Showerthought: My Orion Nebula shot from 2021 looks totally different now

I took a picture of M42 back in 2021 with my old DSLR and a basic 200mm lens, and it was just a faint gray smudge. Last week, I used the same camera but added a $200 light pollution filter and stacked 50 two-minute exposures. The difference is crazy, the reds and blues are actually there now. I'm trying to figure out if the filter did most of the work or if it was just the longer total exposure time. What's been the biggest single upgrade for your deep sky photos?

3 comments

3 Comments

nguyen.dylan2mo ago

My biggest upgrade was figuring out how to use the software, my old workflow was basically just guessing.

kai_brown231mo ago

Ha my buddy spent like 3 years just stacking subs in DSS with default settings and wondering why his images looked like garbage. Once he actually learned how to stretch properly it was a total game changer lol.

the_john2mo ago

I used to think a better camera was the only real upgrade. That $100 light pollution filter changed my mind completely, it was like wiping fog off a window. The difference in my own M42 shots was almost embarrassing.