At around 5:00am ET on November 6, 2012 I was taking my new puppy out to piddle. When I looked up, I saw a brilliant clear sky with Orion, Taurus, and the Pleiades just over the roof of my apartment complex. It was about 30 degrees out, but I figured since I was up I'd jump on the opportunity. I went back inside to get my Canon with 300mm lens to take my first night sky photos since September.
My biggest problem the last time I tried using the Canon was the inability to focus on the stars. Through trial and error, I know it's possible to get the focus right after shooting a picture, viewing it and zooming to see the result. Luckily, I had a 25% moon that allowed me to auto-focus at a good distance, so these steps were not required.
I snapped a few pictures at a lower ISO and longer exposure time, and noticed since the zoom was so tight, the stars would form trails much sooner than in a wider frame. I cranked the ISO up to 1600 and reduced the shutter time to just 3.2 seconds. This gave me almost round stars (rather than lines) and a clearer view of the nebula clouds.
![orion nebula with canon Canon Digital Rebel XT 300mm orion nebula with canon Canon Digital Rebel XT 300mm](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8EuCqf8HGkYoF2P5ZZBpYReFOsZzk213cPV9896_PPpN8zuN2t_lSO3qkFCVml2jGGk9n69pb17Oh9QVEmNvcT5KAecVj5D68_JtjcR7m_QXtAMOduiAWLKANi-g6u9NCB2p4FCHN3icq/s1600/1IMG_5476.jpg) |
Orion Nebula, ISO 1600, 3.2 sec, 300mm |
![orion nebula taurus and pleiades with Canon PowerShot A3100IS orion nebula taurus and pleiades with Canon PowerShot A3100IS](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu4v09MkHDb-_UP2u4zgfCD3WqNdLVCiu4h-gKGhcQdoFBEfvNu6X4lA9LIGAAi7b-sd7FR13V0P_Z2DIBvFLBHtJaAltUdG8-cg4mQxhVujgJjiXY-hmz7OvvfZb5RJzWib0wgTRB5A4y/s1600/1IMG_1817.JPG) |
Orion Nebula, Jupiter, and the Pleiades, ISO 400, 10 sec |
![Pleiades with Canon Digital Rebel XT 300mm Pleiades with Canon Digital Rebel XT 300mm](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikZ2iYI4xxU1Su41GobrjhLfTLb2PHj6ByIf96mYK-hv8l7y6jtyrJThlesAvkRiTYbcnSDdtIyoIXSqXYZPs-9TPY7EyORTclhwRsVQM-68i-1cvdyJNfNEv57PiNta0ZXsyXmOE0cTI5/s1600/1IMG_5477.JPG) |
Pleiades, ISO 1600, 3.2 sec, 300mm |
![Jupiter with Canon Digital Rebel XT 300mm Jupiter with Canon Digital Rebel XT 300mm](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGoPkr19s5K3YCEL_KSUH023pzYijI3kUv1C5G1oipU_Ap5pVJn7I9Nwtt0atvj2zwTkf3zCoNl-3JdgRCdUr9ufbCOEoxDDV61-h7_4KEbZ6bxk8FJ9wkyAPuldllRlgRRVReucy_GhnV/s1600/1IMG_5480.JPG) |
Jupiter and 3 moons, ISO 1600, 3.2 sec, 300mm |
![orion nebula instagram orion nebula instagram](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQvuGqE8E4kI-Vs44slhoMt9aitILlLYm420o-l0VcIH8QCklI5-lwbP-gdKffUhSIWAXyM44qbEyCUkrxF9tG3JIbylJbB62TjnNRcX1UXHT7a3m740Q-Zlti6a5RN_WIcMLeBgOwAitU/s1600/39c60d06280411e2a94622000a1fbd9f_7.jpg) |
Crop of the Orion Nebula with HDR and filter on Instagram |
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