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Caption: PHOTO TIPS
for desert night photography!!
Prepare yourself -
for an awesome time at Joshua Tree
with the WOTN_CA crew
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Caption: MUST BRING:
✔️Water – even in cold weather, the desert is dry, hydration is important
✔️Clothing - according to the weather – check the night time temps, you might need a beanie.
✔️Extra batteries for your camera
✔️Tripod - that you are familiar with. Shutter speeds are too slow for hand held exposures. (👉🏼In windy conditions, you can hang your camera bag from the hook on the bottom of the tripod to help secure the tripod.)
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Caption: NICE to HAVE:
✔️Wide angle lens
✔️️A lens hood - To minimize lens flares from light entering at angles outside of your frame.
✔️Shutter remote
✔️Headlamp – to brighten some aspects of the landscape, hands-free!
✔️Cell phone (some apps listed, later)
✔️Patience, snacks and a portable chair – if you plan to shoot star trails!!
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Caption: ❗️PREPARATION:
Normally, you need to scout out locations during the day, to ensure access and composition when you return in the dark.
‼️WOTN_CA has leaders who are familiar with the park - to help us get great locations in the dark!! 🙌
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Caption: "Stars, everywhere. So many stars that I could not for the life me
understand how the sky could contain them all yet be so black." Peter Watts, Blindsight
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Caption: LEARN BEFORE INSTAMEET:
(👇Scroll down for more)
💢Manual mode – get familiar with setting your camera to Manual, selecting the aperture, shutter speed and ISO.
💢How to set your timer –
Pressing the shutter button can create enough movement to leave you with blurred results. Use your digital camera’s built-in self-timer to trigger the shutter after you’ve pressed the button to avoid any problems.
💢How to lock your mirror –
Slight movements can create camera shake, and this includes the mirror moving up and down inside your DSLR. Find the setting in your menu to lock up your mirror.
💢How to shoot RAW image quality - RAW is especially beneficial when taking night shots as it gives more flexibility when you want to change things such as colour temperature, brighten, or darken exposures.
💢Cellphone apps - whether the app is for guiding your focus on the skies, or for taking mobile night photography, learn how to use the app before the meet.
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Caption: MISCELLANEOUS TRICKS/TIPS:
💢If you use a UV filter to protect the front of your lens, remove it. It will just create internal reflections.
💢White Balance- Enhance landscapes by using the Tungsten white balance preset - it gives a cool blue tone to scenes shot in moonlight.
💢Use a leash for your lens cap – searching for it in the dark won't gain you friends if you use a flashlight at the wrong time!
💢Avoid getting sand or particles in your camera by putting your preferred lens on before getting out on the trail.
💢Light painting the landscape -
Keep the headlamp/flashlight moving to prevent any hotspots. Hide behind a rock or tree, rather than painting from behind your camera.
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Caption: SMARTPHONE TIPS:
💢Light painting - the flashlight app can be used to create light trails in your photos.
💢Stargazing/Planet tracking apps -Check out the App Store for tools that will help you get familiar with our night sky, as the event gets closer. (Some iPhone apps: Planets, StarWalk, PhotoPills.)
💢Night Photography apps - check out the App Store for apps to take low light photos on your cellphone. (Some iPhone apps: AvgNightCam for scenery, NightCapPro for scenery, light painting, and star trails. 👉🏼the app developer, Chris Wood explains more on his website: www.nightcapcamera.com )
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Caption: HINTS to CAPTURE STAR TRAILS:
Photographing the sky as the Earth rotates can take hours.
💢Use manual settings and focus the lens at infinity.
💢On Bulb mode, use low ISO to reduce noise, and a wide aperture (f/2.8) to gather as much light as possible.
💢Keep the shutter held open with a lockable remote release for several minutes.
💢Shoot a number of shorter exposures and stack these in Photoshop to build a rotating starscape and reduce digital noise (compared to doing it all in one long exposure.)
💢Noise isn’t just a problem at high ISOs; it can also become apparent when using a very long exposure. This is why it’s better to merge multiple shorter exposures.
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Caption: We hope these tips come in handy for you!
We look forward to meeting you at the instameet!
The WOTN_CA crew
Sal, Juan, Alex, Alaina, Kel
#stellermeet #wotnca_jtnp
#joshuatree #nightphotography #milkyway #desert #startrails
#stellerweownthenight
Photo credits: Sal Cavazos, Juan Moreno, Alex Pack, Alaina Pierce
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Caption: Thank you to our sponsors!!