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cathyburke

Franklin Island-8

First time photographing stars - what a beautiful night

First time photographing stars - what a beautiful night
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Canon EOS 7D Mark II

settings

Aperture f/4 ISO 3200 Shutter 25/1 Focal Length 10/1

upload_date

Feb, 2019

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Awards

Top Shot Award 22

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Behind The Lens

Location

Franklin Island in Georgian Bay, Ontario. On a flat sloping rocky shoreline looking out onto the Bay.

Time

My first experiments with night star photography - learning how to do it with Ariel Estulin of Outdoor Photography Journey. It was a very clear night in early August and the Milky Way was spectacular.

Lighting

We set up the tent with an indoor candle lantern to provide interest and perspective. Then set up the tripod to best catch the Milky Way over the Bay. The faint glow you can see in the background is the opposite shoreline, where a few exterior lights were shining. We were also fortunate to have the moon in the right place, right beside the Milky Way.

Equipment

Canon 6D. Wide angle lense. Manfrotto tripod. No flash. Ariel (our instructor) had an app that he tracks star locations on and knew just where to set us up, and what time to plan for the shoot. We used an i-pad to view our photos on next day for advice on post-processing.

Inspiration

I was on a 3 day photography workshop on Georgian Bay with Outdoor Photography Journey. We canoed out to the island, and camped there. A very inspiring location, and a great teacher. Along with the spectacular rockscapes and other landscape photography we did, we dedicated one night to star photography, which I've always wanted to try. It was a lot easier than I thought ! The night was perfect for the shoot - clear, the moon in the right position, the Milky Way very bright.

Editing

I shot in raw, so that the blacks were fully represented in the photo. Other than a bit of playing with exposure and highlights to bring out the luminescense of the stars, it is pretty much how I shot it.

In my camera bag

Macro lens, ND filters, polarizing filter, wide angle lens, lens hood shade, remote shutter release, extra batteries, extra camera cards, lens cleaner, 18-200 zoom lens is normally on the camera.

Feedback

Start with ISO 3200 - go up to 6400 Keep the aperture wide open Shutter speed = 500/focal length. With my wide angle lens, I used a 25 second exposure time. Colour temp should be 3500-4200 When setting up the camera on the tripod, use your flashlight (headlamp helps) to find the view. then step away and hope for the best !

See more amazing photos, follow cathyburke

cathyburke

cathyburke

Franklin Island-8

First time photographing stars - what a beautiful night

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow cathyburke

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