Finally got a decent photo of the Milky Way from my backyard

I spent months trying to shoot the Milky Way from my driveway in Phoenix but the light pollution was killing every shot. Then I tried stacking multiple short exposures using free software called Sequator instead of one long exposure. It cut down the noise and pulled out way more detail than I ever got before. Has anyone else had luck with stacking in heavy light pollution?

3 comments

3 Comments

johnson.faith17d ago

@diana_black I used to think the same way honestly. Tried stacking a couple times years ago and gave up because it barely did anything for me. But then someone told me to try 30 or 40 exposures at like 2 seconds each instead of the usual 5 or 10 second ones and it made a massive difference. The light pollution still shows up a bit but the software actually canceled out most of it and brought out details I couldn't see with my own eyes.

wendyk5617d ago

Totally feel your pain with the light pollution struggle! I'm in a similar boat here in the Dallas suburbs and thought I'd never get a clean Milky Way shot. Stacking short exposures with Sequator changed everything for me too, especially on those nights when the street lights just won't cooperate. Taking like 20 or 30 one-second shots really helped me grab the core detail I was losing before. Glad to hear you finally got the shot you wanted, that's a win for sure.

diana_black17d ago

I get what you're saying, but "game changer" feels like a big label for stacking short exposures. I mean, it's basically just taking a bunch of dark photos and blending them together, right? I've tried it a few times and yeah, it helps a little, but it's not like magic. The light pollution where I am still makes everything look washed out unless I drive an hour out of town. Your mileage may vary on that, I guess.