Overheard a guy at an observatory in Tucson say stacking 30 second exposures beats 5 minute ones every time for nebula shots.

He was comparing two prints of the Orion Nebula, and the stacked one had way more detail without the star trails, so now I'm ditching my long exposure habit for shorter bursts. Has anyone else made that switch and noticed a difference?

3 comments

3 Comments

williams.sage1mo agoMost Upvoted

Glad that tip helped, long exposures are a pain with star trails.

kai4631mo ago

Have you seen that new software that helps stack star images from different nights... it sounds like a game changer for getting cleaner star trails without waiting for one perfect night? I read about it on a photography blog last week and it basically lets you combine separate exposures into one smooth trail. @williams.sage it might save you from having to worry so much about clouds or light pollution ruining a single long shot. The stacking tech is getting pretty wild these days, almost feels like cheating sometimes.

avery_carr573d ago

Man that guy in Tucson knew what he was talking about. I made the switch last year and it's night and day difference. The detail you pull out of 30 second frames is wild compared to fighting star trails on longer shots. It kinda sucks at first cause you feel like you're not getting enough light, but once you stack them it all comes together. Big fan of this method now.