samamara

Many thanks to @Frederic for letting me share my pic here even though I was unable to join (I'd mixed up the days, thinking we were going to meet on Saturday and already had camping and shooting plans for Friday night). I'm glad we all got to see the beauty though; best time of year to look up 🤩😍! Sam

We likely won't see it at the same angle as this as I took this photo in the fall and the angle changes throughout the year, but we should definitely get something nice 😊 . As @Frederic says, the core should be visible from 2-4-ish but will only rise about 32º above the horizon so will be low. Can make for a lovely shot still with the dunes 😍🤩. I'm attaching below a sketch of the sort of the angle we'll see for the next few months (image from PhotoPills). No worries...the core will be visible now until late October so there'll be plenty of time to get lots of shots with lots of angles...it's a great time to look up to the skies ❤️ . Sam

Me too, @Mario Cornejo - let's keep asking for that Part 2!

Good morning, all! I am absolutely gutted that I didn't know about this ride and shoot 😭 😭 😭 . I must have missed the announcement. I would just love to join but I'll be out most of the night Thursday doing some astro shooting and then going camping Friday night for more astro. Can we please try this again in future? Please 🙏🏼 ? If I were going to give any advice I'd say to try to go with an aperture of f/11 or f/13 to start, with a shutter speed of at least 1/250th if you want to freeze some of the spraying sand. If you want really freeze the spraying sand a faster shutter speed will be better, but you'll need to make other adjustments to allow for the reduced light that a faster shutter brings. I would not go less than f/8 on the aperture, though, as you risk getting more of the foreground and background out of focus, which isn't what you want if you want to freeze the spraying sand. I'd rather bump up the ISO than open the f-stop, but how high you can go without getting noise will depend on your camera. As the sun rises rapidly though, that will be less of an issue. Also, be sure to keep your camera on high-speed shooting; the more frames you click of this fast driving action, the better the chances of getting something you love. A cool thing to try would be panning; it's a little tricky but the results can be really cool. The car itself will be in focus and everything else will be blurred. This isn't the same as just having a wide open aperture (f/2.8 or wider), which would just 'unfocus' the background; this is like an action shot and with sand blurring from its own movement and your movement of the camera. This is a handheld action where you use a slow shutter (1/60 or 1/30) and a smaller aperture (f/16 or f/20-ish) and 'pan' your body with the moving object (the car) which blurs the background (the spraying sand). The smaller aperture will cut the light you'll get from having the shutter open longer. Usually that results in clearer backgrounds, but in this case it won't' since you'll be panning the camera. The ISO can easily be adjusted, but again with the early rise of the harsh sunlight, it won't be as much of an issue. Here's a nice article from Canon on how to do it, and I really think this could be a fun thing to try out in the sands. Again, please please 🙏🏼 can we try to schedule this again soon? I'm just so sad to be missing it 💔. Best of luck everyone; looking forward to seeing the shots! Sam

I think they look great @Humayun Ghias and with the amazing winter skies to come we'll have lots of chances to practice more together 😊

Nice GIF @Frederic 😂 ❤️

Dammit 😂 I shouldn't have said! Oh well, next time 😉. Thank you - it's not the timelapse I wanted to make but I also didn't want the hundreds of frames to go to waste.

Hello all 😊 I finally got around to checking the images I took for timelapse the night of the meteor shower meet up. Sadly it's so short and not very good; there's not a single meteor, though there are lots of plane trails that I'll squint at and call meteors so the hours of shooting aren't a total bust 😂! At least the clouds added some drama to the evening skies ❤️. I can't upload it here as the file type is not allowed but you can click here to have a look. Looking forward to the next outing 😍! Sam

Sounds like a great time was had by all @Joseph Sebastian - I hope I get to meet you and more of the others next time, and I look forward to your shots too @Humayun Ghias - not at all, it was my pleasure! I hope you got some great shots; I can't wait to see. See you again on the next adventure!

@Fredericthis is absolutely one of my favourite spots - around the whole area really - and during the times with the Milky Way core is above the horizon there are great opportunities here. Can we keep it in mind as a possibility for another shot before the end of the season?

Even with the crowds and that light pollution it was still a great night ❤️ and it was super nice to meet everyone. I hope we have another event soon! Thanks @Frederic and everyone! @BipinM not at all - she's really lovely and I was glad to help. She can ask me anytime Great shots @Frederic! We may have had lots of light pollution and not many meteors but we were certainly graced with lots of dramatic clouds which really added a lot to our shots ❤️ . And yes...millions of mosquitos and whatever else...my car was filled with them when I left this morning! Looking forward to lots more adventures with all of you!

I'll be there quite early since I'm not going on the evening drive and will want to set up etc and do a little MW shooting. I'll probably be there around 9:00

This would be fantastic 🤩 - fingers crossed!

Hey all - super excited about tonight's shooting! I just checked the clouds and it seems that we'll have very clear skies most of the night until we near the peak of the shower after 4:00. That sounds like bad news I know, but honestly it's not - there will still be plenty of meteors before the peak in shaa Allah 😊🤲🏼 and by the time we reach the peak it may be getting a bit to bright in the early morning sky to see many clearly anyway, so it's better we have clearer skies during the darker times. Anyway, a forecast is just that but we have reason to be optimistic!

Anytime

@Niki horrible news! Was looking forward to a catch up after so many months! Still, you should grab a chair and drive out to Razeen ❤️ it's a one-hour-ish drive and it's going to be the most spectacular place to see the show anyway 🤩!

Hi @Joseph Sebastian - no worries, I'm always happy to help Please see below for my answers: 1. The Milky Way is only visible in the Northern Hemisphere from about February/March to November, but the best time to see it in its glory is from late April to early August because the core - that bright amazing chunk in the middle - is visible for longer. Also, the time of year will dictate the angle at which we see it. You can see the photos I've attached here, courtesy of PhotoPills (an amazing if not slightly complicated app and super-comprehensive website that helps you plan lots of sky-related photography). 2. You can google and find some amazing videos that help you with post-production of Milky Way shots in both Photoshop and Lightroom. Just google "how to edit Milky Way photos" and you will get an endless list of articles and videos. The one you choose will depend on your comfort level of using the mentioned software. I would recommend that you watch a few and then decide . Just remember that the workflow will not always be the same for everyone; it will depend on what you're able to get straight out of the camera to work with as well as your personal tastes, so you can use what you find online as a guideline. 3. In one word: RAW! Even if you are a hobbyist looking for a nice shot, I would highly recommend shooting in raw. If you don't want to shoot in raw at any other time (though I think you always should ) it's an absolute must when it comes to astrophotography. Your camera will pick up many more details than you realize, which will need to be brought out in post-processing. Remember I said there isn't a single MW shot out there that isn't edited. If you shoot in jpeg, your camera will automatically make a lot of editing decisions that you won't be able to reverse in post, which means you'll limit your editing options. Again, this is always true, which is why it's a good idea always to shoot in raw, but it's especially true when you think more editing might be needed, and that's always the case with MW photos. I hope that helps! Please feel free to ask if you have any more questions. Here's hoping for clear skies, a great meteor show, excellent photos and lots of fun !

@Gaurav it's not too bad, actually...the skies are pretty clear this morning. I've just checked windy.com (great site for checking the weather) and the forecast is clear skies over Buraq Thursday night/Friday morning. A forecast is just that but it can help us hope for the best at least !

Definitely Thursday night to Friday morning from all I've checked

@Joseph Sebastian Thank you - you are so kind 🙏🏼😊. You're right, it wasn't a quick point and shoot but the planning wasn't so difficult or time-consuming. The point of the footprints is a good one; I looked for a dune that had a nice ripple pattern and then made sure not even to sneeze near it to disrupt it, let alone walk on it 😂. So yes, it was a 16mm focal length (this lens is a real trooper that while for a crop sensor does great on my full frame as I said), 8s exposure, f/2.8 and 3200ISO. I definitely used a tripod and a shutter release. The white balance is not in the Exif data and I can't remember exactly but I generally I keep the kelvin level between 3200 and 4000 depending how dark the sky is. White balance is the easiest thing to change in Photoshop though and while it's always best to get what you can straight out of the camera, there isn't a single MW photo on the planet that isn't edited so you can always keep that in mind later. For the focus, I focused on the stars and because it was such a big aperture the dune was fortunately crisp as well - so it is a single shot, not a composite ❤️. To focus on the stars it's best to use the live view of your camera, get one star, magnify and focus on that star (manually) and that should do it. Once you know your lens, this becomes easier. The foreground is lit with a small video light off to the left, at a low (looww) setting (since it's a longer exposure), and it only took a shot or three to get it to the right place and strength. And a final note on exposure: this was 8s but that's a 'first calculated, then adjusted' number. You need to calculate how long you can keep the shutter open without getting star trails if you want crisp star points (as opposed to trails). You can use the 500 rule but I would highly recommend using the NPF rule instead (you can google these for more info and let me know if you need any clarity). Yes, it is Rub al Khali - one of my favourite places in the country and I can't wait to go there next month (and October - the picture I shared was shot in October ❤️) and yes, it's hard to beat that. If I went deeper into the desert, closer to the Saudi border, there'd be even less light but I agree the light here adds to it. That said, the second darkest place in the country is Wadi Showka (not the dam area but the actual wadi, and the place we're going on Thursday, Wadi Buraq, is also good as it's quite near to Showka. I've shared these photos before in another thread but I'll post them again (I'm sorry for the repeat all and that they are so big 🙏🏼). The MW shot is from Buraq and the star trails are from Showka. So don't worry, there's plenty of dark there to enjoy some astro shooting when we can't quite hit up the Empty Quarter 😍🤩! Thank you again for your kind words and don't at all feel badly about the questions. I love talking shop when it comes to photography and am always super happy to help ❤️ !

@Gaurav - that is very sound advice, thank you ❤️ 🙏🏼. It's true, beyond all of the advice here - which has been great - I need to think of my specific needs. I will say, though, that the Pajero trunk/back/boot has been stellar for all of my camping needs even when I have people with me and we take a lot of gear. The backseat is usually reserved for photography gear and guests (which is why the FJ just can't work really, but enough on that I think. You're absolutely right...I need to weigh not only what I need but the priorities and now that I am armed with all of this information I think I need to take a few of the options out for a test drive, see how they actually are on the inside for space and options, and then go from there. All of this, though, really has ensured that the decision I make will be much more well-informed, which is always a good thing. Thanks to you and all 😊🙏🏼!

😍🙏🏼 Thank you!

And with no windscreen...now I just need someone to drive it for me always so I can be ready. But, part of my passion is also the drive, so maybe I can get the best of both worlds 😍!

Then it's definitely not for me 😂💔. This photographer needs access to all windows all the time...you never know what's around you in the desert and you have to be ready to shoot anywhere 😂❤️📷!

I'm glad you like it 😍 it's one of my favourites. Don't worry...we'll all work together to get the best shots we can as a team ❤️!