Reddit mentions of SMDV Remote Shutter Release Cable for Canon Digital Rebel T5i, T4i, T3i, t3, t2, 70D, 60D, Replaces Canon RS60-E3

I'll do my best. I don't know many technical terms, and I'll likely be editing this as I remember more things, so beware. Also I'm including solutions to a lot of mistakes I made, so this is long:

Setup:

• Before you go, take a picture of a distant object (building, tree...whatever), and make a mental note about where the focus ring on your camera should be. For my 50mm lens, I need to have the focus ring rotated nearly all the way to the left. This will come in handy later. (http://multimedia.journalism.berkeley.edu/media/upload/tutorials/stillcams/rebel_lens.jpg)
  
  
• Download Stellarium (http://www.stellarium.org/) and check to see what the sky will look like when/where you plan your shoot. Also make sure you understand which direction the stars will be drifting in. In N. California, at 9:30 at night, on Sept 18th, facing NE, Andromeda drifted upward and slightly to the left.
  
  
• Next, you'll need a dark area. Use a light pollution map like http://darksitefinder.com/maps/unitedstates-15color.html. I live near San Francisco, so I had to drive 90 miles to get to an area that was dark enough for decent pictures ("green" on the light maps).
  
  
• Make a list of what you need to be sure about: Camera, set to RAW, charged battery, memory card, tripod, tripod head...
  
  Taking pics:
  
  
• I setup my camera and tripod, and aim it towards the first star I see on my screen. However, if your camera isn't focused at least a little, the stars will be so blurry you can't find them. So it helps to know roughly where your focus needs to be (that's why we made that mental note about it earlier). Once you've found a star, adjust your focus as necessary and get it as pin-point sharp as you can.
  
  
• Helpful: An android tablet or laptop. There are free DSLR apps that will give you a live view from your camera, instead of relying on your camera's tiny screen. REALLY helps with focusing and reviewing your images. You can often adjust the camera settings from them too.
  
  
• Now that I'm setup and focused it's time to find Andromeda, so I aim my camera towards it. Problem: I don't know if I'm aimed directly at it, so I take a long exposure at a high ISO. This makes the galaxy much more obvious, so I can find it when I review my picture.
  
  
• Because the earth rotates, the stars drift. Remember when we checked Stellarium, Andromeda was drifting upwards and slightly to the left. I try to aim the galaxy towards the bottom of my frame so as the galaxy moves across the sky, it moves from the bottom of my frame to the top and I don't constantly have to re-adjust my camera.
  
  
• For the 50mm 1.8 lens (http://www.amazon.com/Canon-50mm-Standard-AutoFocus-Lens/dp/B00005K47X/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1411340725&sr=1-2&keywords=canon+50mm+1.8+lens): Once you've got your aim and focus ready, check that you're taking pictures in RAW, set your exposure to 6 seconds, set your ISO to 1600. Longer lenses will need more light, and offer you shorter exposure times, but you'll get a larger view of the object.
  
  
• I use a remote trigger, lock it in the "take pictures" position, and let the camera fire for 10-15 minutes. Then I check the most recent picture and make sure the galaxy is still in the frame. If it's not near the top of the frame, I keep going for a bit longer until the galaxy starts to get close to the opposite edge of the frame. (Remote: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002KDQPWM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
  
  
• If you need more pictures, re-adjust the camera and keep going. I shoot until I collect at least 500 shots.
  
  
• Now that you have your pictures, you'll need dark frames. We'll use these later to correct errors the camera makes. Put the lens cap on, and with exactly the same exposure time, and the same ISO, take at least 20-30 shots. Don't wait too long, these frames work best if the camera's sensor is still hot from the previous shoots.
  
  
• Now you need bias frames. Again, we'll use these to correct camera errors. Keep the lens cap on, and set your exposure time to the fastest your camera offers. For my T3i, that's 1/4000th of a second. Take 20-30 shots.
  
  Processing:
  
  
• Helpful: When I load my pictures onto the computer, I make 3 folders "Light" "Dark" "Bias". Sometimes I'll find I have high ISO, high exposure "looking for the galaxy" pictures mixed in with my regular pictures. I find the easiest way to identify them is to view my pictures in Windows Explorer and select View - Details. This lists the pictures along with the date they were taken, file size, etc. I add Exposure Time, Focal Length, and ISO to the detail columns and now I can see exactly which pictures are throwaways. I put the pictures of the galaxy in the Light folder, Darks in the Dark folder, and Bias in the Bias folder.
  
  
• Use Deep Sky Stacker, load your Light Frames, and click "Check All". Then load your dark frames, then your bias. These will check automatically. Then click Register Pictures.
  
  
• Under Stacking Parameters, I use Mosaic Mode under "Result" and Kappa Sigma Clipping for the Light, Dark, and Bias frames. Click OK
  
  
• Click Recommended Settings and click any link that's blue. This will automatically pick the best setting for you. Click OK and start stacking! This should take at least a couple hours from start to finish.
  
  
• You'll end up with a picture of nearly NOTHING! But now when you brighten it up the stars and galaxy will emerge and you'll end up with FAR less noise. Deep Sky Stacker used those dark and bias frames to identify what in your pictures is just useless noise, and eliminated it. Deep Sky Stacker also has a very crude adjustment tool to brighten images, but you can use Gimp, Photoshop, Lightroom, or another image editor to really play with the brightness, levels, and curves to get the best image possible.
  
  
• Helpful: If DSS goes through the whole process, and ends in an error, look through your pictures. Make sure the darks are all dark, the lights are all light, and delete frames that look funky (airplane flying through them or something). Maybe try stacking just the first 50, or the first 10...play around with it until you find out what's wrong.
  
  Did I leave anything out? Any questions?
  
  VERY HELPFUL VIDEO: http://youtu.be/e0JSTF8SGi4

I'd recommend one of these suckas, especially if you think she might combine cooking & taking photos. Photography is all about light, and one of these speedlites is an awesome and affordable way to get a better understanding of that. Read the reviews to get an idea of how kickass these things can be.

Alternatively, I learned photography by taking pics of the night sky. It was the most interesting thing to me and is what drove me to learn more about taking photos. I bought one of these, which allowed me to take pics with crazy long shutters on my T2i and also do cool stuff with star trails. I remember being so damn pumped when I took that photo with my T2i, the stock lens and a $10 shutter release.

Coupling the release with the tripod is a nice combo. The flash is great for indoor stuff.

If you're feeling SUPER crazy, consider the famous "nifty fifty." My biggest frustration with the kit lens when I had my T2i was that it was practically useless handheld in low light, and it was hard to achieve any shallow depth of field, which are two pretty big draws to DSLR photography. The Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II changed that all.

It can be had for under $100 used on Amazon, but I'd check your local Craigslist. Everyone Canon shooter has owned this lens at one point, and I've seen them for as low as $50 on NYC CL.

I would go for the 50mm lens and a tripod, throw in the shutter release and flash if you're feeling super generous. It would set her up for a very long time if she is serious about photography. If all the stars align, you could probably get the lens + tripod + shutter release + flash for under $150 but it's not very likely.