How to Photograph Comet NEOWISE

Update May 21!

I am slowly in the process of demonetizing all my videos, I was never in it for the money or the glory. I just like to help people. This way you can rest assured i'm not making a video only to trigger an algorithm or as click bait. I have been a bit disillusioned with it all lately, and hopefully this will help.
Instead if you wish to support me you can buy me a coffee or beer instead :) entirely your choice though!
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This video will tell you everything you need to be able to photograph Comet NEOWISE with basic photography equipment! (no tracking mounts or telescopes included!)

The video has a few sections:
-Equipment needed
-Preparation and Planning
-Getting the shot
-Finishing touches

Stacking and editing is done in Photoshop, but you could do similar edits in Affinity Photo and GIMP (stacking would need to be done in DSS in this case).

500 rule clarification.

500 rule is for full frame, if using a crop frame make sure you take this into account. So the calculation for a crop frame would be 500/(lens length x 1.6)

In all seriousness though, the NPF rule is much better. There are lots of online calculators for this :)

Thanks for watching and all the support :)

[johnskyrim]

I saw Hale-Bopp when I was little too! I remember it always being over my mates house while we were playing out!

[TheLightExplorer]

Excellent - thanks much for explaining the PS part so lucidly.

[bofblog]

Nice image...glad the mojo has come back...we all get it at times in photography generally too...the weather and no imaging and such add life pressures and less time and it mounts up....best wishes

[I_Spaced_Out]

The people who dislike this video are the same people who think naked eye comets are lame...

[figzastro-photography]

Big canon fan. Loving the white canon.

[spookydonkey]

Stace, you are my hero! I’ve never seen this method of stacking, wasn’t a fan of the other manual stacking processes I’ve seen. I’m going to take another look at my Neowise data. Luna’s handwriting is great btw, such a good helper! Thanks you two, I enjoy all your videos.

[Astrolavista]

Well done Stace, lovely captures and very well put together tutorial. I snapped Neowise last night through a little gap, but I'm going to keep blasting Neowise with the camera until I've got something I'm really happy with. Like you Hale Bopp was the last naked eye comet I saw, and that was a looong time ago! So lets not waste this amazing opportunity guys, a naked eye comet is a magical thing! :)

[AstroForumSpace]

Very good and detailed explanation Stacey! Clear skies :-).

[AstroExploring]

I love that we’re all out imaging the same target at the moment and then making videos about it 😃 you’ve got a great shot there Stace!

[brianreynolds]

Great video, Stace! Very helpful for those using a camera, full of the important details and fun at the same time. Great shots by you of the comet!

[KPRPhoto-]

Thank you - that was very timely. I managed to get some pics Saturday night. I took about 50. Half a dozen at 200mm I was able to merge and get a hint of the blue ion tail as well as the yellow dust tail. I used a Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 lens with 2 secs at 200mm end and 5 at the 70 end. ISO mix of 1600 and 3200

[danaflanery]

Best video I have found on how to photograph Neowise! Thank you. I hope to go out tonight.

[grumpyparrotphotography]

Great job! I was out just last night getting some images of the comet and was looking to see if there's a way to process them without having to acquire and learn a new piece of software. Your description of how to stack a short series of images in Photoshop is just the thing! Looking forward to the results. Thanks Stace.

[ridealongwithrandy]

I have a general idea, going out tonight, thanks for the great info.

[HelenasAstrophotography]

Excellent Stacey!! I'm wanting to go out again if Scotland allows ;). Fab shot.

[abhijitjuvekar]

Thanks for the info on the stacking mode. I was struggling to find that earlier.

[drwaynebuck]

Great video! I just discovered your channel and immediately subscribed after watching.

[markstanford]

Awesome, thanks. great shots, i've not had a chance due to weather. :-(

[Tihpem]

Got images already and one even shared on facebook...but as I was looking through your photoshop editing guide part I went at one place full "facepalm" as you just showed me a MUCH simpler way of doing manual stacking as i have been doing so far :D

[AstroFarsography]

Good stuff here Stace. Solid advice! 😊