Seattle area astrophotography meet and campsite cleanup, - 04/07/2018

[Faded_80]

3/29/18 update: the site is under notable amounts of snow and might not be passable. the event will continue as long as the sky is clear.

basic required items:
camera capable of manual shutter control
tripod (debatable, ive done quite a few shots on stacked rocks)
shutter remote or self timer function
a headlamp with a red light to keep the light to a minimum.
cold weather gear to stay warm while sitting around for hours.

If you don't know how to take such shots, that's totally fine! I will be on hand to teach a few people. might be hard to get to everyone if it gets big, but id be happy to try. Its a skill that, like most skills, just needs some practice and guidance and youll be taking incredible shots in no time.

the hardest part about this will be working with the clouds, since there is no way to predict cloud cover too far ahead in time. I have had more than a few photography outings turn to duds in a matter of 30 min because clouds sweeping in. I will still hold the event unless its forecasted for any downpouring, and we will postpone for the next saturday.

"The following weekend Apr7-8 will be better (weather permitting) as you'll have no moon until 3am and it will be the start of Milky way season. While the Milky way is visible year round the core with the most stars and color is beyond the Southern horizon for the Northern hemisphere from October till April. Sunday Morning Apr 8th at 2:15 you'll get the MW Galactic core rising in the SE. Giving you about 45 mins of Milky Way arching over the Eastern horizon before the moon rises at 3am."

we will be venturing up north fork snoqualmie valley to nearly the end where there is dark sky. the site is big enough for 12 rigs up there to camp, possibly more. please contact me if you plan to go so. i will have long-exposure photography quick guides printed out to help people get started, so if you don't tell me you're coming, i probably wont have extras.

this will not be the last astrophotography meet i hold, so don't feel like you gotta reschedule your life to make it happen.

the site could also use a cleanup from empty cans and shotgun shells, so it would get two birds stoned at once to go there.

 

View Rally Point

[Boort]

@Faded_80

I'm in for a maybe. Will depend on if I have vacation available to drive up from Colorado.

One issue I see for the night of March 31st is the full moon rising at 19:59 at 99% full. This will allow for easy navigation around camp and better instruction in technique but will wash out all but he brightest stars. You and the local folks might be able to use this as a scouting trip for the following weekend.

The following weekend Apr7-8 will be better (weather permitting) as you'll have no moon until 3am and it will be the start of Milky way season. While the Milky way is visible year round the core with the most stars and color is beyond the Southern horizon for the Northern hemisphere from October till April. Sunday Morning Apr 8th at 2:15 you'll get the MW Galactic core rising in the SE. Giving you about 45 mins of Milky Way arching over the Eastern horizon before the moon rises at 3am. I don't know the lay of the land at that location but if you can frame up a mountain peak at a heading of 30 Degrees you could get a Milky Way "halo" arching over it during that 30 mins.

Boort

 

[Faded_80]

@Faded_80

I'm in for a maybe. Will depend on if I have vacation available to drive up from Colorado.

One issue I see for the night of March 31st is the full moon rising at 19:59 at 99% full. This will allow for easy navigation around camp and better instruction in technique but will wash out all but he brightest stars. You and the local folks might be able to use this as a scouting trip for the following weekend.

The following weekend Apr7-8 will be better (weather permitting) as you'll have no moon until 3am and it will be the start of Milky way season. While the Milky way is visible year round the core with the most stars and color is beyond the Southern horizon for the Northern hemisphere from October till April. Sunday Morning Apr 8th at 2:15 you'll get the MW Galactic core rising in the SE. Giving you about 45 mins of Milky Way arching over the Eastern horizon before the moon rises at 3am. I don't know the lay of the land at that location but if you can frame up a mountain peak at a heading of 30 Degrees you could get a Milky Way "halo" arching over it during that 30 mins.

Boort

great info on the date choice, im still a bit green on picking specific dates for celestial events... ill edit the event to coincide with this information. the site is a southeast facing mountain ridge that i have been able to get some good pictures at in the past, with enough elevation to not deal with trees and other obscurities.

 

[Knitron]

Attempted a mod to the tire swing out to hold the high lift jack. It was a total failure. Try something different tomorrow.

OB# 3805

 

[JeffG98034]

This sounds interesting, Not sure at this time if I can go, but I have a Celestron 4se telescope that I can outfit my canon 4ti ( I think) that I have not used (birthday gift in October ) so far I have looked at a few scattered mood viewing...

 

[Quicksilver]

Looking forward to this!

 

[HattZ]

I'm game, I'll grab a tripod, have a cannon 5d, pretty sure I can do manual shutter speed. I'll bring an extra https://www.harborfreight.com/long-reach-magnetic-pickup-tool-with-quick-release-93950.html which is awesome for shotgun shells and steel cased ammo

 

[Boort]

@HattZ

The 5D will work amazingly well for Night photos. Two of my night photo friends have been using them for years; One starting with the MKii and now using the MKiv. The results are fantastic. Grab that body, your widest aperture lens and tripod. You'll want to read up on getting it into full manual mode and set the camera for 2-3 second delay from shutter press to exposure. (This is to let the vibrations settle out from pushing the shutter button. Use a remote release if you have one.)

Boort

 

[CaseyW]

On the US Forrest Service Map - I show the destination as marked "Blackhawk Mine" rd 113, off of 5730. Is that correct?

 

[Faded_80]

On the US Forrest Service Map - I show the destination as marked "Blackhawk Mine" rd 113, off of 5730. Is that correct?

yes, the destination is blackhawk mine. it is a somewhat large cleared out lot where large trucks used to turn around, with excellent south facing visibility. the area should be good for 12 trucks camping, but not too much more.

 

[RainGoat]

I have that weekend off but I might have to go down to PDX with my wife & kids to visit her mom. If I can talk my way out of that, I’d love to come. I won’t confirm until I know for sure.

 

[Aaron Reddecliffe]

See you there! Super excited!

 

[HattZ]

picked up a remote shutter for EOS 5D, 50D, 40D, 20D, & 10D Digital SLR Cameras - willing to share

i can also bring up a 30d with an 17-85mm lens but don't have a tripod for it. neither of my cameras are new, looks like remote shutter should work for both, and are in still good working order.

 

[RJG]

I'm very interested ! Never done any night photography, but would like to jump right in w/ my Nikon D5000.
Bring the Xterra and all the camp gear for an overnight. Yes !

Jim

rjgiddings@gmail.com

 

[Fletcher8969]

I'm planning to go. Will bring some telescopes with me too.

 

[Merk]

Hey man, this looks cool! I might be interested. I dont have a DSLR.. but ive got a couple gopros that are capable of shooting the night sky

 

[NetDep]

@Faded_80 are there updates or anything we can bring?

Looking forward to this!!

 

[Boort]

@Faded_80, @RJG, and crew.

I'm not likely going to be able to make it up to the PNW in April. I thought I'd post some things I've learned over the last few years for those who are just starting out in Night Photography.
I've found the following sites helpful for locating and planning night shoots:
Light pollution Map:

https://www.lightpollutionmap.info/#zoom=15&lat=6053094&lon=-13532245&layers=B0FFFTFFFF
The LPM team also have a good Android and iPhone app to make this data portable.​

Android apps:

PlanIt for Photographers
Sky Safari Plus or Sky map
Deluxe Moon
FotoTool​

For my nightscape photography I look for an interesting foreground subject, then put the milky way core, Moon, or a known constellation (Orion, Big Dipper, ...) behind it. Now that we have a location let’s talk Gear:

• DSLR or Mirrorless camera capable of full Manual mode
• Batteries fully charges with spares (I can usually shoot my Nikons with 2 batts, but friends with Sony burn through batteries very quickly, like 5 fully charged batts. per night)
• Wide Lens, Larger the aperture the better IE: I often use a Rokinon / Samyang 24mm f:1.4. The reason you want your shortest focal length and largest apature lens is to satisfy the “500 rule”, on a full frame camera divide your focal length into 500, to get the longest shutter speed that will keep the stars as pinpoints rather than arcs. My 14mm, gives me 35 seconds, for my 24mm 20 seconds. For various crop sensor cameras multiply the lens focal length by the crop factor then divide into 500.
  From here you adjust the lens aperture and camera sensor ISO. A 2.8 or larger max aperture is a big advantage here; since each stop you open up in aperture, you can cut the ISO in half. Open up your lens as wide as possible, and take some test shots to help with ISO. I seem to always end up with ISO between 1600 and 6400, you’ll have to go higher with an f/4 lens.
  
• Sturdy tripod, set it up as low and your composition will allow, and hang your camera bag from the apex to dampen vibrations if there is any wind.
  
• Remote camera trigger (wireless, cable release, or 2 second timer mode on Camera)
• Headlamp or torch for walking back to car
• Comfy clothes fit for conditions and a camping chair if desired.

The milky way season in the northern latitudes runs from Apr - October. With the MW core rising in the E/SE and sets in the S early in the season. If you want stars to show up well you’ll want to plan the trip for a time when the moon is either New (rising and setting with the sun) or just a sliver. This way you can compose your shot and get the MW without it being washed out by the light from the moon.

Night of the shoot:

• Arrive around sunset
• Setup tripod, camera and attach remote release or set up 2 second delay shooting mode in your camera menus.
  
• Frame your subject, Use Sky Safari Plus or Sky Map to determine where the MW will be from your location and how it will align with the foreground through the night.
  
• Set your camera into Manual mode and open your lens aperture as wide as you can.
• Focus on the foreground subject, take a few pictures during the blue hour just after sun sets. (Don’t move your camera or tripod you can use these shots to add back in some foreground detail in Gimp/Photoshop/etc later)
• Refocus on a distant object (a bright star, visible planet in the frame.) Use Live view and max magnification to get the star as small a dot as possible. Here is a link from Mike Berenson’s blog, one of the instructors that I've learned night photography from: The article covers details on the topic of focusing at night
  http://www.nightphotographyworkshop.com/articles-tutorials/how-to-focus-in-the-dark
  I use option 2.
  • Set ISO as high as it can go,
    
  • Leave the lens wide open,
    
  • Enable live view and zoom in on any bright pinpoint of light in the composition.
  • Roll your focus ring around until that spot is as small as you can get it.
• Wait for Full dark Generally 90-120 mins after sunset. Look up nautical twilight for your area in a local weather app or almanac.
• Take a high ISO test shot to determine proper exposure settings for your location / composition. Again I’m going to link to Mike’s blog as I learned this from him and he does a better job of explaining than I do. http://www.nightphotographyworkshop.com/articles-tutorials/mikes-super-long-exposure-cheat-sheet
  The idea is to get a good exposure quickly then reduce noise by calculating the same exposure value at a lower, less noisy, ISO setting for the rest of the shots. If my High ISO gave me good exposure and my histogram hump was in the middle or to the right of the range at ISO 128k, 8 seconds & f2.8 on my 24mm lens I’ll set my shots for the MW at either 6400, 16 seconds & f2.8 or for slightly less noise and more star trails 3200, 20 seconds & f2.2 (rechecking focus after first shot since I changed the f-stop).
• Shoot 16+ frames at this setting. Some cameras offer long exposure and high ISO noise reduction, turn on high ISO and turn OFF Long exposure these shots if available on your camera.
• Now for a long exposure foreground shot. Lower ISO to 200, and shoot either f2.8 for 8 min and 32 seconds or f2.2 for 5 min and 22 seconds of exposure, shoot 3 of these exposures.

With shots like this you’ll have a number of options for post processing.

• You can combine the bulk of the shots into star trails by aligning the foreground in PS and combining in brighten mode.
• You can mask the foreground, align the star fields and combine for noise reduction, then use the 3 low ISO foreground shots to replace the foreground for clean noise free composite shot.

Let me know if anyone has any questions and I'll try to answer them.
Boort

 

[FJTim]

@Faded_80, @RJG, and crew.

I'm not likely going to be able to make it up to the PNW in April. I thought I'd post some things I've learned over the last few years for those who are just starting out in Night Photography.
I've found the following sites helpful for locating and planning night shoots:
Light pollution Map:

https://www.lightpollutionmap.info/#zoom=15&lat=6053094&lon=-13532245&layers=B0FFFTFFFF
The LPM team also have a good Android and iPhone app to make this data portable.​

Android apps:

PlanIt for Photographers
Sky Safari Plus or Sky map
Deluxe Moon
FotoTool​

For my nightscape photography I look for an interesting foreground subject, then put the milky way core, Moon, or a known constellation (Orion, Big Dipper, ...) behind it. Now that we have a location let’s talk Gear:

• DSLR or Mirrorless camera capable of full Manual mode
• Batteries fully charges with spares (I can usually shoot my Nikons with 2 batts, but friends with Sony burn through batteries very quickly, like 5 fully charged batts. per night)
• Wide Lens, Larger the aperture the better IE: I often use a Rokinon / Samyang 24mm f:1.4. The reason you want your shortest focal length and largest apature lens is to satisfy the “500 rule”, on a full frame camera divide your focal length into 500, to get the longest shutter speed that will keep the stars as pinpoints rather than arcs. My 14mm, gives me 35 seconds, for my 24mm 20 seconds. For various crop sensor cameras multiply the lens focal length by the crop factor then divide into 500.
  From here you adjust the lens aperture and camera sensor ISO. A 2.8 or larger max aperture is a big advantage here; since each stop you open up in aperture, you can cut the ISO in half. Open up your lens as wide as possible, and take some test shots to help with ISO. I seem to always end up with ISO between 1600 and 6400, you’ll have to go higher with an f/4 lens.
  
• Sturdy tripod, set it up as low and your composition will allow, and hang your camera bag from the apex to dampen vibrations if there is any wind.
  
• Remote camera trigger (wireless, cable release, or 2 second timer mode on Camera)
• Headlamp or torch for walking back to car
• Comfy clothes fit for conditions and a camping chair if desired.

The milky way season in the northern latitudes runs from Apr - October. With the MW core rising in the E/SE and sets in the S early in the season. If you want stars to show up well you’ll want to plan the trip for a time when the moon is either New (rising and setting with the sun) or just a sliver. This way you can compose your shot and get the MW without it being washed out by the light from the moon.

Night of the shoot:

• Arrive around sunset
• Setup tripod, camera and attach remote release or set up 2 second delay shooting mode in your camera menus.
  
• Frame your subject, Use Sky Safari Plus or Sky Map to determine where the MW will be from your location and how it will align with the foreground through the night.
  
• Set your camera into Manual mode and open your lens aperture as wide as you can.
• Focus on the foreground subject, take a few pictures during the blue hour just after sun sets. (Don’t move your camera or tripod you can use these shots to add back in some foreground detail in Gimp/Photoshop/etc later)
• Refocus on a distant object (a bright star, visible planet in the frame.) Use Live view and max magnification to get the star as small a dot as possible. Here is a link from Mike Berenson’s blog, one of the instructors that I've learned night photography from: The article covers details on the topic of focusing at night
  http://www.nightphotographyworkshop.com/articles-tutorials/how-to-focus-in-the-dark
  I use option 2.
  • Set ISO as high as it can go,
    
  • Leave the lens wide open,
    
  • Enable live view and zoom in on any bright pinpoint of light in the composition.
  • Roll your focus ring around until that spot is as small as you can get it.
• Wait for Full dark Generally 90-120 mins after sunset. Look up nautical twilight for your area in a local weather app or almanac.
• Take a high ISO test shot to determine proper exposure settings for your location / composition. Again I’m going to link to Mike’s blog as I learned this from him and he does a better job of explaining than I do. http://www.nightphotographyworkshop.com/articles-tutorials/mikes-super-long-exposure-cheat-sheet
  The idea is to get a good exposure quickly then reduce noise by calculating the same exposure value at a lower, less noisy, ISO setting for the rest of the shots. If my High ISO gave me good exposure and my histogram hump was in the middle or to the right of the range at ISO 128k, 8 seconds & f2.8 on my 24mm lens I’ll set my shots for the MW at either 6400, 16 seconds & f2.8 or for slightly less noise and more star trails 3200, 20 seconds & f2.2 (rechecking focus after first shot since I changed the f-stop).
• Shoot 16+ frames at this setting. Some cameras offer long exposure and high ISO noise reduction, turn on high ISO and turn OFF Long exposure these shots if available on your camera.
• Now for a long exposure foreground shot. Lower ISO to 200, and shoot either f2.8 for 8 min and 32 seconds or f2.2 for 5 min and 22 seconds of exposure, shoot 3 of these exposures.

With shots like this you’ll have a number of options for post processing.

• You can combine the bulk of the shots into star trails by aligning the foreground in PS and combining in brighten mode.
• You can mask the foreground, align the star fields and combine for noise reduction, then use the 3 low ISO foreground shots to replace the foreground for clean noise free composite shot.

Let me know if anyone has any questions and I'll try to answer them.
Boort

I would love to attend and bring the 1DX. Is there a meeting spot beforehand or are we meeting at the location?

Assuming there isn't too many people going already.

Sent from my SM-G892A using OB Talk mobile app

 

[Faded_80]

@Faded_80 are there updates or anything we can bring?

Looking forward to this!!

There might still be snow at that elevation, but not enough to make it impassable. Me and some friends recently took a stock 88 Audi Quattro out there, and with some mild scraping it made it ok.

I'd say just plan on being cold, and staying up late. This site is deep in the Alpine lakes wilderness. Camping equipment, firewood, and whatever you can imagine you'll need to be 20 miles away from cell signal.