Astrophotography has a high skill requirement, especially when you’re starting to introduce trackers. In this video, a veteran astrophysicist takes on a challenge and has some learning experience.
Astrophotography at the most basic level doesn’t have to be difficult. In fact, with a wide-angle lens and a modern camera, you can take a decent picture by simply knowing the preliminary settings to use. However, as you hone your skills, you start to realize that there’s a lot of nuance and know-how needed to take really great photos.
In this video, Brent Hall, a longtime and experienced astrophysicist, attempts to film the Lagoon Nebula with Canon RF 800mm f/11 telephoto focal length. If you have any understanding of photography, you know how difficult that can be for one main reason: light. The lack of light will affect focal length, night time, and geographic darkness so deeply that you’ll need a lot of help from ISO and exposure length to get the shot. In addition, to avoid subject movement due to Earth’s rotation, a stellar tracking device is required.
This was a technically challenging shot, and Hall made some mistakes. It’s refreshing to see photographers point out their mistakes and talk about what happened; it’s helpful, if not more useful than videos of successful shoots.
