LocalNavy433 Photography

Hello and how the hell are you? If this is your first time here thanks for stopping by.  In this blog we are going to cover what it’s like to get a once in a life time shot.  This all started back in 2020 when I first got an image of Comet NEWISE.  You see this set the stage for me trying to get Comet ZTF that was discovered in March of 2022 by an observatory out of CA.  I am so happy they found it because the last time that the comet was seen on our little rock was when Neanderthals were on the planet.  So to say it’s been a while is an understatement.  

I started looking at getting a shot of the comet about two months ago when I first heard about it.  I was oh man this is going to be easy just like it was back in 2020 right.  Back in 2020 that was a easy shot because of the fact that it was so bright in the night skies.  I was a happy little guy then because I would leave the house a few hours before work and go shoot the comet.  You could see it so finding it was so much easier.  I was in shock when I setup my tripod thinking that I was going to be able to see comet ZTF and well there was nothing there.  I looked and looked and found nothing so I was not hopeful about getting this shot.  The expectation that I had was something like this.  I look to the North and spot the comet and then get my shot.  Later in the early morning hours I was going to get my foreground and blend them together.  

That is not the way it went at all in fact it was a SHIT show from the time I looked up until I found the comet.  I started out by shooting with my 11-16mm lens wide open to see if I could find ZTF and well that was not the case.  I would take an image and then chimp the back screen looking for it.  Nothing I thought to myself what am I doing wrong it should be right there.  About ten shots in to shooting with the wide lens I was like ok time to try another lens.  Maybe that is the issue I have to be zoomed in more in order to see it.  Well that was not the case either and after another ten shots I was like I am not going to waste this night being out under the stars.  I decided to shoot Orion at 80mm because I have never done that before it would be cool to see what I get.  

I setup for that and started shooting the sky and I was happy again even though I missed the comet.  At this point I was in my grove and happy as a pig in shit.  I figured since I was trying something new why not shoot some dark frames to reduce the noise in the image more.  Again I have never done this and it was worth the try so off I went shooting light frame and dark frames of Orion.  After about 30 images for the light frames and 30 more images with the lens cap on for the dark frames it was time to go inside.  I had a blast editing those images to get a killer comp for Orion.  

This is the point that I decided I was going to be shooting that set of stars more often and I was going to try and shoot some deep sky shots later to see what I can do with that.  New type of photography for me so why not right.  After I was finished and happy with that image I was feeling a little left out because I missed the comet.  I sat down at my computer and decided to do some more research.  I went to a few groups that I know people are getting images of ZTF and I started asking questions on where they looked and what not.  I got the answers and decided to look at the app I use to find out what is in the night sky.  Sure enough there was a location in the app showing in real time where ZTF was at in the sky.  

Now I was hyped again and ready to go back out and try again.  You see a few hours had passed so now I was on a time crunch to find it before the sun was rising.  Lining up with the app on my phone and locking in the camera was tricky to say the least.  I manage to find it a few times but when trying to recompose for a better image I was unable to find it again.  So I tried at a shorter focal length and bam there is was.  I was like ok Chris you got this just zoom in grab focus and move back to where you found it.  That is when the hard part started with trying to remember the exact area I was looking when I shot it.  

After about 100 shots I was able to find it again but I was at 200mm this time because I figured why not zoom out a little find it and shoot the heck out of it until I got a clean shot.  There is was in my frame at 200mm and I was faced with trying to move the camera again and line up the shot.  So this time instead of moving like I did before when I lost it.  I decided to move in baby steps and this whole time I was losing time because it was getting later and later or earlier and earlier depending on how you want to look at it.  The sky was getting brighter and brighter by the min.  I did it I got ZTF right in the middle of my frame and it was on like donkey kong baby.  DO you know how hard it is not to scream with joy when everyone around you sleeping yep that was me at O dark thirty.  I locked the camera down and gave it a wide birth as not to bump it.  The last thing that I wanted was to waste the two or three hours it took me to line up the shot.  

Now it was time to shine and I started taking my light frames.  I was able to get 40 images that were good enough to use.  After that was done I decided to get dark frames again.  I loved the way Orion turned out so why not make this part of my workflow.  It didn’t take long and I was done with shooting and it was time either sleep or edit them.  Sleep was out of the question due to the fact that I have to work on Monday so if I was to go to sleep I would not be ready for work.  Because my sleep schedule is all fucked up now haha.  So I sat at my laptop and started editing the images.  That is where another problem came to be.  

I had done all the hard work I thought what could go wrong.  There is was a bright blue screen and I was oh hell no.  The issue was the sun was rising so the sky was turning blue because the was was starting his show.  I stacked all the images like normal and then added the dark frames.  Now that was done it was time to color correct as best as I could.  That took two hours just for me to be happy with the finished image.  You see at this point I was so happy that I kept shooting because if I would have stopped I would not have gotten the shot.  

The whole point to this is to show that if you give up you will never get what you want.  I got the shot the shot that to me is one of the hardest and my satisfying shot I have ever gotten.  I can hang it on my wall to remind myself not to give up.  Hope you enjoyed the story behind the shot enjoy from St Johns AZ y’all