Re: What's In Your Camera? Reply #1950 – July 19, 2024, 01:54:06 pm Puffins from today in Spillars Cove, Newfoundland 15 Likes
Re: What's In Your Camera? Reply #1951 – July 19, 2024, 09:01:41 pm Dave, those are all great puffin photos. Dungeon Cove along that trail is also interesting. 2 Likes
Re: What's In Your Camera? Reply #1952 – July 21, 2024, 06:02:50 am Those are adorable pictures. Makes me smile. Thank you for sharing. 1 Likes
Re: What's In Your Camera? Reply #1953 – July 23, 2024, 09:35:33 am A few weeks ago we adopted two older cats. They are a bonded pair. Little Mama and Sweet Pea are their names. They have been indoor cats all their lives. They have never been abused or hurt by a human. They both have no fear of humans. Last week was their first camping trip. I think they passed with flying colors.glen 7 Likes
Re: What's In Your Camera? Reply #1954 – July 23, 2024, 04:41:49 pm Quote from: colddog - July 23, 2024, 09:35:33 amA few weeks ago we adopted two older cats. They are a bonded pair. Little Mama and Sweet Pea are their names. They have been indoor cats all their lives. They have never been abused or hurt by a human. They both have no fear of humans. Last week was their first camping trip. I think they passed with flying colors.Nice, once again you have traveling cats, are you going to try to leash-train them? I'm not sure if that is possible with indooor only cats.Larry
Re: What's In Your Camera? Reply #1955 – July 23, 2024, 08:46:11 pm Quail and squirrels at Pinnacles NP campground 5 Likes
Re: What's In Your Camera? Reply #1956 – July 24, 2024, 09:18:13 am Quote from: Larry W - July 23, 2024, 04:41:49 pmNice, once again you have traveling cats, are you going to try to leash-train them? I'm not sure if that is possible with indooor only cats.LarryLittle Mama is very very carious. I was able to get a leash on both of them. Time will tell but Little Mama 'enjoys' it better than Sweet Pea.glen
Re: What's In Your Camera? Reply #1957 – July 24, 2024, 07:19:27 pm 07/24, Whale of a daySpent the day on Baccalieu peninsula.Upon arriving in Harbour Grace, spotted the SS Kyle, an old freighter/ferry that ran aground there in 1967, and just left there. After getting a so so photo from shore, decided it was drone worthy, getting a far better photo.One of Harbour Grace’s claim to fame is Amelia Earhart took off here for her solo flight across the Atlantic. They had a statue, and today they celebrated her 127th birthday.Continued up the eastern coast of Baccalieu.Stopped at the rest stop overlooking Caplin Cove, noticed it was really easy to spot whales swimming in the bay, given how calm the water was. So I grabbed my camera and started walking cross country to a point that extended into the bay, through brambles (me with just sandals). Half mile later, had a great elevated view.Spent a good couple hours. One whale was close enough I could track it from above, getting great full frame photos. Whale video 8 Likes
Re: What's In Your Camera? Reply #1958 – July 29, 2024, 08:29:54 pm Some camera pics from our trip to The Grand Canyon (south rim). These were taken at Grandview Point overlook. We got there about 45 min before sundown.Got to see a color show. Then the sun went down and the moon, or some of it, went down too. Surprisingly almost everyone departed. We were alone.That made for a very dark night. Well until the stars came out and then I didn't really need a flashlight.I saw a shooting star. Find it?There was a fire north of us, I think over the border in Utah. That is the glow you see.Thanks for looking. 15 Likes
Re: What's In Your Camera? Reply #1959 – July 30, 2024, 04:19:29 pm There are boondock sites and then there are BOONDOCK sites.Parked for the night in Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia, in the Peggy’s Cove Lighthouse parking lot.Not as peaceful and uncrowded as Newfoundland, but it will do. 12 Likes
Re: What's In Your Camera? Reply #1960 – July 31, 2024, 09:32:08 am Quote from: John DaCrema - July 29, 2024, 08:29:54 pmSome camera pics from our trip to The Grand Canyon (south rim) .....Nice pictures ... I am developing interest in photography hobby. 1) I am sure each camera type have different settings, in general terms, what parameters you set to capture stars 2) latter this year I will be fortunate enough to be northern tip of Norway, i know I have to keep frame rate high to be able to play northern light in slow. Any other ideas on parameters here? Of course my hands are shaky, I will keep camera stand with me, yes I know it is pain in the back.If it helps I have sony AIII and lense is 60-200. For upcoming trip I puchased FE 200-600 lense and FE 2x something ... no sure technical term but it is supposed to increase the zoom twice so technically my new lense will give me 400-1200 range. Both new toys are still packed and will be opened during the trip. I usually learn by seeing the results by setting the parameters instead of reading the manual.Thanks in advance.
Re: What's In Your Camera? Reply #1961 – July 31, 2024, 10:31:11 am Probably want to open up a different topic for your question, and probably a Sony camera forum instead.From my limited astrophotography experience, you do need a tripod, as you are talking about exposures of 20-30 seconds.A longer zoom or a 2x teleconverter is useful only for wildlife, not for stars. The longer the lens, the more light you lose. Your original lens is fine.Open you new toys, verify they work, and practice with them. I bought a completely new camera and lens for Alaska just before leaving, took photos of every animal I could find so I’d be ready when it counted in Alaska. Highly recommend you do that before fumbling in dark cold northern Norway. Especially verify your tripod will work for you taking photos of stars, easier to get a better one now, than in Norway.There are likely many Sony tutorials on YouTube. It’s where I found the settings for my Canon R7 1 Likes
Re: What's In Your Camera? Reply #1962 – July 31, 2024, 11:46:56 am Hi Muhammad.I am an astrophotographer, but generally use more specific equipment than a DSLR (which I assume the Sony is). If what you are trying to do is capture the northern lights, which I have never done ( I was clouded out when I went to Norway), I would suggest the shortest focal length you can use; that way you will get the widest field of view (the biggest view of the sky) and therefore most of the "lights". I would also suggest putting some landmark, like a tree or mountain or something terrestrial, in the image to give perspective. DEFINITELY use a tripod; it's not really possible to handhold a camera for astrophotography. If your shortest FL (focal length) is 60mm, your exposure time should probably be 25 seconds or less, especially if you are shooting far from the north pole. That would get quite a few stars, far more than you can see. One second exposure times might be good for the northern lights. If your trying to get a time lapse for the northern lights, you might want an intervalometer (I think I spelled that right!); that would be very handy. As your focal length increases, exposure times decrease to prevent star trailing (smearing), unless that's the effect you are going for. When I shoot at 500mm FL, I'm using a "tracking mount", something that will allow the camera to track the motion of the sky and not trail the stars. Think $$$$$.That's some of the basics. You can see my blog, which I haven't updated recently, atViews of the UniverseAnother good blog, but one that you will need to comb thru is from my friend Michael Covington atMichael Covington's Daily NotebookHe is a former college prof who has written books on astrophotography.I hope you have a good trip, and let me see some of those pictures! If I can help further, just send me an email.KenQuote from: Muhammad - July 31, 2024, 09:32:08 amNice pictures ... I am developing interest in photography hobby. 1) I am sure each camera type have different settings, in general terms, what parameters you set to capture stars 2) latter this year I will be fortunate enough to be northern tip of Norway, i know I have to keep frame rate high to be able to play northern light in slow. Any other ideas on parameters here? Of course my hands are shaky, I will keep camera stand with me, yes I know it is pain in the back.If it helps I have sony AIII and lense is 60-200. For upcoming trip I puchased FE 200-600 lense and FE 2x something ... no sure technical term but it is supposed to increase the zoom twice so technically my new lense will give me 400-1200 range. Both new toys are still packed and will be opened during the trip. I usually learn by seeing the results by setting the parameters instead of reading the manual.Thanks in advance. 3 Likes
Re: What's In Your Camera? Reply #1963 – July 31, 2024, 06:58:58 pm Quote from: Muhammad - July 31, 2024, 09:32:08 amNice pictures ... I am developing interest in photography hobby. 1) I am sure each camera type have different settings, in general terms, what parameters you set to capture stars 2) latter this year I will be fortunate enough to be northern tip of Norway, i know I have to keep frame rate high to be able to play northern light in slow. Any other ideas on parameters here? Of course my hands are shaky, I will keep camera stand with me, yes I know it is pain in the back.If it helps I have sony AIII and lense is 60-200. For upcoming trip I puchased FE 200-600 lense and FE 2x something ... no sure technical term but it is supposed to increase the zoom twice so technically my new lense will give me 400-1200 range. Both new toys are still packed and will be opened during the trip. I usually learn by seeing the results by setting the parameters instead of reading the manual.Thanks in advance.I used a mirrorless camera (I am a Nikon guy). For this trip I knew I would have a good chance to get some night sky pictures. Not something I am practiced at. I read about the 500 rule years ago and googled rules for night photography. Also I wanted a wider view of the sky so I rented a lens from "Lens Rentals (dot) Com". I rented a 20mm 1.8. So a starting shutter speed you divide the number 500 by the focal length of the lens for a starting point on shutter speed. If you have a crop sensor (I do not know if your AIII is crop or full frame) adjust the focal length before dividing. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, for night photography generally it is better for the amateur to go with a wider lens over a longer lens. You will want a lens that has a wide aperture to let in a lot of light. So for you 60-200 you will want to open the lens to the lowest apture and assuming the camera is full frame at 60mm you will have about 8ish seconds to take a picture with no star trails. That is not very long to soak up the star light. My picture above something like 15 seconds. You might note that the 500 rule gave me up to 25 seconds so I did a lot of experimenting. It is not really a rule, it is a constant based on the spin of the earth and a 35mm film camera and likely other things. It is just a starting point. If you're not getting nice sharp stars at 8 seconds try leaving the camera open for a long time. Point the camera north and you will get a circular ark from the star trails. This is just from the little I read up on and the YouTube video. I am very much a novice. You should take what I say with a several truck loads of salt. 5 Likes
Re: What's In Your Camera? Reply #1964 – August 05, 2024, 09:23:32 pm Our RV traveling companion is almost ready for bedtime 🥱! 8 Likes
Re: What's In Your Camera? Reply #1965 – August 11, 2024, 06:00:01 pm Took this picture few days ago. Was focused on dropping my daughter to graduate school safely.Talked to the owner, he is a full timer since 2017 ... if my memory is correct this is 40+ year old Ford 350. Owner continue to modify coach and told me that he has done extensive engine work himself. There is rust on the roof which according to owner (again old memory, I think his name is Bob) is result of camping at Pedra Islan, TX couple of years ago.There is a plank on the camper claiming that more folks photographed this camper than any other camper ..... I asked Bob about it and he said it is worded very carefully and that he put this statement on the facebook and nobody challenged the statement yet.As I mentioned before more than anything I find meeting with interesting folks most rewarding part of travelling. I am introvert but finding myself going out of way talking to fellow travellers, campground hosts, etc. 2 Likes
Re: What's In Your Camera? Reply #1966 – August 11, 2024, 06:41:53 pm Quote from: Ken and Joyce - July 31, 2024, 11:46:56 amHi Muhammad.I am an astrophotographer, but generally use more specific equipment than a DSLR (which I assume the Sony is). If what you are trying to do is capture the northern lights, which I have never done ( I was clouded out when I went to Norway), I would suggest the shortest focal length you can use; that way you will get the widest field of view (the biggest view of the sky) and therefore most of the "lights". I would also suggest putting some landmark, like a tree or mountain or something terrestrial, in the image to give perspective. DEFINITELY use a tripod; it's not really possible to handhold a camera for astrophotography. If your shortest FL (focal length) is 60mm, your exposure time should probably be 25 seconds or less, especially if you are shooting far from the north pole. That would get quite a few stars, far more than you can see. One second exposure times might be good for the northern lights. If your trying to get a time lapse for the northern lights, you might want an intervalometer (I think I spelled that right!); that would be very handy. As your focal length increases, exposure times decrease to prevent star trailing (smearing), unless that's the effect you are going for. When I shoot at 500mm FL, I'm using a "tracking mount", something that will allow the camera to track the motion of the sky and not trail the stars. Think $$$$$.That's some of the basics. You can see my blog, which I haven't updated recently, atViews of the UniverseAnother good blog, but one that you will need to comb thru is from my friend Michael Covington atMichael Covington's Daily NotebookHe is a former college prof who has written books on astrophotography.I hope you have a good trip, and let me see some of those pictures! If I can help further, just send me an email.KenThanks Ken and John, I am saving this msg. Need to reread and follow the links and watch few YouTube instructional videos on astronomy photograpy. Thanks for taking time to share your experience.Dave, thanks. Still need some rest from rush driving but I did not forget to bring my new toys. I know where two new lenses and they will be getting on the camera in a day or two and I will start learning from my mistakes. I do remember putting tripod but usual space was claimed by princess. Eventually will find it ... 1 Likes
Re: What's In Your Camera? Reply #1967 – August 28, 2024, 07:06:23 am Quote from: Muhammad - August 11, 2024, 06:41:53 pmThanks Ken and John, I am saving this msg. Need to reread and follow the links and watch few YouTube instructional videos on astronomy photograpy. Thanks for taking time to share your experience.Dave, thanks. Still need some rest from rush driving but I did not forget to bring my new toys. I know where two new lenses and they will be getting on the camera in a day or two and I will start learning from my mistakes. I do remember putting tripod but usual space was claimed by princess. Eventually will find it ...Fortunately in part of the country where I can simply shoot any part of the sky and get lot of stars .... used current 60-200 (I think) lens. Used max opening at f step at 2.5 or was it 3 and was playing with different shutter speeds. I got lot of decent pictures with flumsy stand I have only issue I have is I do not see stars on the camera screen to focus on. I takes lot of time to look for a bright point and then struggle with the stand to move the small squate on the screen to align with the bright start to focus and then press the button. I think I need to find out 1) how to how to brighten out the screen, I know there is a dial on the side which goes from -3 to +3, I will play with it 2) as for small aligning the small square to focus, there are different ways of focus on sony aiii, I finally have to courage to start using the camera on fully manual mode but for focus I am still relying on camera to do auto focus, guess I have to take control on the focus and change it to manual focus as well. More I play with this camera more appretiation I have for the sensors it has .... hope picture comes with good resolution ....
Re: What's In Your Camera? Reply #1968 – August 28, 2024, 11:03:04 am Hi Muhammad.I thought I might respond to your last post (and it will be a looooong post; probably 2 actually, but...). If this is your first astrophoto, I would call it excellent! From your post, it sounds like you may have struggled a bit, but that's just "growing pains" in astrophotography. It will get easier as you progress. Since I don't use a Sony camera, (my DSLR is a Canon), I will suggest some things to look for on your camera that could/should make things easier, hopefully . 1) Live view. If you have this, it is faster to focus. If you can increase the magnification of the viewing screen, that will help A LOT!2) To help with focusing, point the camera at the moon, if it it up. Focus on that. If the moon is not up, TRY using a distant light, like a street light or front porch light. The further away the better. Just be sure you are focusing NEAR infinity.3) Manually focus (using the above tips). The only experience I have is with my DSLR, but what I can say is that cameras from that era could never autofocus on astronomical objects. Yours is newer, so I don't have any idea if it can or not. However, the current wisdom is always to manually focus.4) By the same token, if you lens has an auto stabilization feature, I would turn it off.5) If you camera IS a DSLR, ie, not a mirrorless camera, if you can lock the mirror in the up position (mine is actually called mirror lockup), do that before taking the picture. The reason for that, as well as the next tip, is to decrease the possibility of the camera shaking when taking the photo. Locking the mirror up means you can't see thru the viewfinder; the light path is directly to the sensor. Obviously, do this immediately before taking the image. 5) If you camera has the ability to delay taking the image for a few seconds before actually taking the image, use that as well. This would be the kind of thing you would use if, say, you were taking a photo of a group and you wanted to be in the photo, you would press the button to take the photo, the timer would start, and you would run to get into the photo.That's all for this post. I will show you what you actually got an image of in the next one.For now, Ken 2 Likes
Re: What's In Your Camera? Reply #1969 – August 28, 2024, 11:54:19 am Well, it looks like posting inline images with comments is not possible. So... What I did was enlarge and sharpen your original image, then "plate solve" it on Astronmety.net. If I can upload the images, they will be 1) the plate solved image from Astrometry.net 2) the information derived from the image, also from Astrometry.net, and finally, a screen shot from Stellarium of the area of the image. And it looks like the .txt file has to be clicked on to open it.Ken 1 Likes
Re: What's In Your Camera? Reply #1970 – August 28, 2024, 04:07:36 pm Ken and Joyce,Thanks for encouragement.1) I dont know if sony aiii has viewing screen magnification but now I know what to look for, Shaikh Google will help.2) if I find a bright spot (star) on the view finder or screen, camera can easily focus on it. Problem is I can see 100s of 10000s of stars but I cannot even see a single one on the screen or view finder. I hope step 1 will help.3) I looked at manual focus option and though there are lot of focusing functions but to my surprise I could not find any function to turn off auto ficus. This perticular lense does not have stabilizer function but have a focusing ring which I guess can be used for fine tuning. Taking a stepping back, I actually do not have any issue with the focusing, problem is bright object visibility. Once I can find bright object camera does a pretty good job of focussing. Camera is mirror less and I will look for view finder magnification function and let's see if it help me find stars on the screen/viewfinder. We are in Valley of the fire in New Mexico for next two nights and if sky is clear this is good point for star gazing. Beside magnification function I am woundering if dial which goes from -3 to +3 will let me see stars on the screen/viewfinder.
Re: What's In Your Camera? Reply #1971 – August 28, 2024, 08:03:07 pm Hi guys,I shoot with a Nikon DSLR D800e with a full frame 36 megapixel sensor.Mirrorless camera have no shake when taking a photo. With a mirrored camera you will certainly need to lock the mirror up to avoid the shaking of the sensor when the mirror moves to take the shot.As far as focus goes, to my knowledge, there is no way to focus on a star. It’s just too darned far away. The rule for shooting stars is to set your camera too infinitely in manual (if you can) then bring the focus back just a hair. Focusing on infinity means that your camera is looking too far out. You can try to shoot a particular star or use a star map or you can just shoot in the direction you want to capture most. It is all about getting the experience and enjoying yourself. There are apps that help you locate the best areas to shoot the night sky and what time of year to shoot. City lights can really mess up a good photo. By all means locate the auto focus feature on your camera. Autofocus (on my Nikon and Tamron lenses) utilizes magnets to maintain focus and by turning off the auto focus this will allow your manual focus attempts to stay put. I’ve forgotten to turn my camera and lenses auto focus off and it ruined my photos of a Blood Moon. And by all means set the timer on your camera or get a remote shutter release to avoid shaking the camera when taking a shot of a star field. It takes a bit of time for a camera to settle back down when manually snapping a picture. A heavy tripod is a must too. Nothing like a random breeze sneaking up on you when you least expect it. I am trying not to repeat tips given already so I’ll finish by stating one last thing. A 200 mm lens is too long to get great star shots. For stars, I believe, the shorter the lens the better. A long lens is good for the moon though. For moon shots I use a 600 mm lens. For stars I shoot a 15-30 mm super wide angle lens with a camera that has a wide range of ISO. The higher the ISO the better. This allows you to shorten the amount of time the aperture stays open. The longer an aperture is open the more likely the stars can blur.Keep shooting, it’s been said that ‘if you shoot all day and come home with one good photo you had a great day’.Kent 5 Likes
Re: What's In Your Camera? Reply #1972 – August 29, 2024, 01:10:16 am Thanks for all the information and advice. Not going to buy more equipment before I have enough for putting order for semi ...While reading messages again, I realize that I actually do not have fully manual mode. I keep shutter and f step control with me and gave gave iso control to camera to bring the picture compsition in balance based on my selection of f-step and shutter speed. In normal light or even in night it works pretty good, I never have to worry about iso and never had any noice issue due to wrong iso value.With dark sky and my selection of biggest appature and slow shutter speed perhaps camera is not setting iso high enough for me to see stars on the screen or on the view finder. If I am right problem is solved, I will take ISO out of the auto mode.Cloudy right now, otherwise instead of writing hypithetical problem and potential resolution, hopefully I would be writing the solution :-)Sony is first camera I have beside cell phone. There are different ways to focus, and one I prefer give a small square which can be moved by joystick or touching the screen. Camera easily focus if any thing like light, color, depth change in the square. There are very rare occasions when camera do not recognize object in the square in that case I simply select center or entire screen for focus. At least in Sony I do not see how ficus can be any issue if stars are visible on the screen, but I am.novice ....I also fond magnifier function and I think it will be useful but as Greg said need to practice.Thanks again for valuable advice and I think I am on my way. I know what other tools I need but I will wait to see some results to convince I can do it.
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