Wet plate on Astronomy Picture of the Day

[Fr. Mark]

I'm amazed. I've snapped a few iPhone pics through my scopes and some friend's scopes but I never thought to mount an 8x10! Amazing!

[Alan Klein]

Today on APOD they feature the moon taken with wet plate

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210102.html

Reminds me of those old moon photos from the 1930's.

[Alan Klein]

I just bought a 10x30 binoculars. Not received yet. Could I use it for moon shots? Best way?

[tgtaylor]

Here are some images by David Malin from glass plate negatives:

Astronomical images contain light from objects covering an enormous range of brightness, far wider than found in 'everyday' photography. Of course, in astronomy, there is no way to alter the lighting, indeed it is the light itself that is the subject of the photograph.

The photographs on these pages were made in pre-digital days, using glass plates specially designed for scientific purposes, and to capture the faintest light, rather than the beauty of the night sky. However, it was possible to control the contrast and dynamic range of the image by copying the original plates through a blurred, positive copy of the original, and this has the effect of subtly sharpening the scene and revealing detail in the brighter regions, which correspond to the blackest parts of the original plates.

https://images.datacentral.org.au/malin/UKS/001

[Fr. Mark]

Here are some images by David Malin from glass plate negatives:

Astronomical images contain light from objects covering an enormous range of brightness, far wider than found in 'everyday' photography. Of course, in astronomy, there is no way to alter the lighting, indeed it is the light itself that is the subject of the photograph.

The photographs on these pages were made in pre-digital days, using glass plates specially designed for scientific purposes, and to capture the faintest light, rather than the beauty of the night sky. However, it was possible to control the contrast and dynamic range of the image by copying the original plates through a blurred, positive copy of the original, and this has the effect of subtly sharpening the scene and revealing detail in the brighter regions, which correspond to the blackest parts of the original plates.

https://images.datacentral.org.au/malin/UKS/001

y'all need to follow that link, there are TONS of great images there, I could spend a lot of time I don't have going from one link to the next!