Nancy Perry (u/nancy154)

Posts

Pro tip: Someone told me my star trails looked like spaghetti and it changed my whole process

I posted a star trail photo I took last year in Flagstaff, thinking it was pretty good. Another user, who clearly knew their stuff, commented that my trails were messy and looked like 'a plate of spaghetti' because I hadn't aligned my shots properly. They were right. I was just stacking hundreds of 30-second exposures without checking for polar alignment drift. I felt pretty dumb, but it was the best feedback I ever got. Now, I spend a full 15 minutes before any session getting perfect polar alignment with my tracker, and I use a specific tool, the SharpCap Pro polar alignment feature, to get it spot on. The difference in my final images is night and day, with clean, sharp arcs. Has anyone else had a piece of harsh criticism that actually made you a better astrophotographer?

2 comments

c/bullet-journaling•

nancy154•3d ago

A rainy afternoon in a Maine coffee shop made me ditch my weekly spreads for good.

I was trying to plan my week, but my pen kept smudging on the damp paper. I looked at the messy, half-filled boxes and felt totally stuck. The barista saw me and said, "Looks like your planner is working against you." Right then, I ripped out the whole weekly section and just wrote a simple list of three things I actually needed to do. Has anyone else given up on pre-drawn weekly layouts and found something simpler?

2 comments

c/digital-art-showcase•

nancy154•3d ago

TIL a $40 screen calibration tool is non-negotiable

My prints came out with a nasty green tint for months before I caved and bought a SpyderX. It fixed the color shift immediately. What other gear have you bought that solved a persistent art problem?

2 comments

Posts

Pro tip: Someone told me my star trails looked like spaghetti and it changed my whole process

A rainy afternoon in a Maine coffee shop made me ditch my weekly spreads for good.

TIL a $40 screen calibration tool is non-negotiable

Recent Comments