Taking more photos - skies without light pollution are addictive!

Tried to process the movies in Avistack. But even after installing the avisynth server, KRSgrAVI.dll and KRSgrAVI.dlm - and even after installing the 64-bit version of the dll, still doesn’t work. Will send an email to the forum.

But the good news is that I got MaxIm working with my camera! The user interface is HORRIBLE, but I managed to create a sequence (delay, break, ISO, shutter speed)!!!! But there doesn’t seem to be a way to move the mirror up (plus delay) before taking an image. The only way to do that seems to be to use the BULB setting and cable and move the mirror up at the beginning and then run the sequence. I hope I get my DSUBS cable sooon to try that out. In the meantime I’ll try to figure out how “mirror up” works with my D7000. Unfortunately, that means that I have to take the pictures individually with the remote sensor until then.

While reading more about this I found some software that can combine pictures that have different parts of the image exposed correctly (Nik HDR Efex Pro). This together with bracketing could allow me to take some pretty nice photos of the ocean at night with the moon and the stars. Will try this out tonight.

And I was reading more about the strange lighting on my pictures (brighter in the middle and less and less towards the edges). This is probably vignetting (didn’t think I would encounter that with these simple shots). And the only way to get rid of it is to take some flats right after sunset. I’ll try to remember to do that this evening (maybe have to do that while we are at Dr. Statti’s). On some website, they mentioned a “super sky flat” technique. This would avoid having to do the flats in the evening, but I’m not sure if this only works for less stars. Maybe I’ll try both tonight.

So, program for tonight:

1. Take flats plus flat darks in the evening
2. Take lights with noise reduction of Vega
3. Take lights without noise reduction of Vega
4. Take darks
5. Take “super sky flats”
6. Take some bracketed shots of the beach, sky and moon (I probably have to move further back for that)

And then I can make 4 sets:

1. noise reduced with flats
2. noise reduced without flats
3. lights with flats and darks
4. lights and darks

And then compare.

And then try to combine the beach photos to one.

OK, back from the beach. Unfortunately, I couldn’t take the bracketed shots because the moon is too high (if I’m motivated enough, I might go out later when the moon is lower).
But I got all the other shots, plus some shots from saturn - though they have a very bright background as it was low on the horizon.