How do you guys get these awesome pics of the milky way? Are they several long exposures merged together? If so, how does one go about merging them? I have several shots but I cant quite grasp how to get them merged. I only have gimp, no photoshop, and I cant find a great explanation for how to do this when I googled it. Also downloaded some plugin which is crap and keeps crashing. Anyone care to explain the process, or tell me if I'm way off base?
kat i sent a pm to tolga the one who took those nice shots afew days ago asking the same thing, but haven't received any response as of yet - there is stacking software out there (RegiStacks, AstroStack and quite a few more. It sort of works i think like when you merge an hdr except the opacity is played with & you do many exposures of light & dark. I don't get it either, especially with no trails with a long exposure I played with it all but with no success - I'm looking for some direct help in this matter as either I can't read or don't understand what I read If any one here can bring more insight it would be appreciated
Ron I saw those photos too and very awesome shots but what "milky way" is Kat referring to? I'll have to go find that post and see.
After looking into it a bit more, I now understand how to stack the images and line them up with GIMP. But when I did it, I failed to achieve the "gas" or nebula looking effect, and I guess my shots were timed too far apart to line up all my shots exactly so it came out really crappy. I also found I didn't do the dark exposure with a lens cap on, I understand you compare each pic with the dark one to minimize and remove noise in each image so you get a clearer merge (I think?? LOL) I am looking for that gas effect, its really really cool!
hey, i dont check my inbox much lol...i'll start a new post with what will get you started...you dont need to stack to get some good shots of the milky way either....look for the post soon...im starting it now.
