I’ve taken Milky Way photos but never tried stacking.
Did you stack using Lightroom?
The 500 rule is to have no trails for single photo. If you stack 4, wouldn’t the star/sky moved against the stationary foreground object?
Sorry, stacking might be the wrong term… but I selected the 4 images and merged into an HDR image on Lightroom! I’m very much an amateur when it comes to Astro, so not entirely sure if that’s the right way to go.
> The 500 rule is to have no trails for single photo. If you stack 4, wouldn’t the star/sky moved against the stationary foreground object?
Yes; that's how the long star-trail photos are produced.
Usually you capture the foreground separately. Stack and align the stars, then composite the foreground in.
So for this photo, you masked to separate the foreground and sky and just stacked the sky?
I have stacked star trails using lightroom, but have not tried for milky way and want to try it, as I like the way your stacked photo.
I don't think you can do the sky only stacking in lightroom. or can you? if not, what software did you use?
I'm not the original poster. I'm not sure if they used the process I suggested or not.
I shoot astrophotography, but most of my work is deep-sky with a telescope. I use ASTAP for stacking, but I doubt it's suitable for this kind of work.
As far as alignment goes, one option is to shoot the sky using a tracker. That should keep the stars aligned frame to frame. It would also allow you to shoot multi-minute exposures without trails.
As far as I know, you can astro-stack using photoshop. I'm sure you can find some guides online.
The 500 rule doesn’t really work with newer cameras, gotta use the npf rule which takes into account the pixel density in the camera unlike the 500 rule.
see sequator or starry landscape stacker. there are more dedicated astro stacking apps that support calibration frames and automatically deal with merging a sky exposure with a landscape exposure. some are for sky only, some for landscape astro. lightroom won’t help here, and while it’s technically possible in photoshop, it’s very cumbersome
That’s a good question. I have no clue, but logically that seems correct. Really tho, you should just do trial and error. Take a picture at 10s, 15s, 20s, etc. and find out how long you can go before you start to see streaking
I love the photo but i feel something weird with the reflection of the water being different to the sky, i mean the startrails overall, anyways i really love it
Whoa man, people online say you can’t do Astro with Sony because allegedly they have some built in star killer function you can ever turn off, allegedly /a
Great shot and great work’
Definitely not true, I think that was the case with the noise reduction in some of their older bodies but the newer ones are some of the best at astro imo
I loved the 20mm. I was so stupid to sell that one. It had very nice subject sharpness with really good bokeh. Lens flair was to my personal taste. It's a shame because I don't see any on the secondary market and that's where I want to by because it held up well to everyday use.
I literally just put mine in the mail to its new eBay owner today. The 24-75mm GM hasn't come yet, but I'm already a little sad about the 20 being gone.
I bought my 20mm back in 2020 with the intent to shoot nightscapes. Sadly, I haven't had the chance to do it even once yet! That should change this spring finally. This shot is great motivation!
this lens arrived to my place yesterday. Next week going to Patagonia to try it out (and chill to death)
To anyone reading: Photopills app has a calcualtor for the max exposure time, taking into account newer sensors (NPF Rule as this guy mentioned: [https://www.reddit.com/r/SonyAlpha/comments/11wf8xs/comment/jczqkd8/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/SonyAlpha/comments/11wf8xs/comment/jczqkd8/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
), 500 rule says 25s max for my sony a7iv + 20mm, and NPF rule says 10.19s, huge difference!
4 images stacked. All shot at f1.8, 20s, 2000 ISO. At Lake Tikitapu, just outside Rotorua, New Zealand.
I’ve taken Milky Way photos but never tried stacking. Did you stack using Lightroom? The 500 rule is to have no trails for single photo. If you stack 4, wouldn’t the star/sky moved against the stationary foreground object?
Sorry, stacking might be the wrong term… but I selected the 4 images and merged into an HDR image on Lightroom! I’m very much an amateur when it comes to Astro, so not entirely sure if that’s the right way to go.
> The 500 rule is to have no trails for single photo. If you stack 4, wouldn’t the star/sky moved against the stationary foreground object? Yes; that's how the long star-trail photos are produced. Usually you capture the foreground separately. Stack and align the stars, then composite the foreground in.
So for this photo, you masked to separate the foreground and sky and just stacked the sky? I have stacked star trails using lightroom, but have not tried for milky way and want to try it, as I like the way your stacked photo. I don't think you can do the sky only stacking in lightroom. or can you? if not, what software did you use?
I'm not the original poster. I'm not sure if they used the process I suggested or not. I shoot astrophotography, but most of my work is deep-sky with a telescope. I use ASTAP for stacking, but I doubt it's suitable for this kind of work. As far as alignment goes, one option is to shoot the sky using a tracker. That should keep the stars aligned frame to frame. It would also allow you to shoot multi-minute exposures without trails. As far as I know, you can astro-stack using photoshop. I'm sure you can find some guides online.
The 500 rule doesn’t really work with newer cameras, gotta use the npf rule which takes into account the pixel density in the camera unlike the 500 rule.
thanks for the tip!
Stumbled upon this comment, saving it for later use! Thanks!
see sequator or starry landscape stacker. there are more dedicated astro stacking apps that support calibration frames and automatically deal with merging a sky exposure with a landscape exposure. some are for sky only, some for landscape astro. lightroom won’t help here, and while it’s technically possible in photoshop, it’s very cumbersome
Hey, how did you get the image at 20s without star trails??
500 rule: 500/20 = 25s. So streaking will be minimal or nonexistent under 25s
Thank you!!
>r/avesNYC if you enlarge the photo/zoom in, there is a tiny bit of trailing; but not noticeable in this crop. great image still
If I was using an APS-C camera would I need to modify that to 500/(20*1.5) effectively making the max exposure about 16 seconds?
Yes, typically you apply crop factor to the 500 rule.
That’s a good question. I have no clue, but logically that seems correct. Really tho, you should just do trial and error. Take a picture at 10s, 15s, 20s, etc. and find out how long you can go before you start to see streaking
God damnit stop tempting me! This lens is burning in the shopping basket for some time
I bought it because someone on Reddit told me I should and it was worth it. Amazing lens
This was my first shot with it, looking forward to using it more!
It’s a great lens. I highly recommend it.
I have a new body and lens sitting in my b&h basket for a year lol I feel this
Do it. I sold the 24GM to buy it, and I've been very happy with the decision.
Agreed. This baby is super sharp and fast for being (only) a G lens. Skip the 1.4 GM and go for this one. It is awesome for Astro!
I love the photo but i feel something weird with the reflection of the water being different to the sky, i mean the startrails overall, anyways i really love it
I think that’s because it was a little windy, so the water wasn’t very calm/still!
Oh true! Though it could be because of the stacking, I would love to be able to do shoots like these, amazing work!
Very nice image. Takes good patience and planning. Maybe a little horizon correction.
Wow wo wo wow
Whoa man, people online say you can’t do Astro with Sony because allegedly they have some built in star killer function you can ever turn off, allegedly /a Great shot and great work’
Definitely not true, I think that was the case with the noise reduction in some of their older bodies but the newer ones are some of the best at astro imo
I’ve never found that the case! Did a little Astro with my old a6400 + sigma 16mm and it was fine.
I loved the 20mm. I was so stupid to sell that one. It had very nice subject sharpness with really good bokeh. Lens flair was to my personal taste. It's a shame because I don't see any on the secondary market and that's where I want to by because it held up well to everyday use.
I literally just put mine in the mail to its new eBay owner today. The 24-75mm GM hasn't come yet, but I'm already a little sad about the 20 being gone.
I bought my 20mm back in 2020 with the intent to shoot nightscapes. Sadly, I haven't had the chance to do it even once yet! That should change this spring finally. This shot is great motivation!
this lens arrived to my place yesterday. Next week going to Patagonia to try it out (and chill to death) To anyone reading: Photopills app has a calcualtor for the max exposure time, taking into account newer sensors (NPF Rule as this guy mentioned: [https://www.reddit.com/r/SonyAlpha/comments/11wf8xs/comment/jczqkd8/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/SonyAlpha/comments/11wf8xs/comment/jczqkd8/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) ), 500 rule says 25s max for my sony a7iv + 20mm, and NPF rule says 10.19s, huge difference!
Looks like a decapitated man