Advice needed

[dafi]

http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee174/dafiduck/LIGHTPAN-1.jpg


http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee174/dafiduck/IMG_1847-1.jpg

The other night I was lucky enough to have a bash at photographing the northern lights. This is something I have wanted to do for ages but the opportunity has never come along. I was happy with some of the images I managed to get and well chuffed with the panorama that I stitched together. However and there’s always a however!! Most of the images are very grainy and noisy and I would like to improve on them the next time I get the opportunity.

The camera is a Cannon compact and I was shooting on manual, 1600 ISO, f2.6, for 13 seconds. This is it as opened up as it will go I think. If I can reduce the graininess I would be happy and if I could catch the more realistic ethereal colours I would be more than happy. But the question is how to go about it? Should I reduce the exposure and increase the shutter speed. Should I reduce the sensitivity and decrease the shutter speed but try for a wide aperture to keep plenty of light.

Its all bit of a mystery to me and even playing with the settings the other night just made things worse. So with that I thought I would ask here for some views, advice or some general guidelines.


cheers

d

[nirofo]

Hi DAFI

You need to use noise reducing software such as Imagenomic Noiseware Professional, Google for it. If you use Photoshop or Photoshop Elements they have grain reduction built in and it's accessible via drop down menus. If you do use noise reduction make sure that you don't overdo it, it can make your photo appear worse than it is already.

nirofo.

[Mystical Potato Head]

I would never go above ISO 800.Your first picture you could have probably got away with ISO400.
I usually take 15-25sec exposures at ISO 400.If the display is really bright you can go up to f4
ISO 1600 is a real killer of good shots,the noise is terrible,the noise is better if you have something like a Canon 5DMKII,when i take astro shots through the scope i never go above ISO800
Great shots btw.

Had a quick play with Imagenomic to let you see the difference it makes.
http://i374.photobucket.com/albums/oo189/sat5_photos/IMG_1847-1_filtered.jpg

[dafi]

Cheers MPH and nirofo.
I had a look on the imagenomic site and saw that high ISOs were a killer for noise so I am defiantly going to knock it down the next time I get the opportunity. The longest I can get an exposure for is thirteen seconds though.

I will try and get the panorama cleaned up a bit as the image size is reasonably large. But what I really want is a better image to work with in the first place……I also want a DSLR with a big sensor, very wide angle lens and a fish eye lens and a huge prime lens and a and a and a….

Have a look at the facebook page Northern Lights there are some stunning images!!

[Mystical Potato Head]

Cheers MPH and nirofo.
I had a look on the imagenomic site and saw that high ISOs were a killer for noise so I am defiantly going to knock it down the next time I get the opportunity. The longest I can get an exposure for is thirteen seconds though.

I will try and get the panorama cleaned up a bit as the image size is reasonably large. But what I really want is a better image to work with in the first place……I also want a DSLR with a big sensor, very wide angle lens and a fish eye lens and a huge prime lens and a and a and a….

Have a look at the facebook page Northern Lights there are some stunning images!!
13 seconds should be enough,especially on a reasonably bright display,and hopefully as we approach solar maximun over the next 2 years or so we will get some almost overhead displays when sometimes less than 10 seconds will be enough.
Best of luck with your aurora shots.

Some stunners here too.
http://spaceweather.com/aurora/gallery_01apr10_page9.htm?PHPSESSID=aslorfg2g5io3m de04l0r3mu01

[dafi]

I didnt realise we were so close to the solar maximimum....roll on winter!!!!

[Mystical Potato Head]

I didnt realise we were so close to the solar maximimum....roll on winter!!!!

2012-2013 should see us getting the odd aurora "storm".Last peak we had a few where the aurora was right overhead and it was like looking into a vortex.Wish i was into photography back then.You may already have this link, its pretty usefull for aurora forecasts and the map is a good indicator as to how far south the aurora oval is and the furthest south that a display can be seen.
http://www.gedds.alaska.edu/auroraforecast/