Taking pics of stars, sky keeps turning out orange.

Rachel Clancy · Post by **Rachel Clancy** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 11:56 pm

I'm using an Olympus dslr & even though I can pick up the stars, the sky keeps coming out grainy & orange. I've used different iso/ss/aperture etc...I've been outside for the last 2 hours trying to get my head around it, nothing in the manual about it, using tripod, any tips please? I managed to get Orions belt/Taurus/7 sisters in seperate shots, but the sky just looks awful.

Dave Lillis · Post by **Dave Lillis** » Wed Dec 09, 2009 12:36 am

Can you put the image up here along with the camera model?

Frank Ryan · Post by **Frank Ryan** » Wed Dec 09, 2009 8:56 am

Welcome to the world of astrophotography,
And our biggest enemy 'light pollution'.
For the same reason we go to Boher or the Burren for
Visual observing, dark skies are essential for the kind of shots
You are taking there.
The orange in your photo is the combination of
All the hundreds (thousands?) of sodium streetlights
Being amplified by your camers long exposure.
The best sollution is to get out of Dodge and go to
A darker place.
You can also use 'CLS' filters to help reduce the orange.
Other than that there are ways to reduce the effect
In photography software, namely Photoshop.

Why not post up the shots in the astrophotography section and
We can see how bad the light pollution is?

Rachel Clancy · Post by **Rachel Clancy** » Wed Dec 09, 2009 10:42 am

Ok, I'll put them up on flickr, bear in mind these were my first ever shots of the nightsky, never used a dslr before, its an Olympus e-420 btw, is there an astrophoto section here?

Rachel Clancy · Post by **Rachel Clancy** » Wed Dec 09, 2009 10:43 am

Ok, I'll put them up on flickr, bear in mind these were my first ever shots of the nightsky, never used a dslr before, its an Olympus e-420 btw, is there an astrophoto section here?

Frank Ryan · Post by **Frank Ryan** » Wed Dec 09, 2009 6:33 pm

Yes. A section on these boards;
'astrophotography'