effulge creative

photography by Joseph K Cowdell

Category: Long Exposure

  • Fort Pearce Milky Way with Hayden

    Fort Pearce Milky Way with Hayden

  • Into Darkness – Night Photography / Star Trails

    Into Darkness – Night Photography / Star Trails

    4. Into Darkness

    Due Thursday by 3:15 pm Points 100 Submitting a file upload File Types jpg New moon is Oct. 1st. That means you have a unique opportunity for a few days on either side of that date to photograph dark skies and stars. In the spirit of pre-visualizing, planning, and executing your photographs, your assignment is:

    1. Find a landmark you’d like to photograph with stars and/or star trails behind it.

    2. Download Stellarium from www.stellarium.org and use it to determine when you could photograph the milky way in the same composition as your chosen landmark.

    3. Take your photographs (you’ll want to determine how to focus your lens to infinity in advance, so you don’t have to figure that out in the dark).

    Your final deliverable will be two .jpg images. One should be exposed such that the stars are points in your photograph, as opposed to streaks. The second should be either a very long exposure to create star trails (probably at least a one hour exposure), or a series of star photos stacked to create star trails (this is usually the more pleasing approach. Again, you’d probably want the series exposed at regular intervals over the course of at least an hour).

    Please be safe and don’t go anywhere dangerous or alone. Don’t trespass and don’t fail to bring adequate supplies for your comfort and safety (you’ll probably need a coat. . . what am I, your mother?).

    Hint: You’ll probably need a remote shutter release for this assignment. These are available from online retailers such as Amazon for a few dollars.

    Hint 2: You can check the clear night skies forecast here: http://www.cleardarksky.com/csk/

    Hint 3: Here is a list of common “correct” exposure settings for common apertures while taking night sky shots:

    f/1.4, ISO800 = 30s
    f/2.8, ISO3200 = 30s
    f/4.0, ISO6400 = 30s
    f/5.6, ISO12800 = 30s

    Hint 4: Here are four tutorials that can help you:

    http://petapixel.com/2013/03/18/how-to-photograph-star-trails-from-start-to-finish/
    http://petapixel.com/2013/04/25/a-complete-guide-to-star-trailing/
    http://petapixel.com/2014/01/29/picking-great-lens-milky-way-photography/
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rydg7JGTAbw

    Hint 5: Make sure your batteries are fully charged.

    This assignment is for Digital Photography course (ART 3040) at Dixie State University in St. George, Utah taught by Alex Chamberlain in the Fall of 2016.

  • Rubber Rabbitbrush Milky Way

    Rubber Rabbitbrush Milky Way

    Rubber Rabbitbrush Milky Way with a setting moon.
    Captured near Central, Utah

  • Introspection – Self Portraits

    Introspection – Self Portraits

    6. Introspection

    Now it’s time to make your first self-portraits. In some ways, this will be easier than your previous portraiture assignment, and in some, it will be harder. Part of the challenge will come into play as you attempt to assess what will express your own personality to others. It’s time to think outside of your own perceptions and be candid with yourself about what makes you tick and how you come across to others – especially how to express that visually to complete strangers who may view the photograph. Again, as with your previous portraiture assignment, this process may be augmented through clothing, props, surroundings, lighting, posing, expression, etc., but at its core, these should be portraits of your true, inner self as you believe that should best be expressed. The final product should be five different portraits taken on five different days (The portraits should have different lighting, setting, prop, wardrobe, etc. Don’t just move from one room to the next. You’ll be graded on your effort as well as your image and presentation).

    Tip: Dare to be vulnerable. Tell us something about you that we don’t know.

    This assignment is for Digital Photography course (ART 2060) at Dixie State University in St. George, Utah taught by Alex Chamberlain in the Fall of 2015.

  • The Long Way Home – Intro to Night Photography

    The Long Way Home – Intro to Night Photography

    I took a photography course from Alex Chamberlain at Dixie State University in the Fall of 2015. This was my first “real” experience with night photography. Luckily, the city of Pine Valley, Utah has some of the darkest skies near my hometown of St. George, Utah. It is the perfect spot for me to practice my night photography. Night photography gives me an excuse to get away from it all and just listen to nature. Sometimes being alone with just a camera can be frightening, so I usually bring a friend.

    5. The Long Way Home – Intro to Night Photography

    Your assignment is to shoot 10 long exposures, ranging from 1 second to at least 10 minutes in length. Subject matter should include all of the following:

    1. Moving lights
    2. Stars
    3. People

    This does not mean that all three elements must be in each image. Rather, you need images of all three of these things within the set you turn in.

    Exposure lengths should be:

    • 2 finished 1-second exposures
    • 2 finished 5-second exposures
    • 2 finished 10-second exposures
    • 2 finished 30-second exposures
    • 2 finished 10-minute exposures (these can be longer than 10 minutes if you’d like)

    These should not be “drafts” or experiments. They should be finished, portfolio-quality pieces. The finished assignment calls for 10 images. You will probably need to take much more than that in the course of creating your images.

    In order to expose longer than 30 seconds, most cameras must be in “bulb” mode, which means you press the shutter button to open the shutter and release it to close. Obviously, this can introduce some hand-transferred camera shake, so you will probably want to pick up a remote shutter release for your camera. These can be purchased from amazon.com for about $5-$10.

    Note: October 13th is the new moon (the moon is not visible in the sky). That will be the best star-shooting day during the course of the assignment, but you should be able to find good shooting conditions within four days before or after that date.

    Please don’t trespass or go anywhere crazy alone at night.

    Your moving light shots cannot be taken around the Dixie Rock area.

    Hint: You can check the clear night skies forecast here: http://www.cleardarksky.com/csk/

    Hint 2: Here is a list of common “correct” exposure settings for common apertures while taking night sky shots:

    • f/1.4, ISO800 = 30s
    • f/2.8, ISO3200 = 30s
    • f/4.0, ISO6400 = 30s
    • f/5.6, ISO12800 = 30s

    Hint 3: Make sure your batteries are fully charged.

    This assignment is for Digital Photography course (ART 2060) at Dixie State University in St. George, Utah taught by Alex Chamberlain in the Fall of 2015.