Stars over Yolo
I really admire night photography. It is difficult to do, for obvious reasons as well as some hidden ones. I particularly have trouble trying to focus when I can't see anything through the viewfinder, relying only on my best judgement of distance. And then there's the challenge of determining the correct "bulb" exposure. The longer you leave the shutter open, the longer the star trails get, and the blurrier the clouds get, and the more light is shed on the dark land areas. It all depends on what kind of shot you're going for.
Since I have been on Flickr, I've been following photographers I admire. One that I just found is Arild Heitmann, from Norway. His photographs are fantastic, especially the nighttime shots. Check him out -he has amazing photos of the Aurora Borealis. So, thanks Arild, for the inspiration to go out and shoot the midnights.
I have a new camera, and decided to test its ability to capture at hight ISO ratings. I've never had much luck with digital SLRs at high ISOs like 800 and higher. This night, I shot mostly with 1600 ISO, and was really impressed. There is noise and grain as you would expect, but the overall quality and similarity to film is unbelievable.
We've had overcast clouds and fog for a week now, so you can imagine my eagerness to get out and shoot with my new camera! I saw that the clouds were finally breaking up around 9:30pm, so I drove to the Yolo Bypass in Davis, and hiked out into the wetlands under the moonlight. The combo of the moonlight and the lights from sacramento gave a strange glow to the clouds. I shot for about two hours.
See a larger version of this photo here: www.flickr.com/photos/5tons/4227469912/sizes/o/
This is one single image, no HDR.
Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 17-40L @ 17mm
30 second exposure @ F7.1
No Filters
In-Camera-Long-Exposure Noise Reduction
ISO 1600
Stars over Yolo
I really admire night photography. It is difficult to do, for obvious reasons as well as some hidden ones. I particularly have trouble trying to focus when I can't see anything through the viewfinder, relying only on my best judgement of distance. And then there's the challenge of determining the correct "bulb" exposure. The longer you leave the shutter open, the longer the star trails get, and the blurrier the clouds get, and the more light is shed on the dark land areas. It all depends on what kind of shot you're going for.
Since I have been on Flickr, I've been following photographers I admire. One that I just found is Arild Heitmann, from Norway. His photographs are fantastic, especially the nighttime shots. Check him out -he has amazing photos of the Aurora Borealis. So, thanks Arild, for the inspiration to go out and shoot the midnights.
I have a new camera, and decided to test its ability to capture at hight ISO ratings. I've never had much luck with digital SLRs at high ISOs like 800 and higher. This night, I shot mostly with 1600 ISO, and was really impressed. There is noise and grain as you would expect, but the overall quality and similarity to film is unbelievable.
We've had overcast clouds and fog for a week now, so you can imagine my eagerness to get out and shoot with my new camera! I saw that the clouds were finally breaking up around 9:30pm, so I drove to the Yolo Bypass in Davis, and hiked out into the wetlands under the moonlight. The combo of the moonlight and the lights from sacramento gave a strange glow to the clouds. I shot for about two hours.
See a larger version of this photo here: www.flickr.com/photos/5tons/4227469912/sizes/o/
This is one single image, no HDR.
Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 17-40L @ 17mm
30 second exposure @ F7.1
No Filters
In-Camera-Long-Exposure Noise Reduction
ISO 1600