@ciarran You'll need to be up into the wee small hours to see the best of it, and the bit about it only usually being one per hour is complete nonsense: the Perseid shower is always impressive. One per hour is possibly what you might see on *any* night of the year though.
@lbjefferies the best way to do it is with a long exposure between 15 and 30 seconds on a tripod. with a high ISO of about 3200 upwards. Keep the aperture as wide as you can without generating too much noise. (F3.5 - 4)
And point the camera towards the Perseus constellation (which is eastward btw for us in the UK).
Oh and use as wide a lens as you can. 18mm would be a good start.
You can check out a couple of my photos from the weekend on my page with the setting info and a few decent shots if you like. The best viewing is around 2am - dusk but i saw about 10 - 15 an hour from 22:30 - midnight over the weekend in Kent
If you're not familiar with how to focus the camera in very dark conditions, you can also have a look at my star photography documentation, which goes into some detail on how to focus to infinity (which will also be the correct setting for meteors)
Here's a meteor 'train' I captured earlier this week, which shows dust and ionised gas from the meteor dispersing in the high-altitude winds:
And here's a shot I took last year of a Perseid, using settings very similar to those I've described in the linked post. This was with an oldish crop-frame camera, so don't think you need all-singing all-dancing equipment:
At the moment in BC it looks like conditions are pretty much a no-go for the peak this year, sadly :(
Amazing stuff @abirkill, unfortunately I didn't see all this before I left, but I caught three meteors between 23.30 and 00.30 last night-very chuffed! My first proper go! I could have stayed all night, but my boyfriend was my chauffeur and had to be up for work this morning (I work from home!). I'll check out your tips and keep them in mind for the next shower-Draconids on the 7th Octber.
Thanks @smalbon it was just a case of convincing the boyfriend to drive me out of town for the smaller hours-success!!
Well I waited and waited, took loads of photos, saw three shooting stars (or equivalent !! ) but unfortunately couldn't capture any. Great night though
@abirkill i've just read your Star Photography Tips from the link above and it not only answered some questions i had but also showed my some ways of shooting stars i never even thought of before.
I love shooting stars but the focusing drives me mad!
Thanks for that!
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And point the camera towards the Perseus constellation (which is eastward btw for us in the UK).
Oh and use as wide a lens as you can. 18mm would be a good start.
http://365project.org/discuss/general/17686/eta-aquarids-meteor-shower-coming-may-4-5-6
If you're not familiar with how to focus the camera in very dark conditions, you can also have a look at my star photography documentation, which goes into some detail on how to focus to infinity (which will also be the correct setting for meteors)
https://docs.google.com/a/alexisbirkill.com/document/d/1l1nf4fmFAWddif-wgUrRQGWVviinr7fe9Y-7HRZ0cpQ/edit
Here's a meteor 'train' I captured earlier this week, which shows dust and ionised gas from the meteor dispersing in the high-altitude winds:
And here's a shot I took last year of a Perseid, using settings very similar to those I've described in the linked post. This was with an oldish crop-frame camera, so don't think you need all-singing all-dancing equipment:
At the moment in BC it looks like conditions are pretty much a no-go for the peak this year, sadly :(
Thanks @smalbon it was just a case of convincing the boyfriend to drive me out of town for the smaller hours-success!!
I followed Alexis' tips and this is what my old d90 was capable of. Not perfect, but I'm pleased nonetheless. What a wonderful event to witness!
I love shooting stars but the focusing drives me mad!
Thanks for that!