Bodwick
Aug-11-2005, 03:25 PM
Photographing the Perseid meteor shower (Peak12-13 Aug)
How to find the meteors and how to shoot them......
Made as simple as possible (I hope) With apologies for rambling, over simplification or over complex mumblings…..
There is the chance of a very good show of meteors tomorrow night (Fri) into Sat. morning in the UK and Sat13th through Sun14th morning in the USA.(But this goes on for two weeks if you miss the main event)
An article…
http://skyandtelescope.com/aboutsky/pressreleases/article_680_1.asp (http://skyandtelescope.com/aboutsky/pressreleases/article_680_1.asp)
The waxing crescent moon sets at 1am and if the weather is clear (slim chance in the UK as usual) it may be a great show with a huge number of meteors and possible fireballs (Well anything’s possible)…
So what about trying to catch some action on your camera.
I’ll try to keep this simple and as easy as possible to follow (It is very simple, I promise). There are, I’m sure, loads of ways to catch this event and this is just that I am trying (Photographing Stars without star trail). Try a search for a huge amount of info on Astro photography…
I’m no expert but this is the simplest way I can think of to explain what I’ll be trying (subject to weather) Its very easy……..
HOW TO FIND THE RIGHT PLACE TO LOOK
Find North
Use a compass if you can’t find North from the stars.
To find North from the stars look for the Plough (Ursa Major) it looks like a pot with a handle. Look along the handle to the pot take the two stars at the end of the pot and draw a line upwards until you see the first BRIGHT star you come to. That’s the North Star ( Polaris)
So your looking North at the North Star and over your right shoulder is East.
Just gazing from the Plough to the North Star and keep going the same distance you will see a big W shape in the sky (Cassiopeia).
To Draw a W with a pen you go down up down up OK… So go down the W then up the first middle line and stop... Draw a line back down the way you just came(Second line) and keep going/looking a bit further than the width of Cassiopeia). You are now looking at (Perseus)
You don’t want to look directly into this area. The meteors radiate outwards from this point so look back towards the W or to the area surrounding (Perseus) there is (Andromeda) below the W and to the right of (Perseus). Or below (Perseus) there is the (Pleiades)….
Ok you’ve found the right place to look…it’s a big area so just gaze into the area let your eyes adjust to the dark sit down and relax….Your not star watching, rather just waiting and watching the area, so don’t fixate on stars..
SETUP YOUR STUFF
Set up your tripod and set your camera on top. Get organised. A small torch with a red lens helps keep your night vision. Use anything thin/red taped over the torch.
I’ll be trying to get a shot of a meteor crossing the frame from top left to bottom right corner. So in front of us we have a view of the sky that is making sense with a bearing on (Perseus) as a centre from which the meteors radiate towards the surrounding constellations and towards Earth.
I’ll pick the W (Cassiopeia) as we know where this is, don’t we!!, using the same method as used to find (Perseus) I’ll point the left side of the frame down so its pointed towards (Perseus) with the W in the frame as a reference point for the future.
If luck goes my way a meteor will cross so the pic shows a streak of light from top left to bottom right of the image.
So I’m pointing the top left of the frame towards the source of the meteors.
You may want a wide side on view which increases the chance of a ‘hit’ within frame. If you pointed the top of a portrait at the source of the meteors its much more narrow than the wide side ok…Your choice how to frame the shot.
Maximum Exposure Time Without Star Trail
http://www.atmsite.org/contrib/Tasso/formulae/ (http://www.atmsite.org/contrib/Tasso/formulae/)
I’m going for 24mm on full frame 35mm using the formula T = (1000/F) where T is the maximum exposure time in seconds without a star and F is the focal length of the lens in mm
So 1000/24 = 41.666 or simply 40 seconds exposure at f2.8 ISO400
I shot this a while ago but it shows a rough example of what I’m looking for(Just missing a huge fireball across the frame)
http://www.rallye.tv/WebPics/CoronaBorealis.jpg
I’d guess that if your camera is say a 15mm equivalent in 35mm then that’s what you work the calculation out as e.g. 1000/15 = 66.66 sec’s or just 60 sec’s to keep things simple.. I’m on 35mm so I’m guessing here……
You could substitute 1000 for 600 or 200 if you want more and more accurate pic’s or down to T = (1397/F) as mentioned as a starting point on the formula page. I find it leaves star trails that are just a fraction too long. Stick with T=1000/F as it works for star trail free images.
(I was going to talk star trail as another option but this is starting to go on. Try playing with the formula if you want to go this route.)
Don’t forget to find the right place to view from. Dark as possible. Looking North or East or slightly East or North of same.eg NNE.....
Use a release cable and/or a self timer…..
Enjoy the show and don’t get too tied into the photography. Just try to get into a relaxed mode of just shooting away without fussing about the camera…..
Enough of my ramblings I’ll re-read this and adjust any mumbling rubbish later but I hope it makes sense and helps someone catch a shot of what may be a spectacular meteor show…
Bod…..
How to find the meteors and how to shoot them......
Made as simple as possible (I hope) With apologies for rambling, over simplification or over complex mumblings…..
There is the chance of a very good show of meteors tomorrow night (Fri) into Sat. morning in the UK and Sat13th through Sun14th morning in the USA.(But this goes on for two weeks if you miss the main event)
An article…
http://skyandtelescope.com/aboutsky/pressreleases/article_680_1.asp (http://skyandtelescope.com/aboutsky/pressreleases/article_680_1.asp)
The waxing crescent moon sets at 1am and if the weather is clear (slim chance in the UK as usual) it may be a great show with a huge number of meteors and possible fireballs (Well anything’s possible)…
So what about trying to catch some action on your camera.
I’ll try to keep this simple and as easy as possible to follow (It is very simple, I promise). There are, I’m sure, loads of ways to catch this event and this is just that I am trying (Photographing Stars without star trail). Try a search for a huge amount of info on Astro photography…
I’m no expert but this is the simplest way I can think of to explain what I’ll be trying (subject to weather) Its very easy……..
HOW TO FIND THE RIGHT PLACE TO LOOK
Find North
Use a compass if you can’t find North from the stars.
To find North from the stars look for the Plough (Ursa Major) it looks like a pot with a handle. Look along the handle to the pot take the two stars at the end of the pot and draw a line upwards until you see the first BRIGHT star you come to. That’s the North Star ( Polaris)
So your looking North at the North Star and over your right shoulder is East.
Just gazing from the Plough to the North Star and keep going the same distance you will see a big W shape in the sky (Cassiopeia).
To Draw a W with a pen you go down up down up OK… So go down the W then up the first middle line and stop... Draw a line back down the way you just came(Second line) and keep going/looking a bit further than the width of Cassiopeia). You are now looking at (Perseus)
You don’t want to look directly into this area. The meteors radiate outwards from this point so look back towards the W or to the area surrounding (Perseus) there is (Andromeda) below the W and to the right of (Perseus). Or below (Perseus) there is the (Pleiades)….
Ok you’ve found the right place to look…it’s a big area so just gaze into the area let your eyes adjust to the dark sit down and relax….Your not star watching, rather just waiting and watching the area, so don’t fixate on stars..
SETUP YOUR STUFF
Set up your tripod and set your camera on top. Get organised. A small torch with a red lens helps keep your night vision. Use anything thin/red taped over the torch.
I’ll be trying to get a shot of a meteor crossing the frame from top left to bottom right corner. So in front of us we have a view of the sky that is making sense with a bearing on (Perseus) as a centre from which the meteors radiate towards the surrounding constellations and towards Earth.
I’ll pick the W (Cassiopeia) as we know where this is, don’t we!!, using the same method as used to find (Perseus) I’ll point the left side of the frame down so its pointed towards (Perseus) with the W in the frame as a reference point for the future.
If luck goes my way a meteor will cross so the pic shows a streak of light from top left to bottom right of the image.
So I’m pointing the top left of the frame towards the source of the meteors.
You may want a wide side on view which increases the chance of a ‘hit’ within frame. If you pointed the top of a portrait at the source of the meteors its much more narrow than the wide side ok…Your choice how to frame the shot.
Maximum Exposure Time Without Star Trail
http://www.atmsite.org/contrib/Tasso/formulae/ (http://www.atmsite.org/contrib/Tasso/formulae/)
I’m going for 24mm on full frame 35mm using the formula T = (1000/F) where T is the maximum exposure time in seconds without a star and F is the focal length of the lens in mm
So 1000/24 = 41.666 or simply 40 seconds exposure at f2.8 ISO400
I shot this a while ago but it shows a rough example of what I’m looking for(Just missing a huge fireball across the frame)
http://www.rallye.tv/WebPics/CoronaBorealis.jpg
I’d guess that if your camera is say a 15mm equivalent in 35mm then that’s what you work the calculation out as e.g. 1000/15 = 66.66 sec’s or just 60 sec’s to keep things simple.. I’m on 35mm so I’m guessing here……
You could substitute 1000 for 600 or 200 if you want more and more accurate pic’s or down to T = (1397/F) as mentioned as a starting point on the formula page. I find it leaves star trails that are just a fraction too long. Stick with T=1000/F as it works for star trail free images.
(I was going to talk star trail as another option but this is starting to go on. Try playing with the formula if you want to go this route.)
Don’t forget to find the right place to view from. Dark as possible. Looking North or East or slightly East or North of same.eg NNE.....
Use a release cable and/or a self timer…..
Enjoy the show and don’t get too tied into the photography. Just try to get into a relaxed mode of just shooting away without fussing about the camera…..
Enough of my ramblings I’ll re-read this and adjust any mumbling rubbish later but I hope it makes sense and helps someone catch a shot of what may be a spectacular meteor show…
Bod…..