Hit my 1,000th deep sky photo last night and it got me thinking about quality vs quantity

Honestly, I set out last year to just capture as many objects as I could with my 8-inch dob. Last night I processed my 1,000th image of the Veil Nebula and realized I had 30+ shots of Andromeda that are basically the same. Some folks say you should focus on one target and perfect it for weeks. Others say capturing lots of different things builds your skills faster. Which camp are you in and how many photos did you have before you felt like you got a "keeper"?

2 comments

2 Comments

webb.christopher21d ago

...and that's the thing, I had like 40 shots of M31 before i realized i was just taking the same picture over and over with slightly different settings. One night I got distracted by a squirrel running across my mount and ended up with this accidental star trail shot that was way more interesting than any of my planned stuff.

beth_hunt21d ago

Ha! Reminds me of my buddy who spent three hours dialing in focus only to realize his cap was still on.