I'm trying to learn new tricks with my camera. Not good at all with the night sky shots, moon and such. Looking for tips, tricks and advice. In other words, feel free to slaughter me! :)

I actually like it. We are both the same in regards to learning tricks with the camera. I would love to take night shots like the ones we see on this site. Some of them are amazing.

Oh I know! The blue night sky and the stars, it's just amazing what people capture and share!

I like your photo of night, the composition and the light (and yes) which gives him a soft environment. Two small remarks, the compression of the image is important and I think that makes us lose in the capacity as range. As well as a reflection on the right part. In all the cases, it seems to me that the night inspires to you. Greetings.

i shot this raw and loaded it on photoblog. since this site has size restrictions, I usually just copy the photoblog and re-post. Is that was causes the noise?
At any rate, I still noticed some of the noise when I shot it. How can I avoid that in the future?

I'm not seeing the reflection you are talking about? Do you mean the fog, maybe?

Compression gives 56ko approximately. On Vazaar, you can go until 400ko. I think that this compression has to cause the noise and destroys the range. Thus try a less strong compression to see. Concerning the reflection, not it is not the fog, I have the impression to see one of them, on the right, just with the top of the medium. But good, does not worry you, that must-being compression and my imagination. Greetings.

ooohhh I seee..... I don't know what that is! Good catch! I bet that's a flare from the moon.

I might not be the right person to comment, as my night picture are pretty lame ;)
But all I can say about this pitcure is that it's lacking a subject.... There's nothing that attracts the eye. Might have been better without the bushes (just the foggy town site, and a better ratio between sky and landscape (1/3 - 2/3).
But that's just might thoughts, and as I say, my night pictures aren't that great ;)
have fun and continue showing us your work :)

Thanks coucou - it helps when you have a beautiful view in your backyard. It's getting colder and so I'm hoping the skies will be even more clear since it kills the haze here in the south. I'm definately trying again soon. I just need to bundle up first!