I finally got a clear shot of the Milky Way from my backyard in Boise

For months I kept getting blurry or washed out photos even with my tripod. The problem was my camera's auto settings kept picking the wrong ISO and shutter speed. I read about the '500 rule' for star trails but that didn't help with the core's detail. Last night I tried stacking 15 separate 20-second exposures at ISO 3200 using some free software called Sequator. I took the same number of dark frames with the lens cap on. The difference was crazy, the final image showed way more color and way less noise than any single shot I've taken. It's not Hubble level but I can actually see the dust lanes now. Has anyone else tried stacking with a basic DSLR and had good results?

3 comments

3 Comments

linda_torres1mo ago

Oh man, stacking is a total game changer. I use an old Canon T3i and DeepSkyStacker, same basic idea. Taking those dark frames felt silly at first but it really does kill the weird hot pixels. My first stacked shot of Orion's belt blew my mind, the detail just pops out.

evan_burns951mo ago

Totally get that, @linda_torres. I felt like a total nerd taking pictures of a lens cap for my dark frames, but man, it works.

mitchell.val1mo ago

Yeah, stacking is wild. I mean, I was using my old Nikon D3300 and felt the same way about the dark frames, like am I really doing this right? But then you see that final stacked image and all the weird color noise just melts away. It's crazy what you can pull out with just a basic kit lens and some free software.