Honestly thought my new $200 filter was a waste of money until last night

I was trying to get a shot of the Orion Nebula from my backyard in Denver, and a neighbor's security light kept turning on and ruining every 3-minute exposure. Ngl, I almost packed it in, but I put that light pollution filter on as a last try and the difference was crazy. Has anyone else found a specific filter that saved a session from bad local light?

3 comments

3 Comments

beth7192mo ago

You mentioned the Orion Nebula, which is an emission nebula. Those narrowband filters work great for that specific type of target, but they can actually block a lot of the light from broadband targets like galaxies or reflection nebulae. It's not a one-size-fits-all fix for local light.

olivia_barnes972mo ago

So what filter would you actually use for galaxies then? I'm still trying to figure out my setup.

rowan_thomas2d ago

Yeah that thing olivia said about using filters for different targets is spot on. I did the exact same thing last year with the Orion Nebula, had a cheap streetlight wrecking my shots every night. Slapped on a L-Pro filter and it was like magic, the nebula popped right out. Now I keep a couple different filters in my bag, one for emission stuff and one for galaxies, cause you really do gotta match them up. It makes a huge difference when you're dealing with those pesky local lights.