I learned the camera cannot be set to automatic or it will re-focus each time and change the settings on its own. It must be manual focus and manual shutter speed and manual aperture.
But the camera is not like a mechanical eyeball that you set in place and and have it snap what it sees in a blink. Your own eyeballs adjust to available light by opening up their pupils to allow more light. That takes time. When you snap on the light in the dark you squint to block light until your pupils can shrink. Those same two things happen with the camera. You must adjust both the camera's aperture, its pupil, and its shutter speed, its blink.
As the morning lightens the feedback live-view screen shows areas of highlight with too much light. Blowout areas blink black and white in the playback screen so that tells you as the sun rises too much light is now entering the camera, either blink faster or close the pupil one of those numbers must go up.
I started at shutter speed 80 aperture 4, that is a slow blink with wide open pupil but still too dark for the first pictures.
As the sun rises and highlights begin blowing out both shutter speed and aperture are increased incrementally back and forth between them until finally the shutter speed 320 aperture 8, fast blink, somewhat squinty pupil. Instead of adjusting exposure in photoshop.
Even expertly by practice dialing new numbers deftly moves the camera on its tripod and blows its pixel-perfect alignment.
This is 70 photographs, optimized like crazy.
It was a boring sunrise. No clouds at all, so no breathtaking skyscape save for the changes in hue by gradient. The distant mountains light up. Shadows move across buildings. First and last frame are 4 seconds, in-between frames set at .3 second. One frame removed because it was naughty and another removed because it was worthless.
9 comments:
That descending dark hue is the shadow of the earth going westward.
That really shows you how the ancients figured it out. And its the same thing in afternoon. Except reversed. You actually see the line of the shadow of earth ingulf you overhead while the mountains are still bright, then they darken and behind them still light, like Utah is still in day, then that finally darkens.
Is this 6 AM to 9AM or 6 AM to Noon?
This is 6:30 am today.
Chip, don't take this wrong way, but did you really need such a big write-up to say this?
Apologies. I thought so. Actually, there's more.
It's a learning thing.
The camera times out, the remote reverts back to manual at one minute.
I need a timer.
They get mixed reviews.
They're expensive as heck from Nikon. Upwards of $200.00
There HAS to be an app for this situation.
Turns out, just by asking, my galaxy, (or an i-phone) has their own infrared and CAN be a DLSR infrared remote with a timer. How about that? Problem solved with no extra money spent. All free apps.
I don't even need a Nikon remote. And the phone can be timer.
Already tried it and it works. Front and back of camera. How about that?
(I learned the camera times out at one minute by downloading a stopwatch app)
rhhardin said...
That descending dark hue is the shadow of the earth going westward.
rhhardin finds meaning in the penumbra!
Well done. You need to crawl up to the roof top and get the eastern view.
You can't beat watching the sun come up.
Post a Comment