October 2022 - Favourite Uploads

[Michael Ventura]

2 hours ago, gvallee said:

Rainbow Valley in Australia Red Centre, Northern Territory

 

We were the only ones camping there, just underneath this cloud. There was wind, lightning and thunder above us but no rain. Very impressed with this stupendous show of nature we were.

 

 

Sunrise over the dried seasonal lake

 

Sunrise

 

 

Gen, do you have any tips for shooting a starry sky with the Milky Way.  I am away from the cities, renting a mountaintop cabin. My biggest problem is focusing my wide zoom. Setting it on infinity still has the shots a bit soft.  Also is there a best ISO/aperture/shutter speed combo?  I am not wanting star streaks.  Many thanks in advance!

 

Michael

[gvallee]

35 minutes ago, Michael Ventura said:

Gen, do you have any tips for shooting a starry sky with the Milky Way.  I am away from the cities, renting a mountaintop cabin. My biggest problem is focusing my wide zoom. Setting it on infinity still has the shots a bit soft.  Also is there a best ISO/aperture/shutter speed combo?  I am not wanting star streaks.  Many thanks in advance!

 

Michael

 

Hi Michael, night photography is very much trial and error. Here are a few tips:

 

1. Set the camera on Bulb, manual focus on camera and lens, VR off, close the viewfinder curtain, use an intervalometer.

2. I read that we have to focus a tiny bit before infinity or focus on the brighest star. Easier said than done.

3. For the sky, do not expose longer than 15sec or you'll get star trails. Use f/2.8 or f/4, again that's for the sky. Use the highest ISO your camera can deliver without too much noise. If the results are too noisy, I use Topaz Denoise.

4. Use an intervalometer and repeat the shots. Then stack.

5. If you want to incorporate a close foreground, then do some light painting with a torch on it. Use f/8 or whatever and of course totally different focus. If foreground is far away, you can't use light painting, so I might shoot earlier when there is still some light on it. Blend the image with the sky shots.

6. Edit to your taste: brightness, clarity to make the stars pop, noise reduction, sharpen if needed.

 

Good luck, it's not easy! This is only what I do, I'm not a professional, I'm sure it's possible to have better methods than mine. Oh and happy holidays, sorry vacation.

Edited October 15, 2022 by gvallee

[Ognyan Yosifov]

4 hours ago, Michael Ventura said:

Gen, do you have any tips for shooting a starry sky with the Milky Way.  I am away from the cities, renting a mountaintop cabin. My biggest problem is focusing my wide zoom. Setting it on infinity still has the shots a bit soft.  Also is there a best ISO/aperture/shutter speed combo?  I am not wanting star streaks.  Many thanks in advance!

 

Michael

Michael, there's a "500 rule" for speed to avoid star movement/blurring - just divide the focal length into 500. For example 500 : 16mm=31.25 sec. Longer lens - shorter speed. I haven't tried it though. 

Edited October 15, 2022 by Ognyan Yosifov

[Michael Ventura]

12 hours ago, gvallee said:

 

Hi Michael, night photography is very much trial and error. Here are a few tips:

 

1. Set the camera on Bulb, manual focus on camera and lens, VR off, close the viewfinder curtain, use an intervalometer.

2. I read that we have to focus a tiny bit before infinity or focus on the brighest star. Easier said than done.

3. For the sky, do not expose longer than 15sec or you'll get star trails. Use f/2.8 or f/4, again that's for the sky. Use the highest ISO your camera can deliver without too much noise. If the results are too noisy, I use Topaz Denoise.

4. Use an intervalometer and repeat the shots. Then stack.

5. If you want to incorporate a close foreground, then do some light painting with a torch on it. Use f/8 or whatever and of course totally different focus. If foreground is far away, you can't use light painting, so I might shoot earlier when there is still some light on it. Blend the image with the sky shots.

6. Edit to your taste: brightness, clarity to make the stars pop, noise reduction, sharpen if needed.

 

Good luck, it's not easy! This is only what I do, I'm not a professional, I'm sure it's possible to have better methods than mine. Oh and happy holidays, sorry vacation.

Thanks Gen, I'll give it another try tonight!

[gvallee]

Travelling through the Simpson Desert, Australia Red Centre.

 

We were lucky to see a rare weather phenomenon, a roll cloud, also known as Morning Glory (no giggles please 😁)

 

 

 

 

[Michael Ventura]

On 15/10/2022 at 11:42, Michael Ventura said:

Thanks Gen, I'll give it another try tonight!

I now have an even greater respect for your starry sky night shots, Gen, after two nights of trying, I got nothing useful.  But at least I had a go at it.  Good to try new things (new to me).

[gvallee]

25 minutes ago, Michael Ventura said:

I now have an even greater respect for your starry sky night shots, Gen, after two nights of trying, I got nothing useful.  But at least I had a go at it.  Good to try new things (new to me).

 

Pucker up buttercup. You've only had two goes, I have years of binning night shots. I made all the mistakes including an interval longer than a second on the intervalometre. I was ahead of times as the stacked results were very similar to Elon Musk's Starlink. 🤣 

 

A very frustratng time was when I was doing light painting on a mountain range. Nearby kids spotted it and decided to join in the fun with their torches. All shots were binned as the focus was not right either. Very tricky subject. 

 

But as you say, great to try something new. For me it would be photographing people. So kudos to you!

[Dave Nelson]

On 14/10/2022 at 22:22, Michael Ventura said:

Gen, do you have any tips for shooting a starry sky with the Milky Way.  I am away from the cities, renting a mountaintop cabin. My biggest problem is focusing my wide zoom. Setting it on infinity still has the shots a bit soft.  Also is there a best ISO/aperture/shutter speed combo?  I am not wanting star streaks.  Many thanks in advance!

 

Michael

 

Michael - We have exceptionally dark skies up here in the Adirondacks, and I go out as much as I can when we have clear skies.  For focusing I use the rear screen (on a Nikon D850 or one of the new Z bodies.).  I pick the brightest star that I can find and zoom in on it to get the clearest focus on the screen, which is just a tad back from infinity on the scale.  It sometimes takes a few tries - but you can view each exposure on the screen and zoom in to see how sharp the stars are.  Be sure to turn off autofocus on the lens and the camera body.

 

I think I remember you mentioning that you use Nikon gear - here's what I use for a starting point.

For exposure with Nikon's 14-24mm f/2.8 lens  I shoot at 14mm, f/2.8, 20 seconds at ISO 3200. 

For Nikon's 20mm f/1.8 lens I shoot at f/1.8, 30 seconds at ISO 3200.

These lenses and settings usually work well for me.

 

Star trails are a completely different animal.

 

The "500 rule" will generally get you pretty close to the right exposure.

 

Good luck!  And don't give up.  Hope this helps.

[Michael Ventura]

43 minutes ago, Dave Nelson said:

 

Michael - We have exceptionally dark skies up here in the Adirondacks, and I go out as much as I can when we have clear skies.  For focusing I use the rear screen (on a Nikon D850 or one of the new Z bodies.).  I pick the brightest star that I can find and zoom in on it to get the clearest focus on the screen, which is just a tad back from infinity on the scale.  It sometimes takes a few tries - but you can view each exposure on the screen and zoom in to see how sharp the stars are.  Be sure to turn off autofocus on the lens and the camera body.

 

I think I remember you mentioning that you use Nikon gear - here's what I use for a starting point.

For exposure with Nikon's 14-24mm f/2.8 lens  I shoot at 14mm, f/2.8, 20 seconds at ISO 3200. 

For Nikon's 20mm f/1.8 lens I shoot at f/1.8, 30 seconds at ISO 3200.

These lenses and settings usually work well for me.

 

Star trails are a completely different animal.

 

The "500 rule" will generally get you pretty close to the right exposure.

 

Good luck!  And don't give up.  Hope this helps.

Thanks Dave and thanks for the encouragement!  I’m back home in the light polluted Washington DC suburbs.  I do use Nikon equipment and the D850 in particular.  I’ll give it another try the next time I am away from the cities!

[wiskerke]

On 16/10/2022 at 01:20, gvallee said:

That's not actually your roadkill score is it?

😎

 

wim

[spacecadet]

8 minutes ago, wiskerke said:

That's not actually your roadkill score is it?

😎

 

wim

You've been watching too many air force movies.

Tally-ho, red leader😍

[gvallee]

38 minutes ago, wiskerke said:

That's not actually your roadkill score is it?

😎

 

wim

 

🤣🤣🤣 Never thought of that. We have emus on the other side 🤣🤣

[gvallee]

Century-old Artesian Bore showing colourful mineral deposits, Burketown, Gulf of Carpentaria, Queensland, Australia

 

 

Mary Kathleen is an old uranium mine with toxic waters between Mount Isa and Cloncurry, North Western Queensland, QLD, Australia

 

 

 

 

 

[Michael Ventura]

Had a really nice and relaxing time with my two kids this past weekend.  We rented an mountaintop cabin in the wilds of West Virginia...my kind of holiday.  Super quiet, only the sounds of nature.  

 

This one was on the way to the cabin.

 

This one from the cabin deck.  The fall colors were starting to pop!

 

[Dave Richards]

9 hours ago, gvallee said:

Century-old Artesian Bore showing colourful mineral deposits, Burketown, Gulf of Carpentaria, Queensland, Australia

 

 

Mary Kathleen is an old uranium mine with toxic waters between Mount Isa and Cloncurry, North Western Queensland, QLD, Australia

 

 

 

 

 

Not a good place for swimming unless you want to glow in the dark.🤢

Edited October 18, 2022 by Dave Richards

[Betty LaRue]

On 18/10/2022 at 07:38, Michael Ventura said:

Had a really nice and relaxing time with my two kids this past weekend.  We rented an mountaintop cabin in the wilds of West Virginia...my kind of holiday.  Super quiet, only the sounds of nature.  

 

This one was on the way to the cabin.

 

This one from the cabin deck.  The fall colors were starting to pop!

 

My kind of getaway, Michael. I love nature. We used to rent a cabin for a week every year or two in Arkansas, in the Ozark mountains. The environment looked much like this. We always went in early October, our anniversary was the 5th. Our goal was the rainbow trout fishing which was excellent in the White river. Sometimes we’d catch a Brown.
My poor husband would be snoozing away. I’d get up, creep into the kitchen in the dark so I could see the clock on the stove by the stove light. (Before we had mobile phones)This would go on for awhile, in bed, out of bed, until I deemed it time. I’d rouse him at dark 0’thirty, we’d don our waders, strap on our trout-fishing belly box, drive a couple of minutes to the river. Then we’d use our tiny flashlights to stumble our way down the path to the river just about the time we could see a faint glow in the sky.

The early bird gets the prime fishing spots. About the time dawn barely broke was when the fishing was best, when the trout was hungriest. We practiced catch & release. Sometimes once during the week we’d keep two nice ones, marinate them and grill them outdoors on our deck. The river below the dam was used for generating power, and sometimes we’d only get 30-60 minutes of fishing when the loud blast was sounded heralding water release. Forget fishing when that happened. Usually could get in evening fishing after the water went down.

[Betty LaRue]

Homemade pasta salad with oven-browned red bell peppers just until crisp-tender, avocado, and corn with a light garlic-infused dressing.

[Michael Ventura]

1 hour ago, Betty LaRue said:

My kind of getaway, Michael. I love nature. We used to rent a cabin for a week every year or two in Arkansas, in the Ozark mountains. The environment looked much like this. We always went in early October, our anniversary was the 5th. Our goal was the rainbow trout fishing which was excellent in the White river. Sometimes we’d catch a Brown.
My poor husband would be snoozing away. I’d get up, creep into the kitchen in the dark so I could see the clock on the stove by the stove light. (Before we had mobile phones)This would go on for awhile, in bed, out of bed, until I deemed it time. I’d rouse him at dark 0’thirty, we’d don our waders, strap on our trout-fishing belly box, drive a couple of minutes to the river. Then we’d use our tiny flashlights to stumble our way down the path to the river just about the time we could see a faint glow in the sky.

The early bird gets the prime fishing spots. About the time dawn barely broke was when the fishing was best, when the trout was hungriest. We practiced catch & release. Sometimes once during the week we’d keep two nice ones, marinate them and grill them outdoors on our deck. The river below the dam was used for generating power, and sometimes we’d only get 30-60 minutes of fishing when the loud blast was sounded heralding water release. Forget fishing when that happened. Usually could get in evening fishing after the water went down.

 

Yes, I am much more of a mountain person than a beach person,  I live about the same amount of driving time (bout 2.5 hours) to either the Atlantic beaches or Appalachian Mountains and I prefer the wilds of the mountains (hills by comparison to the Alps or Rocky Mountains).  

[Ed Rooney]

 

Do the Beatles statues change colour in fall?

[wiskerke]

4 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

 

Do the Beatles statues change colour in fall?

Sure.

With a little help from your friend Photoshop. 😁

 

wim

[Michael Ventura]

I almost didn't upload this one from the past weekend trip.  It was taken in a store selling antiques, shelves of vintage coloured glassware.

 

[spacecadet]

18 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

 

Do the Beatles statues change colour in fall?

Well the New Scotland Yard sign changed to orange the other day, but I think that was the paint sprayed on it.😉

Edited October 20, 2022 by spacecadet

[DG13]

I just upload this week some pictures of the Venice of Provence we visited this summer!

This charming village is called L'isle-sur-la-sorgue and is also known as capital of antiques!

 

[Allan Bell]

On 20/10/2022 at 13:44, spacecadet said:

Well the New Scotland Yard sign changed to orange the other day, but I think that was the paint sprayed on it.😉

 

Sacrilege.

 

Allan

 

[Allan Bell]

One or two from my upload.

Road works signs in temporary storage

 

mosaic wall on underpass Lincoln city

 

Looking down Steep Hill, Lincoln city

 

Horse wearing protedtive head cover to protect eyes from insects

 

Cloud 9 lap dancing club, Kings Arms Yard, Lincoln city

 

The above sign is well hidden took me some time to locate it.

 

Allan

 

Edited October 22, 2022 by Allan Bell