Tim Brooks wrote:
Floris, I would think that Outdoor Photographer and/or PCPhoto might be interested in making your tutorial into an article. Tom Bol has done several articles for those magazines and he might give you some ideas. I had him as a photo-workshop instructor and found him a great fella.
Great tutorial!!!
Tim
Where the heck is the "standing ovation" Emoticon when you need it?
Thanks for all of the hard work and the thought that went into this, and thanks also for your generosity in sharing it. The photos are spectacular and the information well-written and very informative.
Well,
YOu did it. I was about to decide to forget about long lenses for birds. Long lenses are very big and heavy. In the last few days I have been looking seriously into telescopes and the heaven. I live on the mountain with wonderful night sky. Your writing came at the very right to give me a final push "for it".
hanks for the usrful info and the wonderful pics of the heaven/
Well,
YOu did it. I was about to decide to forget about long lenses for birds. Long lenses are very big and heavy. In the last few days I have been looking seriously into telescopes and the heaven. I live on the mountain with wonderful night sky. Your writing came at the very right to give me a final push "for it".
hanks for the usrful info and the wonderful pics of the heaven/
Sensational stuff and very much appreciated! Your tutorial answered every question I've had in my head about the process, so for me, it acheives exactly what a tutorial should!
One question... I think it was Sharon that mentioned she had PDF'd the tutorial for later reference. Do you have any problems with us taking a copy (for person use of course), or alternatly, do you have a PDF version that we could store away for the day when the thread is no longer stickied?
Sensational stuff and very much appreciated! Your tutorial answered every question I've had in my head about the process, so for me, it acheives exactly what a tutorial should!
One question... I think it was Sharon that mentioned she had PDF'd the tutorial for later reference. Do you have any problems with us taking a copy (for person use of course), or alternatly, do you have a PDF version that we could store away for the day when the thread is no longer stickied?
Anthony
Feel free to copy what's posted to save for reference - I plan on putting a pdf together to have available through my website at some point as well. (you can always contact me too).
Amazing tutorial, floris! Thanks for taking the time to show us how it's done.
One question: You said you use Auto White balance. Do you mean that you use the AWB feature in your raw converter, or in camera? It seems like using AWB in camera would give different white balances throughout the night, as the twilight ends, leading to inconsistent white balance between the frames. Although maybe that works out with the blended exposures? I'm just not sure how that works.
Booone0 wrote:
Amazing tutorial, floris! Thanks for taking the time to show us how it's done.
One question: You said you use Auto White balance. Do you mean that you use the AWB feature in your raw converter, or in camera? It seems like using AWB in camera would give different white balances throughout the night, as the twilight ends, leading to inconsistent white balance between the frames. Although maybe that works out with the blended exposures? I'm just not sure how that works.
Sorry, I use auto white balance in camera, then in the raw conversion I play with the white balance sliders till the twilight shot looks right, then synchronize all the raw files so they all end up with the same white balance. I'll make sure to add that in, thanks!
Q Smith wrote:
At some point in the past I ran across a star trails blending action.
From Chris and Dawn Schur's Astrophotography site:
"Purpose:
To stack a directory of images (not RAW) to make a composite equal to one long exposure. Set camera for 15 - 30s, put in burst mode, and lock cable release down to take a cardfull of images. The main advantage of this program is that only two images are open at the same time, thus will not tax the memory and hard drive.
I haven't tried the action myself just yet so I can't personally vouch for it but the examples looked good.
-Quent...Show more →
I have used this action once. It worked great. It took maybe 20 minutes to combine 80 or so photos into a star trail, but remember my computer is a few years old. I would think a newer computer could do it much faster. Here is my test star trail. I took this to test my light painting technique, capturing the trails and the action. So it is not a good photo composition wise.
Outstanding thorough tutorial. I will be printing this for attempts out in the field. I would like to get this nailed before I take a trip back to Arizona and Utah.
Thank you VERY much.....oh...and the shots rock...especially the Rainier and Bristlecone shots.
Hi,
Thanks for the in-depth tutorial on your night shooting techniques. Your shots area really beautiful. I've actually learned some very different techniques from a Geographic photographer that I am planning to put to use in the next month. I'll be shooting with him for a few days in NM and I'll post the results afterward. I love night (and star trail) photography and my friend is really good at it so I'm excited. Hopefully I'll have something to brag about. His technique is amazingly different from yours, but it appears from your great results that there's more than one way to skin a cat!
John
Jan 10, 2009 at 11:56 PM
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Seconded (or ninth or wherever we are ) regarding the PDF. An in-field manual would be very useful to review when out and about. Perhaps a condensed cheat-sheet actually.
Something like starting camera settings, what to bring, how to find polaris, what shots to take and when, and so on.
Thank you, Floris. Your tutorial is well-written and informative. I will apply what you have provided on some of my old star trail captures I was never really happy with.
I second all the others about how wonderful your tutorial is. I've read many on this subject, and yours is clear, detailed, and well-informed.
I took your advice into practice and here are a couple samples of mine from rural Arkansas the other night. The moon was almost full at the time, so the barn was well-illuminated.
1
6 five minute exposures ISO 400, f/5.6 stacked using your method.
) regarding the PDF. An in-field manual would be very useful to review when out and about. Perhaps a condensed cheat-sheet actually.