Welcome little one...

"Making a decision to have a child is momentous.  It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking outside your body." -Elizabeth Stone

Rey and Kelly Berrones have a new member in their family.  Little Shelby Ryan made her appearance on June 26.  I must say Kelly and Rey looked like they were in much need of some sleep, but they both had the biggest smiles on their faces.  The baby was sleeping very well, unlike her parents.  She is a beautiful little princess.  I was told how much she weighed, but it slips my mind now.  It was 6 pounds, and something ounces.  Sorry, I cannot remember...which seems to be happening to me quite a lot lately.  Not remembering that is.  I blame it on the fact that I dye my hair.  All those chemicals are doing something to my brain.

Anyway, welcome to the world Shelby.  I am sure we will get to see her at some of our club meetings.

Shelby Ryan

The light painting, and Milky way, star safari...

"The heavens declare the Glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork." -Psalms 19:1

We had a very nice turn out for our night time safari of light painting, and sky photography.  We started a little rough when the site we had chosen suddenly had a working pump, a derrick, and truck there.  We hunted around for another pump, and found one that would work.  Everybody started setting up.  Settings, and a little instruction were relayed to all participants.  Soon everybody was clicking away, and getting some nice photos.  Gennean was our light painter, and I think she should market herself for this task.  She was fantastic.  Our pictures had just the perfect amount of light.  Feast your eyes on our results.  I will post more as I receive them.

Photos by James Tarlton

Beautiful painting...

Look at that Milky Way! And the beautiful colors in the sky.

Photos by Rob McKelvy

Right after sunset.  Trying to get the blue light.

The Milky Way is just starting to be seen...it is the white, cloud cluster about half-way up the horizon.

Milky way is more visible here.

Really visible.  See all the cars parked to the right of the pump.

We all were happy we did not encounter any snakes out for an evening slither.  Bugs, on the other hand, loved our light.  There were bugs galore.  Pesky things.  We should have taken some yard guard.  I think everyone had a good time, and learned a lot.

Light painting, and photographing stars, and milky way...

Light Painting:

Using light painting, you can get some amazing one-click photos.  Light painting is fun, but shooting at night and painting with light are experiments, so you have to be willing to hang out in the dark a long time.  There are two types of light painting.
  1.  Using a light source to point toward the camera to create words, patterns, and shapes.
         Photos taken from www.iheartfaces.com

You can see this tutorial on how to paint with light by clicking here.

2.  Using a light source to light up an object by moving the light directly over the subject matter.

      

I will be discussing the second method of light painting.  

Equipment:  DSLR, tripod, remote (not necessary but nice), Dark night, object to paint

Settings:  Always use the lowest ISO that will allow a good picture.  When photographing the stars and an object, the ISO will have to be higher.  I usually start with 200 to 400 and go from there.  

Aperture: as open as possible

Shutter speed: pick a shutter speed that is long enough to light the subject, but short enough that ambient light isn't illuminating your photograph.  Start with 15-30 seconds.

Focus: Manually focus on your subject

Light:  flashlight, LED light, iPhone.  This is the experiment part of the technique.  You will have to try different distances, and times with your light until you get the photo you desire.  In the top photo, the light source was an LED light, held very high, and shone from behind the camera for about 3 seconds.  In the windmill photo, the light source was the same, but shone to the side and in front of the camera, about 2 seconds.  (On then off).  

Photographing stars, and the milky way.  You need the same equipment as above.  You need a really, really dark place in order for the stars to be seen.  With star photography, you will start with setting your shutter speed.  If your shutter speed is too slow, the stars with show movement as a line in your photo.  Unless you are photographing star trails, you do not want this in your photo.  You will have to set your shutter speed according to a formula, so you need to know if you have a full frame camera, or a crop camera.  If you have a full frame camera you will use the number 600 divided by your focal length (you want to use your widest lens) to determine your shutter speed.  Example: 600 divided by 16 mm =37.5. So you would set your shutter speed to 37 or 38.  For a crop camera use 400 divided by focal length.  400 divided by 16=25.  Your shutter speed would be 25.  For an Olympus crop camera use 300.  Your focus will be on near infinity.  So that everything within 10 feet, and further will be in focus.  You can see how the truck photo has the truck and stars in focus.    

July light challenge...

"Pictures hold life's experiences, and with every experience you learn something.  Therefore, you learn something with every picture you take." -unknown

With each month as I post a new "light challenge", I think, 'oh, I just love this kind of light.'  This month's challenge is no different.  I love this light, too!  This month's challenge is NIGHT LIGHT.  You, too, will fall in love with the different kinds of light you will get to experiment with, and enjoy.  I have several tutorials for you to try, and will post the "how to" for all of them, so keep checking the blog for the techniques.  Look forward to learning how to shoot 1. Cityscapes; 2. light painting; 3. milky way, constellations, stars; 4. star trails (although I have never done this, but would like to); 5. night portraits.

I hope you will try all of these techniques.  Each one produces a different outcome.

I thought I would start with cityscapes.  Many of you will be traveling this summer, and may find some gorgeous cityscapes.  If you are not traveling, do not fret.  Roswell really is pretty at night.  I know that is hard to believe.  We have several buildings that would be great at night: Navajo Refinery, Leprino, and another other building with lights.

Safety first
Since you will be out at twilight, or dusk, I recommend (especially the ladies) that you bring a partner to act as a second pair of eyes to watch over the situation.  They do not have to be a fellow photographer, but someone to make sure you are safe.

Equipment
DSLR
tripod
wireless shutter release is nice, but not necessary.  You can use one with a wire, and if you do not have  a remote shutter release, use the timer on your camera.

Timing
We are looking for the pretty blue sky...before it turns black.  This kind of sky is captured best about 30 minutes after twilight or dusk.  Many iPhones have the sunrise/sunset times included with the weather app.  Or check online to see the time of expected sunrise/sunset.

Settings
You are going to want to use a tripod, because your shutter speed is going to be long.  Because you want lots of depth of field set your aperture at f/5 or higher.  I set my ISO between 100-200. Make sure you get to your location 15-30 minutes before the "blue" time.  Set your camera on MANUAL mode.  I know this is scary for some of you, but believe me, you will get better photos when you are in control of your settings, and not at the mercy of your camera.  For a starting point, I set my aperture, and ISO.  Then, I meter on the buildings, or subject matter to get the exposure of the city lights.  Once you have the exposure for your subject, wait until the sky is the right blue at that exposure.  You may have to take several pictures until you get the right blue.  Just do not wait too long.  Your shutter speed will vary.

Note: 
To take pictures of the Milky Way, and Stars, and doing star trails, you will need to go out when there is a new moon.  (moon is totally black).  Our next new moon will be June 27, so mark your calendars.

Rules
1.  No archival photos.  The photos must be taken between June 19-July meeting
2.  No more than 4 pictures.  Hopefully, you will take one/week.
3.  Any media is okay:  prints, CD, thumb drive, matted, framed, unframed
4.  While you do not have to state the information, try to have it available if there are questions as to how you shot it
5.  Have fun.

Here are some photos to get your creative juices going.

Aperture f/4.5, SS 4 sec., ISO 200

Light painting
aperture: f/4.5; SS: 15sec; ISO 100

Light painting, milky way, and stars
aperture: f/3.5; SS 25 sec.; ISO 1250

Milky Way, stars
aperture: f/3.5; SS 25 sec; ISO 2500 

Stars
aperture: f/2.8; SS 25 sec.; ISO 5000

light painting
aperture: 2.8; SS 25 sec.; ISO 3200

city lights to the right.  This was totally dark outside.
settings same as above

Cityscape
aperture: f/5.0; SS 0.8 sec.; ISO 100

settings same as above

aperture: f/5.0; SS 0.4 sec.; ISO 100

Night portrait
aperture: 1.8; SS 1/20 sec.; ISO 100

Aperture: f/5.6; SS 30 sec.; ISO 200

July is such a great month to get out at night for some different, and beautiful photos.  It is warm out, and there are a lot of outside activities just waiting to be photographed.  Experiment, and learn.  You will be so happy with your photos.  Go out and get clicking.