Lens Lovers Club - Evening Star Photography Session - 11 May 2021

[Frederic]

@Jorge Stepniak Felippe could you please update us on which equipment (Camera model, lenses) you will be bringing ?

[Yousef Alimadadi]

Hi @Frederic, Can you please add me to the waiting list? 

Many thanks 

Edited May 9, 2021 by Yousef Alimadadi

[Frederic]

Current Waitlist as per Sunday 9 May:

1) Samamara @samamara

2) Srikumar @Srikumar

3) Chaitanya @Chaitanya D

4) JeromeFJ @JeromeFJ

5) Yousef Alimadadi @Yousef Alimadadi

[samamara]

2 hours ago, Frederic said:

Current Waitlist as per Sunday 9 May:

1) Samamara @samamara

2) Srikumar @Srikumar

3) Chaitanya @Chaitanya D

4) Yousef Alimadadi @Yousef Alimadadi

@FredericThanks so much for keeping me in the loop but I didn't think I'd get to go on this trip so I made other astro plans for the 11th 😩. You can take me off the waiting list so someone else can join, but please have more of these photography trips - day, night, whatever 😂 - so we can keep bringing our passions together!

[Frederic]

1 minute ago, samamara said:

@FredericThanks so much for keeping me in the loop but I didn't think I'd get to go on this trip so I made other astro plans for the 11th 😩. You can take me off the waiting list so someone else can join, but please have more of these photography trips - day, night, whatever 😂 - so we can keep bringing our passions together!

Sorry i wasnt able to slip you in @samamara. Rest assured we will have more of these trips and i am looking forward to meeting you and picking your photography brain  

[Frederic]

Copying the previous session post from @Mikhail Lukichev as introduction here:

Hello everyone! 

Thanks for joining us!

Since we are going to take some stars photos, we need to have some basic equipment with us. If you do not have something, probably, you will not be able to get desired result. 

However, equipment list is very basic:

1) tripod suitable for your camera. There is no need to have an expensive tripod, however, if your camera and lens is heavy, sturdy tripod would be handy

2) DSLR or mirrorless camera able to shoot in raw with exposure time up to 20 seconds. If you do not have one, you can try to shoot with a simple point and shoot camera or phone, but lack of settings could be an issue. If you have a camera but not sure if it is suitable or not, feel free to ask here!

3) wide angle lens. Actually, any kit lens should work fine. Do not bring your telephoto lens or a portrait lens this time, we will not use it. Again, if your are not sure what to bring with you, feel free to ask!

4) a bit of adhesive tape would be handy but not mandatory.

5) fully charged battery for your camera.

6) red light headlamp. Red light helps a lot operating your camera and not overstressing your eyes

 

Preparation plan:

We will meet up at the Etisalat Cellular tower, and deflate our tyres. From there we will take an easy track that leads to a nearby sabkha that has a well, surrounded by ghaf trees and palm trees. This is a very quiet and big area which will allow us to park the cars, and setup our tripods.

We will be mostly using the Manual mode on the camera. We would advise to have a look at your camera's operating manual beforehand so you are comfortable how to switch over to Manual mode and find the settings that you will need to experiment with:

1) ISO setting. Will be around the 3200 range.

2) Shutter Speed. Will be around 20-30 seconds.

3) Aperture will need to be at its max. setting that your lens can take. (fully open). F/1.8 to F/4 (the lower the better).

We will be practicing with various settings and helping you out to determine what works best as per your camera, lens, and personal preferences. 

The main aim is to learn from each other and enjoy the beautiful scenery and tranquility at night, hence we would ask all members to respect the silence and not to disturb others by driving around with the 4x4 during the session, using bright flashlights, or shouting. 

See you guys and and gals !

 

night-sky-cheat-sheet-new (2).pdf Photography for Beginners (3).pdf

[samamara]

53 minutes ago, Frederic said:

Sorry i wasnt able to slip you in @samamara. Rest assured we will have more of these trips and i am looking forward to meeting you and picking your photography brain  

That's ok @Frederic - I know you have to keep the numbers solid for a working group like this and Covid rules. I really am looking forward to joining upcoming trips and joining a great group of passionate photographers 😍!

[Mikhail Lukichev]

@Frederic thanks a lot for your brilliant preparation work!

From my side, I just would like to add a few points.

It would be very nice if everybody participating in the session try to set below settings at home, so we can save our time a little bit and have more time for our shooting.

• select RAW mode
• decrease brightness of the screen to minimum
• disable long exposure noise reduction
• disable high ISO noise reduction
• select manual focus mode
• turn on live-view
• zoom in the picture in the live view mode
• select manual shooting mode (M)
• disable auto ISO
• set ISO to 3200
• set shutter speed to 15sec
• set aperture to minimum (f1.8 - F3.5)
• set manual white balance to 3200-3500K

If you know how to set all of the above, great! If you don't know, it is advised to google it before hand so we do not spend time on checking every camera's settings on the field.

If you still don't know how to set something, that's ok. We will find out!

Thanks a lot and see you soon!

[Gaurav]

@Mikhail Lukichev you just read my mind.

I rem being a crying baby last time, I was telling myself to prep and refresh some camera basics before hand to not to waste your time. Above list will def help and its time to dig deep on nikon manual.

Thanks for the precise list, very helpful.

[JeromeFJ]

On 4/27/2021 at 7:41 AM, Frederic said:

Current Waitlist as per Monday 26 April:

1) Gaurav @Gaurav

2) Samamara @samamara

3) Srikumar @Srikumar

4) Chaitanya @Chaitanya D

5) JeromeFJ @JeromeFJ

@Ranjan Das i have added you to the session.

Hi @Frederic Just raising my hand as I think I was on the waitlist also. I'm still interested if a spot becomes available, and for sure I will not miss the next event. Thanks for organizing it !