How to shoot the star orbit for beginners, and a simple tutorial for beginners to shoot the star orbit map.

Generally, the slowest shutter speed provided by digital SLR cameras is about 30 seconds, which is more than enough for most shooting creations. However, when it is necessary to shoot some special subjects in low light, the exposure time may still feel insufficient. For example, shooting celestial bodies, shooting night as day and so on. Today I'm going to give you a tutorial on early shooting of stellar orbits.

1, equipment selection

Using B-door to shoot the orbit of stars requires little shooting equipment, and it can be realized only by a digital SLR camera and a wide-angle lens.

Canon S60DA

Recommended model: EOS60Da

EOS60Da is a special model for astrophotography. Equipped with a new low-pass filter, the transmittance is about 3 times that of EOS60D; Better reproduction of the details of celestial bodies and subtle changes in light can better capture beautiful nebulae and other spectacular cosmic scenes.

Only a wide-angle lens is needed to photograph the orbit of a star.

Of course, there are some indispensable accessories:

Tripod, cable releaser, flashlight, compass, etc. Tripod is used to fix the machine for a long time, cable release is used to lock the shutter (cable release is preferably wired, and if you have a remote control, you should use that wired connection, because it is easy to interrupt the signal when using the remote control for a long time), flashlight is used to illuminate in the dark and prepare for shooting, and compass is convenient for you to confirm the moving direction of the meteor.

2. Shooting location and time

Best position:

Need to find a place far away from the city to avoid light pollution. Find a suitable foreground, it is best to shoot a little backwards, so as to avoid the strong light pollution near the horizon and shoot the stars with obvious zenith. Pay attention to the fact that the weather in the suburbs is very cold at night, and take cold-proof measures.

Star orbit shooting is generally recommended in places where fingers can't be seen, and such an environment can be completed with one exposure. When shooting in a bright environment, be sure to shoot alone, confirm the exposure time according to the actual situation, and take multiple photos and then synthesize them in PS. It is recommended to shoot in RAW format, and check the brightness distribution of histogram before batch shooting and confirmation of formal shooting.

Best time:

Before shooting, you need to know when it is suitable to shoot the orbit of a star. If the moon is too bright on a clear night, it will block the light of the stars. Therefore, it is generally recommended to choose when there is no moon. The moon usually rises at midnight on the 23rd day of the lunar calendar and does not rise until dawn on the 30th day of the lunar calendar. From the first day to the eighth day, it begins to change from evening to midnight. On the 30th and 1 day, the moon was almost invisible all night. Therefore, it is a good time to shoot the star track from the 23rd to the 8th day of the lunar calendar. At this time, the clear night sky, because there is no moonlight interference, the light of the stars will be very bright.

Shooting skills:

Dew: Dew is easy to form on wet nights. Removing ultraviolet rays and installing a hood can effectively prevent condensation on the lens. Different lenses have different degrees of difficulty in condensation, so they can be selected appropriately. If the weather is wet, pay attention to regularly check the lens for dew. If it is too wet, don't shoot it, so as not to damage the camera and lens.

3. Selection of shooting direction

The shooting direction determines the different forms of the star track in the picture, so you must determine the shooting direction in advance to express your image. Shooting in the north can get the star trajectory centered on Polaris, and shooting in the east and west can also get the fan trajectory.

4. Selection of focusing mode

Adopt full manual focusing. If you want to show the precise focus of the foreground, you can illuminate the foreground with a flashlight to focus. However, if the depth of field allows, you can focus directly at infinity.

Before shooting, you can use the maximum aperture of the lens and the advanced shooting with high ISO method, and play back to check the focus and composition. After confirmation, set the ISO back to 100200, and try to use a large aperture during the official shooting time, because a large aperture can make the stars shoot brighter. It is generally suggested that the foreground should keep the picture of 1/3, and the rest should be left to the sky.

Shooting skills:

Focus: In the dark night sky, it is not easy to get the accurate focus of the starry sky. The simple method of manually screwing to infinity may not work. The central focus of the mid-to high-end fuselage is relatively strong, and autofocus can be completed for the brightest stars such as Venus and Sirius. Once in focus, remember the position on the focus scale, and you can manually screw it here next time. If the low-end fuselage can't focus on the stars, you can focus on the moon in advance and then remember the position. Or focus on the distant light, and then take a picture of the starry sky to see if the focus is accurate. If it really doesn't work, you can only manually screw it to infinity, and then move back a little, and then the shooting will correct the focus.

5. Exposure control

Because the starlight is very dim, the exposure time will be very long, usually 20 minutes to an hour. After a long time, the trajectory of the stars will not be long and the brightness will not be enough. If the time is too long, the trajectory of the stars will be too long and chaotic. The best exposure time is controlled at one hour.

It should be noted that if the shooting of star-orbit photos lacks the expression of content and artistic conception, then no matter how thick and bright the star-orbit photos are, they can only be regarded as star-orbit information films, but not as photographic works.

Shooting skills:

Photometry and composition: First, you can take a shot with the maximum aperture and the highest sensitivity for a short time (10 second), determine the required exposure according to the playback histogram, and then calculate the actual exposure parameters according to the reciprocal rate. In this way, you can also try to compose a composition in the dark. It is also suitable for single long exposure method and superposition method.

The above is a simple course introduction for beginners to shoot the star orbit map, I hope it will help you!