Post your best current shots

Looking forward to some shoots of the Aurora....

Here are a few more from this past Sunday.....

An ABE on Lake Umbagog:
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3754/9...02f3b9d6_o.jpg
small-6332 by kayaker72, on Flickr

Pileated Woodpecker on Lake Umbagog:
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5545/9...2285dac4_o.jpg
small-6345 by kayaker72, on Flickr

Pontook Reservoir on the Androscoggin River:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7417/9...6d03c398_o.jpg
small-3092 by kayaker72, on Flickr

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5476/9...a258a33f_o.jpg
small-3096 by kayaker72, on Flickr

Thanks for viewing....Brant

Pat that's a great composition and very nice result. This is definitely an area of photography where gear can make a big difference (full frame sensor, fast pricey prime lens). However it's also good to know that the nifty fifty can make the Milky Way pop out like that, which goes to show that everyone who lives near a dark sky should definitely do this. I'm curious --- did you focus with live view? I've found that a very good way to ensure that the stars come out as sharp as possible. And I also stop down the lens just a wee bit... you give up a bit of the speed but can make up a lot of sharpness. You might also be able to use a longer exposure without having star movement affect the image. There are tables published somewhere about the maximum recommended shutter speed versus focal length, but you can also do some trial & error shooting and see what works the best (for example, twice the shutter speed at ISO 800). Thanks for sharing the shot!

(Edit --- I'm saying 'twice the speed' but I'm really meaning half. A double positive... kind of like saying, 'turn down the refrigerator' :p)

Last night's aurora was rated as "moderate" in Yellowknife terms... just an everyday yawner for the locals. For me it was stellar, and it was also quite a treat not having to try to shoot at -37 C, as was the case last time we were here.

Canon 1DX, 24 mm f/1.4 LII, 8 sec @ f/2.0, ISO 1600 (note the original image was underexposed by one stop, so I adjusted in Lightroom).
Attachment 1977

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jonathan Huyer

Pat that's a great composition and very nice result. This is definitely an area of photography where gear can make a big difference (full frame sensor, fast pricey prime lens). However it's also good to know that the nifty fifty can make the Milky Way pop out like that, which goes to show that everyone who lives near a dark sky should definitely do this. I'm curious --- did you focus with live view? I've found that a very good way to ensure that the stars come out as sharp as possible. And I also stop down the lens just a wee bit... you give up a bit of the speed but can make up a lot of sharpness. You might also be able to use a longer exposure without having star movement affect the image. There are tables published somewhere about the maximum recommended shutter speed versus focal length, but you can also do some trial & error shooting and see what works the best (for example, twice the shutter speed at ISO 800). Thanks for sharing the shot!

(Edit --- I'm saying 'twice the speed' but I'm really meaning half. A double positive... kind of like saying, 'turn down the refrigerator' :p)

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Thanks! And thanks for the advice.

Yes I did focus in live view. I lost sharpness because I was wide open. I did try stopping down a bit, but then I needed to lighten in post (which looked bad) or I had to increase shutter speed to much and I got to much star movement (which made it appear blurry).

The rule of thumb for shutter speed vs. focal length vs. star movement is the shutter speed should be less than or equal to 600/(focal length). For me, I was at 50mm with a 1.6 crop, so my shutter should have been at 7.5 sec - which was not practical with the 7D ISO performance. I ended up at 15 sec which made the stars elongated a little... making them appear even less focussed.

Seeing shots like the one you have here has me convinced that I have a FF camera and 24mm f/1.4L II in my future.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jonathan Huyer

Last night's aurora was rated as "moderate" in Yellowknife terms... just an everyday yawner for the locals. For me it was stellar, and it was also quite a treat not having to try to shoot at -37 C, as was the case last time we were here.

Canon 1DX, 24 mm f/1.4 LII, 8 sec @ f/2.0, ISO 1600 (note the original image was underexposed by one stop, so I adjusted in Lightroom).
Attachment 1977

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by conropl

Seeing shots like the one you have here has me convinced that I have a FF camera and 24mm f/1.4L II in my future.

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...and if you need any more convincing, here is one of the 300+ shots that I took last night. It was the perfect confluence of conditions: Clear skies, no wind, great aurora, and open water in the right direction. As before I used a shutter speed of 8 seconds at f/2.0, ISO 1600. Using your handy formula, I get a shutter speed times focal length number of 192, which helps explain why it is so easy to get tack-sharp stars with the 24 mm f/1.4 lens.


http://www.huyerperspectives.com/Nat...A39Q8353-L.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jonathan Huyer

...here is one of the 300+ shots that I took last night. It was the perfect confluence of conditions: Clear skies, no wind, great aurora, and open water in the right direction. As before I used a shutter speed of 8 seconds at f/2.0, ISO 1600.

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Very cool shot. It is so neat to see the lights reflected in the water like that. I like the sail boat in the frame.

Not that you need inspiration or pointers, I just thought you might enjoy this:

http://vimeo.com/65504232#at=0

It is a compilation of time laps videos a guy took along Lake Superior in 2012 (it's about 7 minutes of some great night skies).

Great shots everyone. Love the aurora shots.

Here are a few shots of a GBH in Brownfield bog in Maine. I do my best to not chase birds, but the channel was narrow and this GBH simply kept flying infront of us. So, I ended up with 3-4 good opportunities to capture the GBH.

"Hiding"
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3828/9...c1e5eb54_o.jpg
small-6538 by kayaker72, on Flickr

"Launch"
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7379/9...1257ea68_o.jpg
small-6555 by kayaker72, on Flickr

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3726/9...aeb62b4e_o.jpg
small-6598 by kayaker72, on Flickr

"In flight"
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7427/9...bea34408_o.jpg
small-6549 by kayaker72, on Flickr

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3773/9...c1b068ed_o.jpg
small-6562 by kayaker72, on Flickr


http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3726/9...ba686c5e_o.jpg
small-6603 by kayaker72, on Flickr

Thanks for viewing...Brant

Two more shots of lightning from me...:rolleyes:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7329/9...e7e8123e_o.jpg
small-6721 by kayaker72, on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7354/9...b1b0b12a_o.jpg
small-6725 by kayaker72, on Flickr

Thanks for viewing...Brant

Some cool shots here. Love the Auroras, Jonathan. Some day, some day....

I was out last night at the home of one of our retired professors. He has just a slight interest in tracking near earth objects as you can see. His telescopes range from 24" to 50", with four in all, each in their own building. All are computer controlled and all images are sent to servers at the university via microwave from a tower in his yard. This professor tracked over 22,000 objects last year. The next closest tracking station, owned by NASA, tracked just 8,000.

http://bimmermail.com/Holmes/observ02-sm.jpg

http://bimmermail.com/Holmes/observ01-sm.jpg

Someone on another board commented on the "red ring" L telescopes. :cool: While I was out there, I set up my paltry 400mm 5.6 and 1.4x TC for a moonshot.

http://bimmermail.com/Holmes/moon091313-01-md.jpg

Brant , those are some cool lightning pics !
i was out chasing deer tonight and got these. I realy like my new 70-200 f4 lens but i can definitely see where a f2.8 with IS would help a lot at last light.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7324/9...f9c39959_b.jpg
IMG_0595-2 by sedwards679, on Flickr
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7331/9...130702c7_b.jpg
IMG_0615-2 by sedwards679, on Flickr