| We are going to start this two part series on dark and light by focusing on the darkside of photography - yes think DARTH VADER. What do we photograph in the dark besides a lot of black? How about stars! Jay receives a bunch of questions asking how to photograph stars, so we want to give you the basics to at least get you out there trying to shoot them more often. First, a few things to consider before heading out in the dark. Bring - warm clothes, a tripod, a cable release with intervalometer, extra batteries for your camera, great optics (f/4 lenses or faster), and a headlamp. IN ALL CASES...USE LENS' WIDEST APERTURE (f/2.8 for an f/2.8 lens), FOCUS TO INFINITY (mostly), and ISO CONTROLS STAR INTENSITY. Next, to photograph star pinpoints there is an equation that you need to remember: 600 ÷ Lens Focal Length = Longest Exposure Before Stars Begin to Blur Example: 600 ÷ 24mm Lens = 20.83 or a 20 Second Shutter Speed.
Jay typically sets his ISO to 1600 or 3200 here depending on the surrounding light pollution and then views what his camera records. Lastly, to photograph star trails, Jay uses a shutter speed of 4 - 8 minutes (this is where Intervalometer comes in), sets his ISO to 400 and again his lens to a wide-open aperture.
Photo Above Metadata: 70-200mm Zoom at 145mm, 241 Seconds @ f/2.8 In our next newsletter we will cover the light - yes it is LUKE SKYWALKER’S return. | 