After a thread on the discussion forum where people actually seemed to be listening to my advice regarding photographing meteors (this always concerns me), I figured that I ought to probably try and disprove the theory that those who can't do, teach.
As it was a clear evening I decided to head up the Sea to Sky highway (which runs from Vancouver to Whistler) to Porteau Cove Provincial Park, a small park on the edge of the Howe Sound with a ferry terminal (only used if a landslide closes the road). This is probably the darkest sky within a thirty minute drive of Vancouver.
Expecting to be the only one crazy enough to go out the night after the peak of the meteor showers, and on a Sunday, I was therefore rather surprised when I found the car park, and the park, full of other people who had very similar ideas. As well as several families and a few photographers, there were three huge telescopes!
Unfortunately the clear weather we'd had through the day didn't last, and about thirty minutes after I'd arrived a thin layer of cloud had almost completely blocked out the stars. Fortunately this moved over after about an hour, and although the clarity of the stars wasn't as good as I'd have liked, it was possible to see the Milky Way, as well as many meteors.
This shot was taken from a viewpoint on the ferry dock looking north. The glow in the sky at the bottom of the photo is from the town of Squamish, and you can still clearly see some wisps of cloud. At the base of the hills to the right is the Sea to Sky highway, lit up by traffic. On the right hand side of the sky, the Milky Way is clearly visible.
The meteor trail was one of the brightest seen all night, and I was really pleased to get it -- when the shutter was open, I thought it had probably passed out of frame as it went across the sky, but fortunately I captured it all. You can even see the brightness fluctuate at the left end of the meteor path as it's burning and breaking up.
This was taken using the Sigma 10-20mm super-wide angle lens at 10mm, and is a combination of two photographs. The first one was taken at f/4.0, ISO 3200 for 60 seconds, to capture as many stars as possible without introducing too much motion from the earth's rotation, as well as to capture any meteor streaks as brightly as possible. The second was taken at f/4.0, ISO 800 for 10 minutes, to capture the hills, traffic and water with less noise. The two were blended together in Photoshop.
This shot was at the absolute limit of my camera and equipment, and the resultant starfield has had to have a lot of noise processing done to it -- even now there is still noticeable banding, particularly on the left side. With a new full-frame camera and a fast lens, you could easily use this photo straight from camera without any noise processing.
Almost certainly worth viewing large!
Thank you to everyone for being so kind with your comments and faves and for getting this onto PP! Wow, and number 1 for the week, too!
I'm a British software developer and photographer living in Vancouver, BC. I mainly photograph landscapes, cityscapes, night scenes, and water.
If you're interested in any...
This is absolutely awesome, Alexis!!! I love the blending work to really bring out the scene as a whole. I also went back out last night with your advise in hand and I think it worked. I will post later after work for your observation. :-)
Way out! This is so incredible. I really feel that i need to delete my post!!!!
This really has to be one of my favourite fav's !!!
Out of this world!!!!
Incredible. Thanks for sharing tips on how to do this. I tried last week but used a shutter which was too long - got trails. Didn't follow rule of 600. I like your approach and will try it the next time I'm away from the big city. Fav'ed this. You're very talented.
Wow! and ...Wow! You are amazingly talented! I am grateful that this site has people like yourself willing to share how you get these fabulous results. I can see why you and HH are friends!! I am very happy to be following :)
So, so incredibly jealous! Have been thwarted by clouds for nights in a row now. Perfectly clear sky at sunset tonight, but now the clouds have rerolled in. Sigh.
@filsie65 Squamish, not Squeamish!! The Squamish people are one of over 630 groups of First Nations people who inhabited Canada long before the arrival of Europeans. Today there are 3,893 registered members living, and their language is classified as almost extinct, with only 10 fluent speakers.
An amazing shot Alexis and love how you shared how you captured the metor shower also. I didnt even know there was one happening :( I would love to see the original shot, without the two shots being put together....if possible? Definately a FAV for me!
This is an amazing photograph - you must be so proud. I hope to learn through practice and through this project to become as great a photographer as you clearly are. Fav!
have to Fav this, not just because its such a spectacular shot, which is clearly is but also because I loved reading how you got to the shot and the techniques you used. Thanks for sharing!!
I had to check out your photos as you gave a lot of advice to Rosie and I was rather confused by it but intrigued. This is an amazing shot. It is wonderful of you to say what you have done to capture a shot. FAV
This is stunning! Not only the stars and meteor are amazing, but the whole scene! This is fabulous, instant fav and my strongest candidate for this weeks top #1 Bravo!
And thanks for the thorough description - enjoyed it.
Spectacular capture well deserved PP and I'm adding an instafav to boost the count up even higher. This might be on the PP for a month with the amount of favs you have. LOL. Gallery shot for sure.
Sorry..... I cannot comment on this photo without the use of profain but totally complimentary expletives.....Dude...this is good...and the caption...from my all time favourite story....I'm lost for words...
dar
Nik Dfine works an absolute treat on removing the 7D's banding btw.
This really has to be one of my favourite fav's !!!
Out of this world!!!!
There's a town called Squeamish?!
Stars: http://www.snoopy.me.uk/misc/365project/stars.jpg
Land: http://www.snoopy.me.uk/misc/365project/land.jpg
The land shot is quite interesting on its own, you can clearly see Polaris on the axis of the Earth's rotation.
And thanks for the thorough description - enjoyed it.
amazing photo