this year.
--------------------
Clear Skies,
Alvaro
http://milikito.no-ip.com
Celestron CPC 800
Orion EON 80mm ED
QHY-8
DMK 21AU04
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gabby33993
member
Reged: 10/07/08
Posts: 45
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Hello Charlie,
My name is Greg, I'm having trouble getting my pics to conform to CN. Could you help me get it right. I use Maxim DL Essentials to do processing. I've try the stretch in linar only, Log, and Gamma with the gamma value at 1. changed my format to .jpeg from .fit tried it then and it didnt't work. I went and started cropping my picture and not sure if thats right but thats what I will try this time. Thank you Greg
p.s. I got the size smaller than 800x800 but the bytes are still to large
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gabby33993
member
Reged: 10/07/08
Posts: 45
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I finally figured it out, thanks for everyones help
Greg
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delta107
member
Reged: 12/28/07
Posts: 29
Loc: Moldova, Chisinau
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Here is one of my first tries. Advices are welcome
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Mojo.LA
member
Reged: 03/29/08
Posts: 48
Loc: Monrovia CA
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Hey, I like that. Star trails, an airplane, and city night. I'm guessing you face southeast, or you live in the southern hemisphere and face southwest.
Mojo
--------------------
--
Morris Jones, Monrovia, CA
mojo@whiteoaks.com
Old Town Astronomers http://www.otastro.org
http://mojo.whiteoaks.com
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delta107
member
Reged: 12/28/07
Posts: 29
Loc: Moldova, Chisinau
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I live in the northern hemisphere
When I got the photo scanned from the photolab it looked very yellow, I guess that the film has higher sensitivity for this colour. Also lp is a big problem
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Larry F
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 05/24/04
Posts: 1639
Loc: Westchester, NY
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I bought a discontinued Meade DSI a year ago for $99 just to have something to play with and it arrived the day the Comet Holmes brightened, so I took at shot from my suburban driveway with a Stellarvue Nighthawk on a Giro II alt-az tripod tracking with the Tech2000 GiroDriver. I think I did 10 15 second frames.
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C5 Orange Tube SCT, CPC 800 XLT SCT
Orion 127 Mak, StellarVue Nighthawk
Coronado Maxscope 40, Lunt 60mm H-alpha double-stack
5 1/4" f/5.2 home-built Newtonian
Denk II Binos
Giro 2/Tech2000 Giro Driver/Tech2000 QuickDraw Pier
Mallincam Color Hyper Plus
A zillion eyepieces and some more mounts
Mason & Hamlin BB 2140 mm (grand piano)
My Gallery
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DaemonGPF
Post Laureate
Reged: 03/22/08
Posts: 4040
Loc: New Mexico
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Quote:
Here is one of my first tries. Advices are welcome
That is one of the coolest "first shots" I've ever seen.
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-Josh
http://cleardarksky.com/c/AlbuqNMkey.html
My AP Gallery
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mhamren
member
Reged: 11/07/08
Posts: 90
Loc: So. CA, USA
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This is my first DSO photo of M33, taken with my Celestron CGE 9.25 and SBIG ST-2000XCM
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Mike
Celestron CGE 9.25
Celestron 80ED
SBIG ST-4000XCM
Orion Starshoot Autoguider
http://webpages.charter.net/mhamren/
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cncb
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 02/21/08
Posts: 1110
Loc: 3rd Rock from the Sun
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Solar eclipse 2003.With no equipment at the time.2megapixel olympus compaktcamera,taped to a marine 7x50 binocular,and a welding glass taped on the front.It got me started
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Living on Earth may be expensive,but get over it.Remember it does include an annual free trip around the sun.Just hang on..
Sky-Watcher-120 achro (EQ3-2) f/1000mm(f/8,33)
Sky-Watcher Skymax 127 mak f/1500mm (f/11,66)
Tento 20x60
Canon EOS 500D and some cheap glass from Tamron and Sigma.
*********
73`s & 51`s
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Hermit
super member
Reged: 10/26/08
Posts: 135
Loc: Northern California
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Pretty cool looking at other's first photos! Here is my first, a wide field from my back deck with a Sony DSC-R1 camera on a tripod, single exposure 30 sec at iso 800, f2.8, and 24mm (equivelent) focal length on 10/29/08. Very, very interesting trying to process this in PS CS3. I've looked at many spectacular astro photos, but somehow it is still a thrill to capture a few of those million year old photons myself. This is Casiopia, Perseus, and Andromeda.
Full version view is here.
Best,
Rob Crockett
Edited by Hermit (11/23/08 12:02 AM)
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desert skies
member
Reged: 11/20/08
Posts: 12
Loc: Apple Valley, Ca
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This thread is too cool....
Ok, this is a photo taken in my first week of trying. I don't recall if it's the very first. This is the result of 23x15s images with a Canon SD-110 taken through the eyepiece (25mm plossl I believe) with a homemade "adapter" to set the camera in. Taken through an Orion SVD 8" F/4 reflector. Stacked with Registax with no further processing.
Regards, Ray
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KI4YUN
sage
Reged: 04/21/08
Posts: 493
Loc: Satsuma, Florida, USA
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Oh...My...Goodness! Excellent photo Ray. I have a $1300 DSLR camera and I still can't get pictures that good. Mainly because tracking is hard and my motors really aren't tracking like they should. Tried the hand tracking and that turned out the best results lol a 30 second exposure of m31.
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-Tristan
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shivaram
super member
Reged: 11/26/08
Posts: 127
Loc: Bangalore, India.
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Here is my first photo...
Image resized to 1024x683.
Processes with PS for Brightness/Contrast and Levels...
Saved for correct size...
Canon 400D.
Note the moonlight that has come out as an artistic effect...
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SRK
3" SkyWatcher SK909EQ2.
25mm & 10mm Super EPs.
10x50 Bushnell.
15x50 Sotem.
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NyxAither
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 09/11/07
Posts: 1269
Loc: Arlington VA
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Here's my first DSO astrophoto! M42 with 65 minutes exposure. Taken with the stuff in my signature.
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http://www.astrophotogallery.org/showgallery.php/ppuser/169/cat/500
✸Orion XT8i✸Orion80-T✸CG5 GT✸Meade DSI II✸Meade DSI(TY TODD N!!!)✸Orion 4.5" Reflector✸Mac Powerbook G4✸10x50 binocs✸SPC900NC✸
Thomas
..::*~*Clear Skies*~*::..
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Doubleglaze
sage
Reged: 11/01/07
Posts: 232
Loc: Pacific NW
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Great thread!
First astro-image ever - A couple of weeks ago I pointed my Canon 40D at Orion and snapped this image.
Zoom set to 35mm FL, ISO400. 1 second exposure hand-held with the assist of a railing to lean against ).
I was super excited even though its not a great shot - just doing it at all satisfied a 30 year urge to take astro images.
First "real" shot is in the link below - but the Orion shot is my first ever!
Cheers
Mark
Cassiopia Wide Field
--------------------
Vixen VMC260L / Sphinx SXD
Pentax 75 SDHF
Canon 40D / 50mm f1.4 / 100mm f2.8 macro / 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 / 200mm f2.8L
http://www.astrophotogallery.org/u166-doubleglaze.html
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marshad
member
Reged: 01/16/08
Posts: 26
Loc: 53'37'N 2'42'W
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This is my first serious attempt. It's the moon on 6 December 2008 using a Philips SPC900NC, moon filter and Celestron Nexstar 6SE. It is a composite of some 30 avi files each with about 300 frames at 5fps then processed in Registax. I used the automated photomerge capability in Photoshop to create the composite.
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mtrudell
member
Reged: 09/28/07
Posts: 36
Loc: San Jose, CA
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I suppose I should have posted my first pics in this forum instead of the DigiCam forum, but here's the link though: http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/2794153/page/1/view/collapsed/sb/5/o/all/fpart/1
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...just another n00b with an XT10...
(And a little blowout special Onyx 80ED as of 11/21/08!)
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Husbyggarn
member
Reged: 12/12/08
Posts: 47
Loc: Sweden
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Nice pix everyone! This is my first post on this great forum and this is my first photo... I bought a used "Lidl"-scope, it's a 70/700mm refractor, and a T-adaptor to attach my Sony A300 DSLR camera to it. Unfortunatly there's been a solid cloudcover ever since i bought the camera-adapter, but yesterday i saw the moon through the clouds and could'nt wait any longer!
Even tho it's taken through the clouds and a window, i'm quite happy with my first try!
--------------------
Skylux 70/700mm Refractor
Astro-3 GEM Mount (DIY Motrized RA with Steppermotor)
32,20,12,6,4mm Plossl, 1,5x Barlow
Sony A300 DSLR Camera
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jtaylor996
sage
Reged: 09/02/08
Posts: 403
Loc: North Texas
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Taken last night with my new Canon 50d. The atmosphere was just right creating a nice halo rainbow around the moon, which I caught with the following 2 30s exposures.
Heavy RGB stretching to bring out the color. The zoom pic looks great, but the wide shot is full of aberrations and artifacts. The halo appeared simply as a small grey band to the eye, and almost invisible without stretching in the pictures.
-Judd
--------------------
Judd "The Algorithminator" Taylor
C11, TMB 92SS, WO66SD, 8" Dob
Canon 50D, 'L' glass, DSI, DSI-II mono, MODIS
Atlas, Voyager, M10 & RRS
Something 3m that tracks at 60deg/s...
PDL rocks!
And not enough time 
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Mugsy
member
Reged: 11/25/08
Posts: 16
Loc: Colorado Springs, CO
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Nice photos everyone. I'm jealous. My first astrograph is the conjunction of Venus, Jupiter and the Moon on Dec 1, 2008. I'm taking baby steps...tripod mounted DSLR, then piggyback, then prime focus. I'm still learning the sky. Bought my first scope recently..Celestron nexstar 5se. Can't wait to break it in.
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Celestron Nexstar 5SE
25mm Plossl, 5mm Excel, 13mm Orion Stratus
SV F50 Finder
Canon XSI (unmodded) 18-55 mm lens
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Midknight
member
Reged: 12/03/07
Posts: 22
Loc: Mackay, Qld Australia
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Here is my fist astro pic from christmas night of M42. I was so stoked with getting this image with colour in it . Taken with a canon 400D through an 8" SNT. This is a single 10sec exposure with no processing other than cropping to fit the forum.
--------------------
Meade SN8
Skywatcher 127mm Mak
Skywatcher ED80
EQ6Pro
Canon 400D
Cheers
Trevor
Edited by Midknight (12/26/08 02:08 AM)
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opal
member
Reged: 04/19/07
Posts: 58
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Well, here we are;.. M31, my first attempt at astrophotography. Tried doing some resource on how to take pix before going out last night.
Did 4 pix of 1min at iso 800, and 4 at 2min at also iso 800. tried some dark frames... but not sure if they "helped"...
I was planing on staying out longer last night.. but a tree came in the way..
Equipment:
Mount: Ldx 75 and a 6" newt
Camera: 350D canon
Accessories: Stopwatch
Used Deepskystacker for well... stacking :-) and adjusted the contrast with photoshop 6.0 ( yes i know... it's a old program)
--------------------
Lightbrige 12"
William Optics Zenithstar II 80
Celestron ED 80
ETX 70
Meade 6" Newton
LXD75 mount
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wingbatwu
journeyman
Reged: 12/20/08
Posts: 9
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Here are my first 3 long exposures on a motorized EQ3 mount (Canon Xsi, 28-105mm zoom, contrast adjusted with GIMP)
3 minutes:
3 minutes:
10 minutes:
Edited by wingbatwu (12/27/08 01:28 PM)
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SGT500
Post Laureate
Reged: 10/03/06
Posts: 3324
Loc: Ny
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Heres my first picture
30 seconds
Iso 800
fixed tripod
Canon Xs(1000D)
--------------------
-Sal
AstroTech Ritchey Chretien 8"
Williams Optics Zenithstar 80
Orion Atlas Eq-G
SBIG St-8300M
Hap Griffin Modified Canon Eos Xs (1000D)
My Astrophotography Gallery
My Sketch Gallery
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crosseyedcricket
member
Reged: 12/23/08
Posts: 11
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Jupiter, Mercury, Moon over Dallas skyline and White Rock Lake. Taken on 12-29-08 with an Olympus E500. My boys just got a little Vixen 95 Mak for Christmas and *we* are enjoying it very much so far.
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SGT500
Post Laureate
Reged: 10/03/06
Posts: 3324
Loc: Ny
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My First DSO
--------------------
-Sal
AstroTech Ritchey Chretien 8"
Williams Optics Zenithstar 80
Orion Atlas Eq-G
SBIG St-8300M
Hap Griffin Modified Canon Eos Xs (1000D)
My Astrophotography Gallery
My Sketch Gallery
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Rydig
member
Reged: 12/31/08
Posts: 10
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Here is my first attempt ever at shooting through a telescope. I used a Canon rebel XT with a remote shutter switch through a Zhumell 10". I had to use the lower half of a 2X teleconverter attached to the t-adapter in order to get the image in focus. This image is made up of a photomerge of 3 separate shots. I tried a few different camera settings and seemed to get the best results with a high ISO and high shutter speed combo...any tips?!
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MajorConfusion
super member
Reged: 01/02/09
Posts: 116
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Hello,
I have read the rules and even though this image was taken more than a month ago, I believe it still to be within the "spirit" of this thread. The reason why is that I have not taken any more astro photos since then because I have been out of work and unable to purchase a tripod. I spent one evening with my camera laid on top of my car (with a soft bag to cradle it) and just snapped photos.
I really don't have a desire to take more photos until I learn a lot more, and get a solid tripod. I'm a decent photographer, but know almost nothing about astrophotography and (months later) my curiosity has brought me here to learn more.
I studied physics in college and really loved reading about the Hubble before it went into space and have a great love for the stars.
Here is my first decent result:
Camera: Nikon D50
Exposure: 30 sec (30)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 24 mm
Exposure Bias: 0/6 EV
ISO Speed: 800
MajorConfusion
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Nikon D3
Manfrotto 055XB
Nikkor 35mm f/1.4 AIS
Nikkor 50mm f/1.2 AIS
Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D
Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D ED AF-S
http://www.flickr.com/photos/majorconfusion/
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Rhino1980
newbie
Reged: 01/13/09
Posts: 1
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Ahoy! I'm new around here, great site! Here is my first and second shots, both from our EOS 400D piggy backed on our 5.5 inch Newt. Be gentle!
Milky Way - Mega bright dot is Jupiter.
M42 with mad star trails lol
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fosheezy05
member
Reged: 03/29/07
Posts: 11
Loc: Irvine, California
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I just started three nights ago with my Orion Starshoot II and a Nexstar 8se in alt-az mode, so my pictures are limited to 30 second exposures. I also live in a very light polluted area - Orange County, California. However, I'm amused that my first attempts actually showed something.
Whirlpool Galaxy:
M101:
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pony2slow
member
Reged: 01/11/09
Posts: 30
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my first ever attempt
sony cybershot 7.2mp
30mm EP
8in Zhummell Dob
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Mr. Kube
member
Reged: 04/30/08
Posts: 46
Loc: Eastern PA
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I gave this a shot last night with my Zhumell 10 and Canon SD1000 using the CHDK firmware to override photo settings. I took a bunch of pics but all the others had significant trailing. I think this was a 5 second exposure with 3x optical zoom, afocal on a tripod w/32mm ep.
Edited by mrkube (02/02/09 02:21 PM)
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cdat
newbie
Reged: 03/29/08
Posts: 9
Loc: Boise, ID
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My first attempt other than just aiming the camera at the sky - as in actually using a telescope!
CPC 9.25 w/reducer - f6.3
Canon EOS XS (1000D)at prime focus.
25 seconds - no stacking, no guiding, pure seat of the pants "I have no idea what I'm doing, but I'm doing it anyway". Contrast adjusted in PSP.
I was quite pleasantly surprised.
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Celestron CPC 925 w/2" carbon fiber WO diagonal
Orion XT8 Dob w/2" dual speed focuser
Canon EOS XS
Televue 2x Barlow
Various filters, Telrad, finders, red dots and misc junk.
Seemingly ever changing EP collection.
I thought they all had slight astigmatism - turned out to be me.
Edited by cdat (02/03/09 06:17 PM)
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Adrian Lopez
sage
Reged: 10/22/08
Posts: 409
Loc: Puerto Rico
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Here's mine. It was taken on January 8, 2009 with my Canon Digital Rebel XT and my Celestron Omni XLT 120 refractor. The picture has been cropped such that approximately half the frame is shown here. It was a prime-focus shot. Exposure was 1/640, ISO 400, white balance set to Auto.
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Celestron Omni XLT 120 (f/8.3) Refractor
William Optics 1.25" Dielectric Diagonal
Celestron 4, 6, 9, 15, 25, and 32mm EPs
Nikon Action Extreme 8x40 Binoculars
Canon Digital Rebel XT
RA Sweep Calculator (find objects without GoTo)
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scarperoz
newbie
Reged: 01/16/09
Posts: 3
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My first attempt at the moon with 8SE and canon 5D prime focus.
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jcrew
sage
Reged: 08/07/08
Posts: 386
Loc: Mechanicsville, VA.
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The good ol'moon. Shot through my Canon Powershot A610 attached to a 13mm Hyperion. It is 11 images stacked and (if you can call it this) processed in Registax. It was a successful night simply because I got some pictures and learned something. 
Thanks,
Brad
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Orion EON80ed (the rider)
Orion Skyquest XT10i
Sirius EQ-G Mount (the horse)
Orion ST-80
Starshoot II Color CCD Camera
SSAG
40mm, 25mm, 10mm Plossl
13mm Hyperion
5mm TMB Planetary
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beanz4
member
Reged: 08/23/08
Posts: 33
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here is mine
taken February 6, 2009
Kodak easy share camera held to eyepiece
127mm refractor
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beanz4
member
Reged: 08/23/08
Posts: 33
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here is the photo
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Kyle W.
journeyman
Reged: 12/27/08
Posts: 9
Loc: Washngton St., USA
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First real attempt at imaging.
Saturn 10:30 PST sitting right on top of the moon.
Still a newbie at this stuff so not too sure why it is so washed out..
Neximage, 40 second exposure
Registax
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Celestron 8 SE
Old Hunting glasses 10x40 Windriver Binos
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bugbear
member
Reged: 12/06/07
Posts: 39
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Canon A630, 19 frames, 8 seconds each, no dark frames (oops), using CHDK.
iso80, f2.8, 35mm.
Stacked from jpegs in Registax under Wine under linux/fc8
BugBear
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rob0260
super member
Reged: 01/31/09
Posts: 128
Loc: Teulon, Mb., Canada
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This is my first astrophoto. Taken with etx80 afocally with a 9.6mm ep and canona460 5mp camera, single frame, no processing. I happened to catch the lunar "x" if you follow the terminator down a bit, purly by luck. Beginners luck I suppose. I hope to get better as I learn.
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SN8, LXD75, ETX 80, 4 1/2 inch Newtonian, DSI-C, Meade series 4000 eyepiece set, 10x50 binoculars. Various other goodies.
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wagsy
newbie
Reged: 03/09/09
Posts: 1
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First of all - Hi All,
This is hopefully my 1st of many more astro images, now im on the steep learning curve to imaging the cosmos! Anyway - this photo was taken last week from my back garden - just a week after buying my telescope adaptor for my Nikon D40.
Against everyones advice i bought a (ahem) telescope off eBay - I know, but some of us are on a tight budget!
Its one of the infamous 6" Newtonians - f1400!!!!
As i don't have anything to compare it to i think it works ok, no major problems - i have viewed Saturn - looked ok considering i had no clue what i was doing - so i thought i'd jump straight in and buy a camera with adaptor.
I wanted a DSLR anyway so i bought the D40. Here is a picture of the easiest thing i could find to image!!! The Moon.
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Termo
member
Reged: 09/23/08
Posts: 94
Loc: Donegal, Ireland
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I’m really happy with my first try at AP, I know it’s far from prefect or even respectable but I thought all I was going to get was an indistinguishable blur ! I think I’m hooked on AP already !!
Image details:
4 x 10sec + Darks
4 x 30sec + Darks
4 x 60sec + Darks
4 x 90sec + Darks
4 x 120sec + Darks
4 Flats
Stacked in DeepSkyStacker, processed in Photoshop 7.0
Taken with Omni XLT 150 and Digital rebel.
Thanks for looking,
Termo
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C8N/Omni XLT 150
CG5 GOTO Mount/CG4 Mount with Motor Drive
Canon Digital Rebel/Stock 18-55mm lens/Sigma 70-300mm APO Lens/Philips SPC 900nc
Various Celestron Eyepieces and Filters
Sky Clock Donegal
Edited by Termo (03/27/09 06:16 AM)
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Psyire
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 06/24/07
Posts: 1036
Loc: 55* North
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Here is my first Astrophoto ever taken. It was taken on March 5, 2009. I have been steadily working on my processing skills since then and this is what I've come up with as a final result.
Specs:
M42
Equinox 80mm F/6.25
Canon 450D Baader Modded
Mounted on CPC1100 in Alt/Azm.
27x60sec iso 1600, 10 Darks
Stacked in DSS, Processed in Photoshop
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Celestron CPC 1100 XLT, Sky-Watcher Equinox 80ED
TV 31T5-Nagler, 8&13mm-Ethos
EarthWin Binoviewers w/ 24mm Panoptics
Elusive Photons.com
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ncdan3
member
Reged: 05/10/08
Posts: 25
Loc: Cary, NC
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My first. Afocal of the moon (of course) with a vixen r130sf and a Canon Powershot S110. I was pleased but have a long way to go.
NCDan3
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Vixen RS130SF with Porta Mount
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BLBaron
newbie
Reged: 03/28/09
Posts: 1
Loc: Penn Yan, NY
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I have been active with astronomy and photography for years, but I'm quite new to astrophotography. After years of pushing various dobs around I made the plunge in January to get a 8" SCT on a german equitorial mount, and a DSLR. March was the first that we have had nice clear nights, and temps up in the teens, so I started working on my first astrophoto efforts. My favorite object to view is M42, so it seemed appropriate to start there. I am not guiding yet (and alignment is not always perfect) so I started with short exposures. I started with 30 second exposures (at ISO 1600), and found that nebula details started to show, but the trapezium area washed out. I took 8 and 10 second shots to get just the bright areas and combined them with the 30 second shots. The subs were taken on different days, hence the framing oddness. The "Fairy Rings" are internal reflections off of the focal reducer- a problem that hasn't been resolved yet.
Shot with a Celestron 8" & GEM, F3.6 focal reducer, Canon EOS XS at ISO 1000. Stacked with DeepSkyStacker, processed in Photoshop 7.
-Burney
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Jumile
member
Reged: 02/28/09
Posts: 18
Loc: 51°29'N 1°W
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Well, I thought I'd have a go with my new gear and get a post up on this thread. Here's my first attempt at multiple-exposure astrophotography and processing: M42
It comprises ten 5s JPG images (plus 2 darks) taken with a Canon 400D and 28-135mm f/5.6 EF lens (zoomed to 135mm, IS on) on a camera tripod, used timer (to reduce shake), ISO800, Daylight WB. Then used MaxIm DL to combine, stretch, crop and gamma the images, and did levelling in Photoshop. It was tough getting rid of the shocking light pollution in my area - might have to look at getting a filter.
Plenty of mistakes (zooming the lens, using JPG, etc), but the most image processing I've ever done in anger is cropping and auto-levelling. If you're interested here's one of the original frames (cropped).
Still, it's a first attempt, well... everything.
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Matt
Skymax 127 SupaTrak
Canon EOS 400D (XTi), unmodified
16x50 binoculars
Astroforecast for my location
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medieval1
super member
Reged: 12/18/08
Posts: 161
Loc: Colorado Springs
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My first is Saturn.
http://gallery.jameswest.com/
This is fun!
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Jim West
Meade LX200-ACF 8"
Coronado P.S.T
Canon 40D (unmodified)
Meade DSI Pro II w/color filters
Galileoscope
astro.jameswest.com
Lifetime member of Colorado Springs Astronomical Society
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Bill Schonfelder
journeyman
Reged: 04/06/09
Posts: 7
Loc: Leveland Tx.
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This was taken lastnight April 7 th just before the clouds came in. Camera is a Canon Powershot A300, Scope is a Meade 2045D. Handheld over a 25mm lense afocal. more of a test to see if this would work or not. [image]http://www.flickr.com/photos/cygg/3423955883/[/image]
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Meade SCT 2045D 4" w/ finder scope 8X50 homemade mount.
Homemade tripod
Homemade Slo-mo controls
Canon A300 powershot
Homemade accessories.
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mitaccio
super member
Reged: 03/17/09
Posts: 153
Loc: Tooele, Utah
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8" Orion Dob
32 mm Meade 4000 EP
5 MP Kodak Point and Shoot
Afocal ISO 100, 1/2" shot.
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LightBridge 10"
Baader 8-24 Zoom
Messier Checklist 59/110
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rob0260
super member
Reged: 01/31/09
Posts: 128
Loc: Teulon, Mb., Canada
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This is my first saturn ever. Etx-80 antares 2x barlow and modified creative labs ultra webcam. Processing done with registax v4 and noiseware. Taken April 14, 2009 from Teulon, Mb., Canada. Picture has been resized.
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SN8, LXD75, ETX 80, 4 1/2 inch Newtonian, DSI-C, Meade series 4000 eyepiece set, 10x50 binoculars. Various other goodies.
Edited by rob0260 (04/15/09 02:43 AM)
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mikeyL
member
Reged: 12/17/07
Posts: 30
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Wow, that is a great shot of saturn, especially for a first shot!
I am still in the 'trying to take decent star trails' and 'figure out what mount to buy' phases of astrophotography at this point. But I'd be proud to have taken that shot!
ML
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newbographer
journeyman
Reged: 04/18/09
Posts: 8
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Shot from Joshua Tree National Park in CA, USA.
No post processing except to change from RAW to JPG.
Rebel XTi, Tripod. The light in the lower right is from Palm Springs, CA.
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Footbag
professor emeritus
Reged: 04/13/09
Posts: 502
Loc: Scranton, PA
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M3 (14X15sec)F/6.3
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Adam
Celestron CPC 800, Celestron HD Wedge
Hyperion 17mm, Celestron 40mm Plossl, TMB 9mm
WO 66, SSAG
Modded Canon XS
Lackawanna Astronomical Society
My Gallery
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bryansay
super member
Reged: 02/25/09
Posts: 178
Loc: Georgetown, TX
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My first Astrophoto:
M42 3-28-2009 from light polluted backyard
Nikon D80 Stock
Orion ED80
HEQ-5 Mount
9x60 sec ISO800
No Guiding; No Flats
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Bryan Sayler
Celestron C9.25; Orion ED80
HEQ-5; Orion ST-80 w/starshoot
Nikon D80; Canon 40D Hap Griffin Mod
Empty Wallet 
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mattw
super member
Reged: 07/19/06
Posts: 172
Loc: Arkansas
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a
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TeleVue 127is/Tak Epsilon 180/MI-250
SBIG ST-10
Awesome dawg
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bodiddlie
member
Reged: 04/18/09
Posts: 51
Loc: Litchfield Park, AZ
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My first try. Saturn through a Orion XT6i dobsonian, 25mm EP with 2x barlow. Handheld my Canon Powershot SD790IS in video mode. 350 of 950 frames stacked using registax and post processed in photoshop cs4.
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-bodiddlie
Zhummel Z8 Deluxe Dobsonian
My Observing Blog
My flickr page
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nobbygon
member
Reged: 03/20/09
Posts: 86
Loc: Australia
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What do you think of this. My first ever color photo. Orion nebula. Shot with meade DSI-2Pro, 130mm saxon reflector, EQ2 mount.
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MrFiremouth
member
Reged: 05/23/09
Posts: 77
Loc: St.Louis Area USA
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With CCD imager....
first eclipse with Sony DSCH-1...
First time digiscoping through 25mm eyepiece on 70mm refractor....
shot taken with Sony a200 DSLR and 18-70mm lens
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Meade 70mm Refractor
Meade Astro Imager CCD
Meade DS 2114 GOTO
10x50 binocs
Celestron C6-R 150mm GT Refractor
Celestron SkyScout
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ed100
newbie
Reged: 05/27/09
Posts: 3
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Gulp, okay here's my first ever image of Saturn taken last night under truly mediocre skies:
Neximage webcam on a C8 with minimal processing.
(My first post to cloudynights as well.)
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Ed
Celestar 8 Deluxe
SP-C6
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Tzetze
newbie
Reged: 11/09/08
Posts: 1
Loc: Galway, Ireland
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Here's my first decent attempt. I know there's still much to improve on, but I'm happy so far...
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midnightblue
super member
Reged: 09/03/08
Posts: 128
Loc: over the hill
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ring Neb shot with Olympus e-420 and equinox 66
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celestron se6
NEQ6 PRO
S.W equinox 66
W.O Binoview
cheapo E.Ps
olyumpus e-420
orion starshoot autoguider
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midnightblue
super member
Reged: 09/03/08
Posts: 128
Loc: over the hill
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moon shot with olympus e-420 and equinox 66
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celestron se6
NEQ6 PRO
S.W equinox 66
W.O Binoview
cheapo E.Ps
olyumpus e-420
orion starshoot autoguider
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lisas?mark
journeyman
Reged: 08/07/08
Posts: 8
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This is my first attempt ever done on the only clear night in probably over a month! This is M8 and the surrounding area with north to the upper right and west to the lower right. I imaged with a cheap Sony Cybershot piggybacked on my Celestron 8 inch SC. The exposure was set to 1600 ISO and 30 seconds, focus set to infinity. I think not terrible for my first ever try! It makes me motivated to want to go out and do more. Please let me know what all of you think. Clear skies.
Edited by lisas?mark (06/24/09 09:18 PM)
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vegasMike
professor emeritus
Reged: 05/24/04
Posts: 631
Loc: Las Vegas
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that is a fantastic shot Mark, you have a winner in that point and shoot camera. Must have had some dark skies too?
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Can't afford an APO but I used to get my mail at one...
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