According to online sources, strawberry moon usually happens in the month of June’s full moon. No, it’s not because the moon will be in strawberry color. This name was given by the Algonquin Native American tribe, which they termed it the “short strawberry harvesting” season.
So, I joined the rest of the photographers around the globe to partake in shooting this unique phenomena. Luckily, the weather that night (14th June 2022) was clear and since I’m staying in a condominium… I went to my condo’s facilities deck (located on 10th floor) and proceeded with the shoot.
With a sturdy tripod and a telescope coupled with my trusty XT-4, here’s my simple setup below.
With stack processing in my mind, I shot a total of 100 photos. Here’s one of the raw file below for reference.
Although I may be shooting using a telescope of approx. 350mm focal length (500mm after factoring in the APSC crop factor), the moon in my frame is still quite small. From here on, I tried a new method of stacking and processing that involves 3 software for windows (totally free to download) which are PIPP, AutoStakkert!3 and Registax 6.
PIPP – Download Site Here
PIPP is used to prep and get all your images ready for stacking. Things like cropping and selecting the best frames out of the whole stacks are done here.
AutoStakkert!3 – Download Site Here
AutoStakkert!3 is used to analize, align and stack all your images, minimizing the influence of atmospheric distortions. This software is mainly use for stacking planets, sun and moon images.
Registax 6 – Download Site Here
Registax 6 is used by photographers to post process their astrophotography images.
So, you may be asking if stacking is necessary? Why I shot 100 photos of the same thing? Can’t I just shoot a single photo and call it a win? Well, if you’re shooting night sky or astrophotography… then stacking method is important to get a good quality (almost noise free) image.
Let me show you guys an example of a single image of the left VS stack image on the right… below.
Just one look and you can see the clear difference between the two above. The right photo has so much more details on the moon. The left photo also has more digital noise.
And the final result of the strawberry moon below.
Shot with XT4 + Sky Rover 70SA VIII @ F5, ISO 200, 100 photos x 1/320sec