Vent: That wide-angle shot I messed up taught me a lesson

Was up at Mount Rainier last month trying to capture the Milky Way. Had my tripod set up but I was rushing. Forgot to lock the mirror up on my DSLR. Got home and every single 30-second exposure was blurry. Six hours of shooting down the drain. Ever had a simple mistake ruin a whole night of astrophotography?

2 comments

2 Comments

wade4384d ago

I had the exact same thing happen at Arches National Park two years ago. Spent 4 hours shooting the Milky Way over Delicate Arch, got home and realized my intervalometer was set to take 20 second exposures but I forgot to change the delay between shots. So every image had a 5 second gap and the stars trailed between frames. Tried stacking them anyway and it was a total mess. Now I keep a laminated checklist in my camera bag that I run through before every night session. Mirror lockup, intervalometer settings, focus, battery level, all of it. Takes 30 seconds to check but saves you hours of regret.

robinwalker3d ago

Funny enough, I used to be one of those people who thought checklists were overkill. Like, I figured if you know what you're doing, you can just run through it in your head. But then last summer I drove three hours to a dark sky site, set everything up, shot for two hours, and got home to find out my SD card was basically full because I forgot to format it beforehand. That was the moment I finally got it. Now I have a little laminated card too, but I also keep a backup checklist on my phone just in case I lose the physical one. idk, it feels a little dorky pulling it out at a spot, but the peace of mind is worth it.