Astronomical Photographer: Jerry Lodriguss
A former sports shooter now looks to the heavens with his lens.


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* Lens: 300mm Nikkor ED F/4.5
* F/stop: F/5.6
* Exposure: 8 x 120 sec exposures
* Mount: Losmandy GM100-EQ
* Camera: Canon EOS 20Da DSLR
* Mode: JPEG
* ISO: 1600
* Filter: None
* White Balance: Custom
* In-Camera Noise Reduction: None
* Temp: 24F
* Date: February 23, 2009
* Time: Start 9:24 p.m. est
* Location: Scott’s Pit, NJ
* Calibration: None
* Processing: Normal adjustments, corrections and enhancements in Photoshop
What Is Astrophotography?
Astronomical photography of the night sky—the stars, planets, comets, clusters, nebulae, and galaxies. It can reveal things that are too faint for the human eye to see, even through a powerful telescope.
How does it differ from other night work? For long exposures, you have to compensate for the Earth’s rotation to avoid trailing. I use an equatorial mount to do this. When the focal length gets longer than about 400mm, you need to add a guidescope with a special CCD autoguider to precisely guide the main scope with camera.
What Gear Do You Use?
I shoot with a Canon EOS Rebel XS and an EOS 20Da, a DSLR made for astrophotography. For short focal lengths, I use the 18–55mm kit lens and old manual-focus Nikon lenses with a Fotodiox adapter. My main imaging telescope is an Astro-Physics 130EDT StarFire refractor with a 1040mm focal length at f/8. I also have a Stellarvue SV70ED with a focal length of 420mm at f/6. Sometimes I use a telecompressor to reduce the focal length on both scopes for a wider view and faster f-stop. I use a Losmandy GM100EQ German-equatorial mount on a special tripod.
How Long Are Exposures?
For deep-sky objects, usually one to several hours. You need longer exposures to gather more photons from these faint objects to improve the signal-to-noise ratio. But you can’t usually shoot a single long exposure because of the thermal signal. You have to shoot a series of short ones and stack them. I’ll shoot twelve 5-minute exposures and stack them in Images Plus, an astrophotography program.
Then What?
I use Images Plus to automatically subtract a master dark frame from each light frame to remove the thermal signal, and then align and stack the images. In Adobe Photoshop, I adjust color and contrast, and enhance faint details.
Where Do You Escape Light Pollution?
There are a few dark places in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. I also shoot in a dark-sky preserve in Cherry Springs, PA.
Any Advice For Newbies?
You can take beautiful photos of the night sky with any DSLR on a tripod. Twilight is good for the crescent moon or setting constellations. Use a wide-angle lens, focus on infinity, set ISO to 1600, and use the self-timer. Include a foreground element and take test exposures while experimenting with white balance to correct for light pollution.
New Jersey based Jerry Lodriguss (www.astropix.com), 56, turned his fascination with the cosmos and photojournalism skills into a career teaching others how to take out-of- this-world pictures.

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* Lens: Astro-Physics 130EDT F/8 triplet apochromatic refractor
* F/stop: F/8
* Exposure: 12 x 6 min
* Mount: Losmandy GM-100EQ polar-aligned equatorial mount
* Camera: Canon EOS 20Da DSLR
* Mode: Raw
* ISO: 1600
* Filter: No filter
* White Balance: Custom
* In-Camera Noise Reduction: Off
* Temp: 54F
* Date: September 2, 2008
* Time: 9:54 p.m.
* Location: Cherry Springs, PA
* Calibration: Darks, Bias
* Processing: Color and contrast enhanced in Photoshop.

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* Lens: Astro-Physics 130EDT f/8 Triplet Apochromatic Refractor
* F/stop: f/6 with 0.75x matched Telecompressor
* Exposure: 1/1600th sec for partial phases, to 4 seconds for mid-totality
* Mount: Polar-aligned tracking equatorial mount, unguided
* Camera: Canon EOS 1D Mark II DSLR
* Mode: JPEG
* ISO: 400
* White Balance: Daylight
* In-Camera Noise Reduction: Off
* Filter: None
* Temp: NR
* Time 8:25 PM to 11:43 PM EDT
* Date October 27, 2004
* Location: Batsto, NJ
* Calibration: None
* Processing: Standard in-camera JPEG processing. Images composited together in Photoshop CS1.

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* Lens: Canon 16 – 35mm F/2.8 L USM zoom lens at working at 16mm focal length
* F/stop: f/2.8
* Exposure: Single 55 second exposure
* Mount: Fixed tripod
* Camera: Canon EOS 20Da DSLR
* Mode: JPEG
* ISO: 3200
* White Balance: Daylight
* In-Camera Noise Reduction: Off
* Filter: None
* Temp: 55F
* Time 21:31:06 PM EDT
* Date September 3, 2005
* Location: Black Forest Star Party
* Calibration: None

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* Lens: Astro-Physics 130EDT f/8 Triplet Apochromatic Refractor
* F/stop: f/6 with 0.75x matched Telecompressor
* Exposure: composite of 25 individual frames, 175 minutes total exposure:
4 frames at 10 min each at ISO 400
3 frames at 10 min each at ISO 800
3 frames at 10 min each at ISO 1600
9 frames at 5 min each at ISO 1600
6 frames at 5 min each at ISO 1600
* Mount: Polar-aligned tracking equatorial mount, auto-guided
* Camera: Canon EOS 20Da DSLR
* Mode: RAW
* ISO: 400, 800, 1600
* Filter: None
* White Balance: Daylight
* In-Camera Noise Reduction: Off
* Filter: None
* Temp: 55F
* Time 03:41 to 04:57 AM EDT
* Date September 2, 2005
* Location: Black Forest Star Party
* Calibration: Each 16-bit linear TIFF file raw light frame was calibrated with a master dark before Bayer interpolation. Darks: (9 x 600sec at ISO800) + (9x300sec at ISO1600), auto dark matching in Images Plus 2.75 beta. No flats, no bias.
* Processing: The calibrated light frames were registered in RegiStar, and then normalized, weighted and averaged together in Images Plus to create a master 16-bit linear TIFF light frame. The sky background was neutralized in levels in Photoshop. A slightly uneven background and some slight amp glow in the lower right corner of the full frame image were then removed with GradientXTerminator. The contrast of the image was then increased with a levels adjustment. The color in the image was then enhanced by a slight increase in the saturation of the cyan and red color components, and an SMI enhancement applied. Finally, Noise Ninja was applied, and the filter faded to 50 percent.

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* Lens: 300mm Nikkor ED F/4.5
* F/stop: F/5.6
* Exposure: 8 x 120 sec exposures
* Mount: Losmandy GM100-EQ
* Camera: Canon EOS 20Da DSLR
* Mode: JPEG
* ISO: 1600
* Filter: None
* White Balance: Custom
* In-Camera Noise Reduction: None
* Temp: 24F
* Date: February 23, 2009
* Time: Start 9:24 p.m. est
* Location: Scott’s Pit, NJ
* Calibration: None
* Processing: Normal adjustments, corrections and enhancements in Photoshop

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* Lens: Astro-Physics 130EDT f/8 Triplet Apochromatic Refractor
* F/stop: 8
* Exposure: Single 1/4000th of a second
* Mount: Astro-Physics 600E
* Camera: Canon EOS 1D Mark IIn
* Mode: JPEG
* ISO: 200
* White Balance: Daylight
* In-Camera Noise Reduction: Off
* Filter: Baader Solar Filter
* Temp: 92F
* Date 14h 49m 54.40s edt July 8, 2007
* Location: near Vincentown, NJ
* Calibration: None
* Processing: Contrast increased, false color added, sharpened.

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* Lens: Canon 16 -35mm F/2.8 L USM Zoom Lens working at 24mm focal length
* F/stop: f/2.8
* Exposure: Composite of a single 2 second exposure and a single 30 second exposure
* Mount: Fixed tripod
* Camera: Canon EOS 1D Mark II DSLR
* Mode: JPEG
* ISO: 800
* White Balance: Tungsten
* In-Camera Noise Reduction: Off
* Filter: None
* Temp: NR
* Time 3:03 AM EDT
* Date September 20, 2004
* Location: Mullica River, NJ
* Calibration: None
* Processing: Composited with layer masks and color adjusted in Photoshop CS1.

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* Lens: Takahashi FS 102 f/8 Fluorite Doublet Apochromatic Refractor
* F/stop: f/6 with Televue Telecompressor
* Exposure: Composite of a 2 second exposure and a 16 second exposure
* Mount: Polar-aligned tracking equatorial mount, unguided
* Camera: Canon 1D Mark II
* Mode: JPEG
* ISO: 400
* White Balance: Daylight
* In-Camera Noise Reduction: Off
* Filter: None
* Temp: NR
* Time 8:54 PM EDT
* Date April 11, 2005
* Location: Carranza Field, NJ
* Calibration: None
* Processing: Standard in-camera JPEG processing. Black and white points adjusted, crescent reflection removed with the healing brush tool, images composited together with layer masks, diffuse highlights added, color corrected. All processing in Photoshop CS2.

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* Lens: Astro-Physics 130EDT f/8 Triplet Apochromatic Refractor
* F/stop: f/6 with 0.75x matched Telecompressor
* Exposure: 4.5 hours total exposure:
RGB: 18 x 600 seconds
Ha: 9 x 600 seconds
* Mount: Polar-aligned tracking equatorial mount, auto-guided
* Camera: Canon EOS 20Da DSLR
* Mode: RAW
* ISO: RGB: 800, Ha: 1600
* White Balance: Custom
* In-Camera Noise Reduction: Off
* Filter: RGB:IDAS LPS, Ha: Lumicon Hydrogen-alpha cut filter
* Temp: RGB: 40F, Ha: 33F
* Date October 22, Oct 26, Nov 25 2006
* Location: Belleplain, NJ
* Calibration: Dark frames: RGB: 24 x 600 seconds at ISO 800 40F, Ha: 36 x 600 seconds at ISO 1600 at 40F, plus bias frames, darks auto-scaled in Images Plus v 2.8
* Processing: Automatic Image Set Processing in Images Plus v2.8 where all light CR2 raw files were converted to 16-bit linear TIFF files with No White Balance, Color Filter Array as the white balance type, then calibrated with the master darks. The light frames were then Bayer interpolated to convert them to color images. The light frames were then registered and aligned in Registar. The light frames for each exposure set were then composited together and “stacked” in Images Plus using min-max excluded as the method and saved as a 16-bit TIFF master light image. A non-linear curve was then applied to these frames. The red channel from the hydrogen-alpha image was then substituted into the RGB color image. Color balance was then adjusted with levels and curves modifications in Photoshop CS2. An SMI enhancement was applied to bring out the really faint detail. A series of masked high-pass filtered softlight layers were used to increase local contrast. Color saturation was increased in Photoshop CS2. Noise Ninja was used to reduce noise in the image. Noel Carboni’s Astronomy tools star-size reduction action was applied. The image was then resized and saved as a JPEG for web display.

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* Lens: Canon 300mm f/2.8 L USM IS telephoto lens
* F/stop: f/2.8
* Exposure: Composite of 57 frames, each 2 minutes long for a total of 114 minutes exposure
* Mount: Polar-aligned tracking equatorial mount, auto-guided
* Camera: Canon EOS 20Da DSLR
* Mode: Raw
* ISO: 1600
* White Balance: Daylight
* In-Camera Noise Reduction: Off
* Filter: IDAS LPS
* Temp: 52F
* Time 9:22 PM EDT
* Date September 27, 2005
* Location: Scott’s Pitt, NJ
* Calibration: Darks: 16 x 2 min dark frames averaged together as a master dark. Auto-dark calibrated each light frame in Images Plus v2.75beta. No Flats, no bias.
* Processing: Automatic Image Set Processing in Images Plus v2.75 where all light CR2 raw files were converted to 16-bit linear TIFF files with No White Balance, Color Filter Array as the white balance type, then calibrated with the master dark. The light frames were then Bayer interpolated to convert them to color images. The light frames were then registered and aligned in Images Plus. The light frames were then composited together and “stacked” in Images Plus using min-max excluded as the method. Digital Development was then applied to this 16-bit linear master light file. The image was corrected for vignetting with GradientXTerminator. Color balance was then adjusted with levels and curves modifications. Color saturation was increased. A high-pass filtered copy of the background layer was blended via lighten mode in Photoshop CS2. Noise Ninja was used to reduce noise in the image.