Atrophotography with my DSLR - taking it up a notch

I've been dabbling a little at some simple astrophotography since getting my DSLR last may but there's only so much you can do hand-held. Ultimately, it's just the planets in twilight. Sure, I got some very nice shots of the planets in twilight ( www.bartbusschots.ie/gallery/picture.php?/628/category/57 ), but that's still very limiting.

So, to try expand a bit I picked up a good fixed-focal-length F1.4 lens, a solid tripod and a remote. Armed with these new toys I headed down to the NUIM campus to try get some nice astroshots (and some nice shots of the campus at night). I think this is my best pic from the night:



Conditions were not great (rather foggy) and there is a lot of light-polution in this area so this is not a bad starting point.

You can see the rest of the pics I got lastnight here: www.bartbusschots.ie/gallery/index.php?/category/153

Constructive criticism and pointers most welcome.

Bart.

Nice one Bart, a pity about the light pollution, if the shot was taken in a dark rural site the image of Orion rising between the trees would be amazing.

Very nicely framed by the trees.

Bart - excellent framing - that would look great on the wall.

I wonder, could you take a second flash shot (to in-fill the trees) and combine the two images - nicely exposed trees and a wonderful wide-field Orion shot.

I think some of the Orion shots on your webpage are better than the one posted here. I love the moon shot.

Well done

I wonder, could you take a second flash shot (to in-fill the trees) and combine the two images - nicely exposed trees and a wonderful wide-field Orion shot.

oooh ... that's a great idea ... I think my camera have a setting where the flash fires just once on a long exposure either at the start or the end. That could really add to the shot ... not sure if the flash will fire far enough to affect the trees though .... definitely worth a go though!

And thanks for the kind words ... amazing how much a little encouragement can inspire

Bart.

Very nice Bart well done.