Photography Tips fo Germinid Meteor Shower

By Kelsey Brown
The final meteor shower for the year is almost upon us and for photographers this may be the best show all year. And why is that I hear you asking?

This year's Germinid meteor shower coincides with the new moon giving us nice dark skies in which to view and photograph the meteor shower. The meteors in this shower radiate from the Gemini constellation which in the summer months, for southern hemisphere viewers, can be found in the north eastern night sky. Meteors from this shower may be seen in the sky from as early as the 7^th December and as late as the 17^th December with the height of the shower being visible from late evening on the 13^th December through the night.

What makes this meteor shower a great one to photograph is that the meteors are moving at a speed of 35km/second (a moderate speed for a meteor) and that as these meteors burn up in our atmosphere white, yellow, green, blue and red colour trails can be seen. At the height of the meteor shower it is predicted that we may be able to see up to 60 meteors per hour. So how as photographers do we capture this event?

There are a number of ways to capture stars in the night skies. I am a fan of long exposures so I would be aiming to do either long exposure star trails or use the star stacking method to create an image. This way I have a greater chance of capturing a meteor in my exposure and if I am lucky I may even get more than one meteor in an image.

My quick tips would be:

•    Try and get away from bright light sources if possible.

•     Use a tripod for long exposures.

•     Pick your widest lens to get as much of the sky in and increase your chance of capturing a meteor.

•      A cable release so you can set your camera up, open the shutter and then sit back and enjoy the show.

•       Make sure your batteries are fully charged as it would be awful to run out just as the show is heating up.

•      Bring a friend or fellow photographer as there is always safety in numbers.

The Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium at Mt Cootha in Brisbane is the most reliable local source of up to date information on the event for viewers in this part of the world. All you have to do is Like their Facebook page for more information. https://www.facebook.com/BrisbanePlanetarium

Good luck and happy photographing to anyone heading out to try and capture this event we look forward to seeing any images on the Facebook page.

Kelsey Brown is an assistant tutor with Bluedog Photography.

Photography Workshops, Retreats and Ttours.

www.blue-dog.com.auhttp://www.blue-dog.com.au

Photographing Fireworks

By Danielle Lancaster

It's that time of the year again when the champagne corks will pop, kisses are shared, resolutions are made and the fireworks will explode!

So you have your camera in hand now how on earth do you photograph all that colourful light in the sky?

There's no great trick to it and usually no matter what type of camera you have you can capture something of the light show.

Do I need a tripod?
For the best results yes! The tripod head needs to be able to support your camera and the heaviest lens you have in a vertical position. If you forget your tripod, relax and try some hand holding abstract images: drawing with the camera shapes and letters, zooming in and out during an exposure, the options are endless and can create some bizarre one-of-a-kind images.

What lens? 

This is a hard one as each lens has negatives and positives. With a wide angle you can include other points of interest like a landscape or cityscape in your image. An object that is recognisable such as a statue or monument can really look awesome.

With a zoom you can capture one burst standing solitary in the sky and eliminate  other objects that could become distracting like bright lights or even worse the backs of people's heads.

ISO 160; f3.5; 6 sec; 32mm

Position, position, position
As they say in the property game location is the key, it's the same photographing fireworks. Areas can get very busy especially at times like New Year Eve celebrations and it is not un-heard of to hear of photographers 'camping' on a site for a day before the event to secure their prime sought after position. Up higher is generally better.

Watch the wind.
It is preferable to get up wind as then the smoke will blow away from you. Still night's can be as bad as those when the wind is blowing towards you, as the smoke lingers longer in the air and is notably worse after multiple bursts. Yes you can edit it afterwards but it can also be a lot of work.

Smoke hanging around can really ruin a good fireworks image.
Manual mode; 28mm; ISO 200; f9; 2.6sec

 

Before and after of an image where PS has been used to reduce the smoke.

ISO 200; f20; 6.7sec

What colours are best?
Reds and greens photograph brilliantly. Some gold fireworks photograph as white so it's a good idea to play with your white balance as well.

Take your UV filter off and switch image stabilisation/vibration reduction off.

Exposure

Shoot in manual mode and set your camera to Bulb. Choose a low ISO say 100 to 200. Generally we find we are shooting at an aperture of around f8 - f16. Use a cable release to control your shutter times.

Most importantly have fun and if you have managed to do all the above whilst juggling a glass of bubbly in one hand after the midnight show, then please let us know! 

Image by Sheryn Ellis
Canon 5D
ISO 200; f13; 4 sec; 25mm

Bluedog Photography shoot for corporate and private clients. They also hold a variety of workshops and courses on Photography. 

For more info visit www.blue-dog.com.au

Star Trail Photography - Some of the Problems

Image taken by Kristin Repsher at the
Bluedog Photography Star Trail Workshop Jan 2010

Star trails can be one of the most rewarding or disappointing photo shoots you can do.
We love them! What are some of the pit falls and traps of star trail photography and why do images not always turn out the way you would like?

Star Trails may take a lot of experimenting under different conditions.

Noise is the number one enemy you will encounter doing a long exposure star trail with digital cameras – one reason some drag out their film cameras for this type of image capturing. Every camera will have different noise at different times; you just have to find your limit.

Factors such as the night temperature can affect noise. On our Bluedog Star Trail Workshop last weekend it was a warm 23°C. As the temperature drops, the signal to noise ration improves, and your noise will decrease.

Noise will almost always be apparent if you expose for more than 10-20min. Different parts of your camera heat up and affect how the sensor works. Every camera is different and it also depends on the environmental conditions such as haze, dust, ambient light and temperature as mentioned above. On this particular workshop we had also had a grass fire earlier on close by.

Digital noise is more pronounced in the darker areas of an image than lighter areas.

If you experience noise try to do the following:

Use Noise Ninja and try different settings to reduce noise

Use an adjustment layer and increase contrast (reduce brightness of the image).

Use the foreground as silhouette only.

A note about dew. Some of us experienced dew building up on our lenses towards the end of the star trail. This is very common and caused by the amount of humidity in the air. To overcome this use a sock wrapped around your lens hood, or use a battery operated hair drier every 5 minutes to keep the lens warm. You can also use one of those hand-warmers that you put inside your gloves for winter activities. Wrap it around your lens barrel (or even inside of your hood).

Never use a lens cleaner to clean your lens during a shot.

The images below show an example of noise in a star trail. While noise is very evident at 100% magnification it is far less visible at screen view.

We hope this information is useful and you are inspired to get out and try more star trails in the future.
Cheers Garry and Danielle

Image by Garry Schlatter  magnified 100%

 

 Image by Garry Schlatter at screen view%