Orion's Belt and Nebula

A clear sky on a mild night - what a perfect combination for a bit of astrophotography!

Unlike my usual 'wide-field' fare, tonight's shot is actually more detailed. For this I used my 90mm f/2.8 macro lens (boy was the focus difficult - hair trigger depth of field!) and then shot six 5 second exposures, which are then 'median stacked' and aligned in Photoshop. And voila, the beautiful belt of Orion and the wonderful Orion nebula at the top. And yes, I know it's upside down Northern hemisphere folk, but that's how we roll on this side of the equator...