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Syndyne — Burning Brightly
Published: 2012-09-25 13:01:06 +0000 UTC; Views: 1009; Favourites: 67; Downloads: 0
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Taken out on the Four Mile Opal Fields, Lightning Ridge N.S.W. at 10:35pm EST on the 20.9.12.This is one of the first photos taken with my new 5D MkIII coupled with the Canon 16-35mm f2.8L II USM lens.
This came from an evening of testing the camera out on some distant lightning which was way off to the South of town (left of shot here) down near Walgett N.S.W. This sky glow from a large fire burning out on one of the properties was cool to see. The minor light far left is the small township of Cumborah N.S.W.
I'm aware that this might appear a little dark on some monitors. Hopefully not too dark for most
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Comments: 48
Shaun your wonderful work is featured here [link]
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Cheers Ken! Much appreciated
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Thank you kindly Karen
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Thanks Brad! Hope all is going great
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How high was ISO when you took that photo?
It's really amazing!
Beautiful.
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I'll give you the entire EXIF data: 20secs. ISO2500, f2.8, Infinity Focus @ 16mm.
Thanks for the kind comment!
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Thank you very much!
I've got one question also: I have Canon EOS 600D, but it's sometimes pretty hard to focus the stars correctly, so that they would not be blurry. How do you focus on the stars during taking a pictures in the dark, because sometimes stars are so tiny and it's hard to tell, are they on focus or not. Many times I've got this all wrong...
Well, sometimes I've focused on the Moon for example and then took pictures of the stars, but even then some pictures have gone wrong. Damn.
Waiting for your answer,
Indrek.
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Ahh yes, the focus issue.
With my 16-35mm L lens I have a focal gauge on the lens itself and two points that are classed as infinity focus (the point where the most focus is achieved). I'm still learning where my exact point is as every lens is different. It can vary as much a 1mm either side of the mark, which is indicated by a sideways 8.
Here's a very basic little YouTube video on the subject [link]
There are other rules to follow also when it comes to astro photography. Another important one is the 600 rule rule (I use 400 which is my preferred number for clarity). Basically you divide your lens' focal length by 600 or 400 ie; my lens at it's widest point (smallest number) is 16mm so I just divide 400 by 16 and get the number 25. So I know I can do a 25 second exposure at 16mm and the stars won't trail too much.
I'm still learning where my exact infinity focal point is on this new lens also. It takes time, a lot of patience and a few blurry images along the way. 
Hope that helps you out a little
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It's really good video and I've watched the whole thing.
But I have a question: I have also an usual lens 18-135 mm and this lens does not have an infinity symbol. So is it true that when my lens does not have this symbol, I can focus ONLY with that way that I take a photo with automatic regime find the furthest sopt to focus into? Or did I get this wrong?
Best wishes,
Indrek.
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All lenses have an infinity point. my 18-55mm kit lens didn't have a focal gauge on it either so I used to just manually focus on some very distant lights or the Moon if it's out using the LCD live view with my old Canon 450D.
Just make sure whatever you focus on is nice and clear and don't touch it after that. It can be easy to mark a lens when you have found the infinity focus point too. Just a small mark of white out or a piece of tape will be perfect.
I actually took my new camera out last night to experiment with the focus while waiting for storms to arrive (they didn't quite make it to us). It turns out the original white infinity mark is highly precise at 16mm so I need to check what the red 16mm infinity mark just beyond that is actually for.
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Oh and I should say I use my iPhone as a light to see my focal gauge when it's completely dark. It pays to keep a small torch handy in your camera bag too
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Thanks kindly Chloe
Hope all is going great! Hope that new camera is getting a bit of use too
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Hope you're well too
It sure is!
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Thanks Doug! It's been a fun learning curve seeing what a great camera can do. I've never had access to a great lens either. Just waiting on the weather to co-operate now. We have a good forecast for the weekend, starting Friday evening. Fingers crossed for some nice lightning displays
Hope all is going great
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Thank you Stephen. Hope all is well my friend
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Thanks Chris. This just seemed more interesting than the distant lightning display we had. It was nice to be able to test the camera limits out without the sheer panic of a severe storm being over us
I still may post a lightning shot from that evening.
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well i think you got what you set out to get thats a fact, i kind of like this as much as your normal lightning shots to be honest
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Thank you Glass! It was kind of cool to see at the time, though much darker to the naked eye.
Hope you've been well
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I'm sure it must've been awesome
And I've been doing pretty well, what about yourself?
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Going okay.
Hayfever has kept me stuck indoors for the last four weeks. It's been total torture having the new camera and not being able to go outside for more than five minutes lol.
It's subsiding now though luckily. I'll get out and about to see what the thing can do. We have storms forecast for the end of this week so I'm excited for that
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Hay-Fever? Ouch. That sucks, especially since you weren't able to experiment with your new camera.
That's good to hear though.
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I would say... some lightning maybe?
I'll do a few more of these while the Galaxy is nicely visible.
Thanks so much for the comment
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Thanks kindly Carlos.
You have a great gallery by the way!
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My real pleasure! And thankyou for your kind words and for the watch! BTW - Your gallery is great too, so let's watch it!!!
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Can't see stars here and they fell out of my eyes a long time ago.
Great shot.
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