When you want to see the stars, find someplace dark
It has been a long time since I shot a full frame 35mm camera. Not since I shot film have I used a camera with a full 35mm image size. My older DSLR cameras have use APS-C sized sensors. The Canon 6D is a full frame camera with a 36x24mm sensor, something that has quite an impact on the camera’s capabilities.
Taking star trails is one of the easiest forms of nighttime photography. it requires less equipment than full out astrophotography, only a camera that can take a long exposure and a tripod. In a pinch you can do without the tripod.
For a number of reasons taking one very long exposure is a problem with digital cameras. Without getting into a technical discussion of noise, dark current and hot pixels we will simply advise taking short exposures. You can always try a twenty minute or half hour exposure and see for yourself. Thus the technique is to take a series of short exposures, usually one to five minutes long, and add these together in processing. By taking a series of short exposures, the final exposure length is limited only by the camera battery or the arrival of dawn.
If the camera is sensitive enough, and you have a fast lens, you might try starscape photography, where the stars are not trailed by the motion of the Earth. In contrast, star trail photography can be done by almost any camera that can take a long exposure. The difference is in the length of the exposures, long versus short, star trail or starscape.
The flowing stream. An easy and fun shot that should be in any photographers skill set. Not only a pretty shot that captures the feel of a flowing stream, but a shot that teaches a little basic photography in the taking.
While I was taking this shot another couple was taking the same photo beside me on the bridge. They wondered what I did to get the shot they saw on my screen. I offered them a turn on my tripod for a moment and talked them through the steps needed to create the flowing stream look. The Canon Rebel T5i they were using was perfectly capable of achieving the same effect. A minute later they had succeeded, happy with a very pretty photo. I suspect they learned a little in the process.
Starscape photography is becoming increasingly popular. Dramatic photographs of a starry sky over a scenic landscape. Properly done the results can be truly impressive. The photo is a beautiful landscape with a glorious display of bright stars overhead. For those who have long enjoyed the night such a photo captures a sense of being there, of standing beneath those brilliant stars. This is starscape photography, a relatively new type of photography made possible by improved photographic technology.
We will define starscape photography as shooting traditional landscape photographs with only starlight and skyglow for illumination. The exposure is fast enough to keep the stars from trailing. The result is a recording of what the scene would look like to a person standing under a starry sky.
Continue reading “Starscape Photography”Nothing serious, just a fun iPad app for a Sunday.
The many filter apps that process photos to create various effects have become ubiquitous. Old film effects, sepia, Polaroid, old time movie, painting, etc., etc., etc. There is a filter for everything. Some of these have often been accused of existing solely to make bad photos somehow cool. An accusation that probably has more than a bit of truth behind it.
The painting process uses an edge detection filter first, extracting the structure of the photos. Each of the various presets has dramatically different settings for this edge detection. The app then paints in the selected colors to fill in the painting. The process is animated, watching this can be rather fun.
There are a lot of caves on this island. Much of the island of Hawaiʻi is riddled with lava tubes. Hiking or riding the trails or back roads of the island often offers a mysterious opening into darkness. Not that I explore too far, I am not a hard core spelunker. But I do often poke my head in to see what the cave has to offer.
Unless the cave is quite small the camera flash will provide unsatisfactory lighting of the cave. The flash will also tend to light up nearby parts of the cave and leave anything at any distance poorly lit. I generally do not use a flash in a cave unless I am photographing small features close at hand.
The technique is simple… Set the camera on a tripod, or a rock, and open the shutter for as long as the timer will allow, usually 15 or 30 seconds. During the exposure you paint the cave with light. Simply wave the light around in a random pattern, never letting the beam rest too long in a single place to evenly distribute the light. This simple method will allow even a large cave to be illuminated with a relatively modest light.
You will need to do this a few times and adjust your process to suit the situation. You can adjust the camera shutter timer or gain (ISO) to adjust the exposure. You can decide where to spend more or less time with the light if there are dark areas or hotspots in the image.
Focus can be difficult. Set the camera for a smaller focal ratio, perhaps f/5.6 or f/8 to keep a good depth of field. Hold the flashlight on a feature well into the scene and focus on that. Some trial and error may be needed to get a good focus.
It can be fun too! When exploring the lower end of Thurston Lava Tube I was all set up with the camera and tripod when a group of kids arrived. Curious as to what I was doing I showed them. During the exposure I had the whole group wave their lights around as we all stood behind the camera. The kids were amazed when the photo appeared on the LCD display, they had no idea you could light up a cave and take a photo with a bunch of little flashlights.
Just sent in my entries.
A contest for local photographers, the Hawaiʻi Photo Expo is a full juried competition. A local contest, but a decent one, the entries will hang in the Wailoa Center gallery for a few weeks.
I sent in three entries, including two of the starscape shots I took over the last month. The third shot is from last year’s expedition from Juneau to Anacortes.
My chances of winning? I think my entries are fairly strong. Looking through the archives of past winners I feel my images are as good as anything there. I should be competitive at least, the rest is up to the standards of the jurors.
There are still a few days left to enter, the deadline is March 16th. Have any really good photos?
The corral is one of the relics of ranching that litter the Waimea countryside. Just a short detour off my daily commute, I have long noted the photo potential of the place. A foggy day offered an interesting opportunity to shoot the corral, enough that I missed my usual turn to take advantage of the even, subdued light offered by a grey afternoon.
Arriving I noted that recent rains had transformed the brown grass into a verdant green. Vines had appeared to cover the old fence posts in foliage. This was a good day to go shooting.
Photography is an art that has to be constantly practiced. You need to shoot, shoot some more, and critique the results with a stern eye. I have better gear than I have ever had, it helps. Still, the magic is up to the photographer, not the camera. A practiced eye, composition and creativity, any camera can shoot a great photo in the right hands.
I did get some good shots. But did I get any great shots? I am always my own worst critic.
Last night was the company Christmas party. We did something different this year, a casino night. A full set of dealers and tables awaited us at the Mauna Lani clubhouse for the evening. Signing in at the door everyone received a stack of play money and the fun began.
It was fun in two ways… Playing the games! Everyone seemed to have a great time, particularly with no real money at stake. I noted that we were all quite conservative at the start, as the evening progressed the bets became risky and the money began to really fly about.
It was also fun because I thought to bring the new camera. I know of no real casino that would let me take pictures of the games like this. Alas, this was not real. There was the added advantage that everyone knows me and knows how I use the camera. I did get good photos of more than a few people. Photos I will have to process up and distribute over the next few days.
A full frame camera with a fast lens was just what was needed for the evening. I only brought the one lens… A 50mm f/1.8 prime, the nifty fifty. It turned out to be the perfect lens for the evening. The lighting was dim, to be expected, but it was also very hard. Small quartz spots illuminated most of the gaming tables resulting in bright areas and dark backgrounds.
To the hard lighting I added the very shallow depth-of-field that comes with a fast lens and large sensor camera. The result was perfect, very moody shots of the game with fantastic bokeh…
All sky-watchers are hoping that comet ISON is spectacular when it emerges from the solar glare. there is no guarantee on this, we just do not know. But it could be as pretty as comet Ikeya-Seki or comet McNaught, both of which became far brighter after perihelion passage.
This recent Saturday I only went partway up the Mauna Kea access road, just high enough to be clear of the clouds and haze. There is a turnoff on the east side of the road just above the cattle guard at about 8,000 ft, one mile below Hale Pohaku. Plenty of room to park a vehicle or two and plenty of level ground to take photos from.