A debate on stacking vs. single exposures after a night at Joshua Tree

I was out at Joshua Tree last month trying to get the Milky Way. My first few single 30-second shots looked okay, but the noise was bad. Then I tried stacking 50 images, and the detail was crazy clear. But it took over an hour of computer time and felt less 'real'. Which is better, the clean stacked image or the quicker single shot that captures the moment? What's your take?

2 comments

2 Comments

sama801d ago

Wait, you stacked FIFTY images? That's a whole night of just standing there. Did you even see the sky or were you just babysitting the camera?

noah2481d ago

You think I was just staring at the camera the whole time? I spent most of the night looking up, the stacking just happens on its own later. It's not like I had to push a button fifty times.