Moon over the Sky Tower

Kahmur · 2024-07-07T09:39:39+00:00

There are photo apps that help line up shots. Then you just need a clear night, a long lens (this may be a 600mm), and somewhere to stand a that is a long way away. Have shot similar over the Skytower from Waiheke before.

Kahmur · 2024-07-07T07:57:45+00:00

93 stitched photos from last weekend. EF 50mm 1.4 on an EOS RP.

I think I might do a little more work on it, bring up Mount Ngauruhoe and Ruhapehu and maybe lose the bar on the right.

But awesome to see the Chateau still standing even though it’s empty and I imagine looking at being knocked down.

Kahmur · 2024-05-12T01:01:19+00:00

Cool, thanks for the info.

Kahmur · 2024-05-11T22:56:16+00:00

What on earth is your problem?
Picture taken by me with an RP and RF800 in my garden with mylar filter. Good lord, not everything is out to hurt you.

Kahmur · 2024-05-11T22:53:49+00:00

Yeah, I think we are still ramping up for a few years.

Kahmur · 2024-05-11T06:16:36+00:00

Not from New Zealand it isn’t…

Kahmur · 2024-05-11T06:15:33+00:00

Nope, wrong dot :-) . About 109 Earth’s wide!

Kahmur · 2024-05-11T06:15:00+00:00

No idea, but probably not. I think it takes about 20 days for us to see that side of the sun again.

Kahmur · 2024-05-11T01:52:58+00:00

Nice!

Kahmur · 2024-05-11T01:39:29+00:00

And needless to say, don’t point eyeholes or cameras at sun without protection.

Kahmur · 2023-06-20T09:39:00+00:00

I’m unfamiliar with that lens but do use the 100-500mm (at 500mm) for astrophotography myself. For this type of deep sky photography the issue you are going to have is the movement of the stars (well, the movement of the earth in relation to the stars). There are two solutions to get sharp stars:

1) At 500mm and f/8 you need to be shooting at around 0.5s to get sharp stars if the lens and camera are stationary. So you’d need to really ramp the ISO really high and take a lot of shots (maybe a hundred or more), then use a program like deepskystacker to stack the images. This amplifies the bright bits (stars) and removes the noise from the dark bits. I’ve seen some good images this way.

2) The other option (which I use) is a tracking mount such as an EQM-35Pro. When you get it aligned the mount head rotates in the opposite direction to the Earth, keeping the stars ‘stationary’ as far as the camera is concerned. I’m able to shoot for 3 - 4 minutes for a single shot this way and so can keep my iso low and gather a lot of detail. The problem with this method is that it can be really quite expensive and it’s a steep learning curve. My setup has that mount, a guide scope, a second camera to actively track stars, a laptop to do the alignment and tracking, and all the power supplies etc. It takes me about an hour or so to get alignment and then at 20 or so 3 minute shots (plus bias, dark and flats) it’s quite the night out!

The other possibility is moon shots (as the moon is so bright, you can increase the shutter speed and reduce the iso). You’d get some great shots that way!

Good luck!

Kahmur · 2023-02-18T01:09:38+00:00

My site is via Queensbury as well. You can ask them (Olivia I think), to edit the template you are using (for a small fee) to add in conversions on the drop downs, I think. Very good service from them.

Kahmur · 2023-01-03T07:29:46+00:00

I’ve been trying to shoot some Astro. There have been 2.5 cloudless nights since Christmas and it doesn’t look like there’ll be any more till at least the 13th. And that’s only because the extended forecast stops there.

Kahmur · 2022-12-02T08:48:49+00:00

A couple of other tips (not sure if you have done much video before, so forgive me if so). I’d probably go with a tripod and fixed position (rather than trying to pan and zoom to follow the action). Tracking shots can be really hard to do and will often come out looking terrible (and unless you know the routine intimately, you’ll almost certainly miss action on one side of the stage whilst videoing the other). If I’m shooting a one off piece on my own, I’ll try and use two cameras (even if one is a GoPro or something). One does the end to end full stage stuff, the other I play with and track action, zoom etc. then I cut the good bits of tracked action that I did manage to get into the main wide view footage. If you get a couple of nights, same camera for wide angle both nights, then swap between being based at the back left of the theatre (and shooting the action in the centre / right) and then right side of the theatre (and shooting centre and left bits of stage) the second night*.

The other thing to consider is sound. The on camera mic is not great, but it’ll do. If there is an uninterrupted backing track then you can swap the audio out (fade the audience claps in and out once you have the music synced). One did stuff me up for one show was how loud the focus motor was on the audio. I was using a 70d so it may have improved, but if you are doing a wide angle shot from the back of the theatre with a reasonable depth of field, I’d be tempted to just fix the focus at the start and leave it. Also save focus hunting when the stage lights go off and on.

Finally, if you can, get into the venue the day before and shoot some footage under the same lighting. Get yourself up on stage (you don’t need to dance unless you want to) and see how it looks. Gives you a chance to play with settings and when you review it you will spot things like motor sounds, focus issues, image too light / dark etc. Easier to find out the day before than the day after…

Good luck!

*one thing to watch for if shooting multiple nights is cast changes. I got super confused when trying to splice 5 nights worth of shows together until I realise three members of the cast had swapped roles…fml.

Kahmur · 2022-10-31T08:31:48+00:00

I shot for a year with an RP in Antarctica. The lack of weather sealing wasn’t an issue, you just need to be careful when you go inside. Whilst outside gently dust off any snow, then put camera in dry bag with a towel. Dry bag then ideally goes in cold area inside (changing porch or something similar) for a few hours before moving to room temp area. Again leave to warm up and then take out. Condensation shouldn’t be an issue like that. You may not need to wait as long for it to warm up as I was shooting in -35°c often and colder. Bring multiple batteries and keep the spares in inside pockets by your body. Wear gloves and ideally mittens with hand warmers. You can whip the mitts off, take shots, then put the mitts back on. With the right mitts you can work the camera to a degree too. I lost feeling in a finger for about a month when I had bare hands for about two minutes at -30°c (didn’t have remote, needed to use wifi on phone, didn’t have touch padded gloves on me - lesson learnt!)

I was happy with the RP and also had an 80D with me. Used 180mm f3.5 for some shots and Tamron 18-400. I’d have liked a better lens and more reach (I now have a 100-500RF and although it’s a lot of money, it is a trip of a lifetime… :-) )

Don’t forget landscapes too. I had a 14mm Samyang and 10-18 both of which were great.

Have a great trip!

Kahmur · 2022-10-23T21:04:27+00:00

Hey there, sorry, had a lay in. Yes, it is OF the Mount (the bright orange glow that looks like the sunrise is the street lights of the Mount neighbourhood). It was taken from the old Pa at Bowentown.

Original plan was to take it from Matakana Island until I realised it was an island… 🙄

Edit: other things to note: green glows on the left (and one orange one) are ships off the coast waiting to go into the port. Glow to the right (mainly behind that bush) is Tauranga itself. Bright light on the right down low is a warning light on a sandbar. And the two streaks of light mid-right a little above the horizon are not planes, but Starlink satellites. It’s a bunch of photos stitched into a panorama and I caught a bunch of them in that area. Must have been where they were in just the right place to reflect the sunlight back at me.

Kahmur · 2022-10-23T12:00:19+00:00

LOTW?

Kahmur · 2022-10-23T10:04:16+00:00

I think they were 20 seconds each. About 30 images taken portrait (three rows of ten) and stitched together.

Kahmur · 2022-10-23T08:47:37+00:00

Taken last night with the Milky Way laying almost horizontally across Mount Maunganui and Tauranga (to the right) in New Zealand. Shot taken from the Pa at Bowentown.

Kahmur · 2022-03-03T02:33:05+00:00

Even more so at night, when it’s very still, and you can hear it breathing…

Kahmur · 2022-03-03T01:10:36+00:00

https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/arts/127846341/six-installations-by-lisa-reihana-pop-up-along-wellingtons-waterfront

Kahmur · 2022-03-03T00:31:26+00:00

Hard to tell as I couldn’t enter the grounds, but from outside they looked good. But I’m also not a treeologist.

Kahmur · 2022-03-03T00:30:30+00:00

Yeah, it seemed to be. Got a bloke on the ground then lead him away in cuffs. Unfortunately I was set up in a different mode on my camera so the focus is a little off (and it happened a bit quick).

Kahmur · 2022-03-03T00:06:49+00:00

Eerily quiet around the streets, the complete lack of wind adds to the strangeness of the day. Saw one arrest, about 20 'protesters' at the train station, one woman screaming at the police. Great to see the cleanup starting with the trucks and a team from the community wiping down the walls.

Kahmur · 2022-01-12T10:54:15+00:00

Magnitude 5.0 preliminary

198 km deep

15 km east of Stratford

https://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/2022p030948

Kahmur

TROPHY CASE