Books about Astrophotography from Amazon.com

At first glance, the challenge of astrophotography may appear daunting But not only are spectacular results possible, they are easy to learn with the step-by-step instructions provided in Stephan Seip's Digital Astrophotography: A Guide to Capturing the Cosmos. Today, amateurs can produce images that only twenty years ago a large professional observatory would have been proud of; and this book shows you how.

Learn how to:

Set up your camera for optimum results

Focus your camera for razor-sharp images

Take beautiful night shots with a simple compact digital camera, a tripod, and a telescope

Use a DSLR camera to shoot the Sun, Moon, stars, star clusters, and nebulae through your telescope

Get brilliant images of planets with a Webcam

Capture remote galaxies with a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera just like a pro

Also included are lessons on the processing that is done in the "studio" after your shoot, including how to:

Shoot RAW format images and improve them with calibration frames

Take short exposures of faint deep-sky objects and combine them into a longer exposure

Perform brightness, contrast, and color correction

Make corrections to correct for vignetting and uneven field illumination

Process your images for stunning results

Equipment requirements for astrophotography range from nothing but a simple camera and tripod to a multi-thousand dollar computer controlled telescope equipped with a CCD auto-guider and separate guide-scope. Researching the best equipment for your needs is a task in itself. Seip helps you to sort out which cameras are best for the various celestial objects, what to look for when buying a camera, and what accessories you really need.

The rewards of this fascinating hobby, as the author says, "Grants you unforgettable hours under the night sky; it allows you to produce aesthetically rewarding and lasting results. Astrophotography is a love-match between physics, photography, art, and digital image processing. It is exciting!".
Price: $17.26 [Notify me when price goes down.]

In the last few years, digital SLR cameras have taken the astrophotography world by storm. It is now easier to photograph the stars than ever before! They are compact and portable, flexible to adapt with different lenses and for telescope use, and above all DSLR cameras are easy and enjoyable to use. In this concise guide, experienced astrophotography expert Michael Covington outlines the simple, enduring basics that will enable you to get started, and help you get the most from your equipment. He covers a wide selection of equipment, simple and advanced projects, technical considerations and image processing techniques. Unlike other astrophotography books, this one focuses specifically on DSLR cameras, not astronomical CCDs, non-DSLR digital cameras, or film. This guide is ideal for astrophotographers who wish to develop their skills using DSLR cameras and as a friendly introduction to amateur astronomers or photographers curious about photographing the night sky..
Price: $37.48 [Notify me when price goes down.]

This book is based around the author’s beautiful and sometimes awe-inspiring color images and mosaics of deep-sky objects.

The images were used as the basis of a public exhibition held at the University of Southampton (Summer 2006), attended by the press, local radio and TV interviewers as well as the public. The book describes how similar images can be created by amateur astronomers, using commercially available telescopes and CCD cameras. Subsequent processing and image enhancement in the “electronic darkroom” is covered in detail as well.

Not everybody can afford the biggest and best telescopes and CCD cameras, so a range of telescopes and equipment is considered, from the author’s 11-inch with Hyperstar camera, down to more affordable instruments.

Appendices provide links to free software – not available from a single source – and are themselves an invaluable resource.

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Price: $21.84 [Notify me when price goes down.]

A Guide to Astrophotography with Digital SLR Cameras, a new book by professional photographer Jerry Lodriguss, contains in-depth but easy-to-understand information that will enable amateur astrophotographers to learn how to use DSLR cameras to capture the beauty and wonder of the night sky. It is a practical guide to astrophotography and digital image processing, with step-by-step directions that anyone can understand and use to produce wonderful results. A Guide to Astrophotography with Digital SLR Cameras is not a traditional paper book. It is a digital book on CD-ROM that readers can view on their computers in any Internet web browser such as Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari or Opera. It offers unique features such as "mouse-overs" that allow before and after comparisons of images by simply holding the mouse cursor over the image. A powerful built-in search engine provides automatic links to the pages containing the search terms. Practice files are included for use in the step-by-step tutorials, as well as comprehensive references and links to more information. More than 100 minutes of video tutorials on image processing are also included on the CD-ROM. Jerry Lodriguss is an award-winning sports photographer, and expert in Photoshop who has been an astrophotographer for more than 25 years. His articles on Photoshop, digital processing and scanning astrophotos have been published in Sky and Telescope and other magazines, and his astronomical images have appeared in books and magazines throught the world..
Price: $39.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Not all amateur astronomers who live in a suburban location realize just how very effective a ‘chilled-chip’ astronomical CCD-camera and software can be at cutting through seemingly impenetrable light-pollution. CCD Astrophotography from the Suburbs details one man’s approach to the problem of getting high-quality astronomical images under light-polluted conditions. Adam Stuart has written this reference book for all amateur astronomers who are interested in CCD imaging, especially those who have to work under suburban conditions. The book outlines the materials and (commercially-available) equipment used for high-quality imaging. The many wonderful images Dr. Stuart has produced allow the reader to see the product of – initially – a fellow beginner’s efforts. The glorious images found in numerous books, and especially those seen in Sky and Telescope magazine – might seem out of reach. But this is not really the case. Respectable images are attainable with modest equipment. This book outlines a complete and thoroughly tested working program for every beginner to achieve high-quality digital imaging.

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Price: $21.00 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Some of the Advantages of Webcam Astrophotography are:. Webcams are far cheaper than conventional cameras or astronomical CCDs.. Webcams use USB plug-and-play technology, meaning they are easy to install on a computer and have fast image download times.. Webcams provide real-time feedback. Focus and exposure are adjusted on the fly to insure best results.. Each webcam video imaging session produces a single unique image..
Price: $34.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]

With this extraordinary handbook, you, too, can frame the stars and have them hanging on your livingroom walls. Astrophotography for the Amateur provides a complete guide to taking pictures of stars, galaxies, the Moon, the Sun, comets, meteors and eclipses, using equipment and materials readily available to the hobbyist. Based on suggestions from readers of the first edition, the new edition has been completely updated and expanded to include new chapters on computer image processing and CCD imaging; expanded advice on choosing cameras and telescopes; completely updated information about films; a much larger bibliography; and hundreds of new photographs (in color and black and white) demonstrating the latest equipment and techniques. Astrophotography for the Amateur has become the standard handbook for all amateur astronomers. This new edition provides an ideal introduction for beginners and a complete handbook for advanced amateurs. It will also appeal to photography enthusiasts who will discover how to take spectacular images with only modest equipment. Michael A. Covington received his Ph.D. at Yale University. He is the author of several books, including Syntactic Theory in the High Middle Ages (Cambridge, 1984). He is a Senior Member of the IEEE and is the Associate Director of the Artificial Intelligence Center at the University of Georgia..
Price: $10.00 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Wide-field astrophotography is an area where the beginner can bypass the complexities of prime focus telescopic astrophotography yet still excel and achieve good results quickly. Exquisite prime focus close-ups of galaxies and faint nebulae are attractive showpieces, but the art and technicalities of photographing such objects through a telescope are intimidating to the beginner. In high-resolution telescopic photography, the cost of the specialized equipment, the complexities of focusing fine, often invisible detail through the telescope, and guiding with extreme accuracy to achieve worthy results are obstacles to a novice sky shooter. Simpler non-telescopic wide-field astrophotography is an alternative that anyone who owns a camera can enjoy. Today, may well be the Golden Age of Astrophotography. At no time in the past has there been a wider range of films, both color and black and white, that do well when exposed to the night sky. Many of these films capture images in a few minutes that just a few years ago required lengthy exposure by an experienced astrophotographer. Some of these films can be processed in a 1-hr labgone is theera of waiting days to see your results. This text then introduces techniques needed to mount ordinary 35-mm and medium format cameras atop an equatorially-driven telescope in order to produce stunning portraits of constellations, the Milky Way, bright nebulae, and star clusters using wide-angle.
Price: $29.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Astronomy buffs often wish they could photograph what they see through their telescopes. Camera buffs often wish they knew the techniques for capturing majestic yet elusive heavenly bodies. Astrophotography brings these two hobbies together in one complete resource.

This big, fully-illustrated book offers:

• Practical guidance and authoritative advice
• Equipment resources and contacts
• Brand-new star charts and illustrations
• Techniques for conventional and digital photography

Step-by-step instructions are given for choosing and using the right camera, shooting with a telescope, getting the best out of black and white and color film, and developing pictures at home or while traveling.

Specific instructions are given for photographing:

• The Sun, the Moon and the planets
• Meteors and comets
• Stars and satellites
• Rainbows, halos, and other phenomena in the night sky

This new edition also includes the latest information for shooting digital and dedicated astro CCDs (charge-coupled device) for capturing faint nebulae and distant galaxies. Generously illustrated with 100 color and black and white photographs, Astrophotography is an attractive and easy-to-use reference.

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Price: $1.99 [Notify me when price goes down.]

How do I go about choosing a digital camera (or exploiting the strengths of the one I have now)?. Among the topics covered are:. What digital cameras can do (and what they can't).. How much resolution is enough?. Web cams - spectacular immediate gratification on the cheap!.
Price: $34.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]