Spent 3 hours trying to stack an Orion nebula photo before realizing my tripod was loose

3 comments

3 Comments

Dude, have you double checked that everything is tight before you even set the intervalometer? I always give all my gear a once over now after a similar night of wasting 2 hours on star trails that were just my camera slowly tilting.

nguyen.angela1mo ago

My buddy spent a whole night trying to figure out why his star shots kept coming out blurry. He had his tracking mount set up perfect, was doing everything by the book. Turned out he forgot to take the lens cap off. Didn't realize it until he pulled the memory card and looked at the photos on his laptop. Said he just sat there staring at 200 blank frames for like five minutes. Still gives me grief about it every time we go out shooting together.

kim_ramirez31mo ago

Man that is brutal. I had a similar moment last winter where I drove two hours to a dark sky spot and spent half the night fighting with my polar alignment. Turns out my wedge was loose the entire time and I was just chasing my tail. It hurts extra bad when you realize you put all that effort in and the gear was the problem from the start. At least you figured it out before you packed up and went home, right?

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