Photo Tips and Stories (Page 16)

By Sean Setters

While on vacation in Pigeon Forge, TN, my wife and I decided to tackle some easy-to-moderate trail hikes in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Being spring break for many primary school students, the park was more crowded than usual. With that in mind, we decided to avoid all the paved trails which are typically popular for family hikes. While we had a few trails in mind, a stop at the Sugarlands Visotors' Center and a talk with one of the rangers proved vital to determining which trails we would ultimately traverse as the ranger provided previously unknown information like temporary road temporary road closures, likely crowd sizes and the types of things we might see on each trail. In the end, we settled on the Porters Creek Trail / Fern Branch Falls at Greenbrier and Cucumber Gap Loop at Elkmont.

Photography was not a primary goal for these hikes; spending quality time with my wife who thoroughly enjoys hiking was. However, going on the hikes without a camera seemed unimaginable to me, so I decided to pack a small kit with the intent of pausing our hike periodically so that she could meditate to the tranquil sounds of the wind in the forest and the gently flowing creek. At least, that's how I sold the idea to her as she watched me pack my small camera backpack.

I knew that our hikes would follow a couple of creeks and their smaller tributaries. I wanted to use long exposures to capture silky movement in the water, which meant that an ND filter was necessary. I decided to bring my Singh-Ray Vari-N-Duo filter because its variable neutral density filter and circular polarizer combination seemed well suited for photographing flowing water. Note that I didn't say "perfectly suited" as I own the standard version of the filter which is very thick (it extends .69" / 17.54mm from the end of the lens) and causes significant mechanical vignetting at focal lengths wider than roughly 50mm on the EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM (mounted on a full frame EOS 5D Mark III) that I took with me. In short, the tradeoff for getting an ND + polarizing effect was the loss wide angles of view.

Using exposures long enough to capture ample motion blur in the water necessitated a stabilized camera, and that meant I needed to bring a tripod or alternate method of stabilization. My primary tripod and head weigh in at nearly 6.5 lb (2.9 kg) and when compacted, are still 27.75" (70.49 cm) long. The size and weight of the tripod made it an inconvenient and cumbersome choice for the hikes, especially considering the small camera backpack I planned to take on the trips.

In place of the primary tripod I opted to take my Feisol TT-15 Carbon Fiber Tabletop Tripod. Even with a small travel-style ball head attached, the tripod and head weigh less than 1 lb (0.45 kg) and are only 8.38" (21.29 cm) long when folded down. The combo's small size and minimal weight made carrying the tripod a breeze yet it allowed me to capture the long exposures I was hoping to get. That said, there was one significant drawback to the diminutive tripod, which is that the framing and composition options available at any given time depended on the surfaces (and especially the height of those surfaces) available at any specific location. There were several locations that I thought looked interesting but couldn't find a suitable platform high enough to get the composition I wanted. But in most cases along the Smoky Mountain Trails we traversed, a large rock bordering (or in) the water or a fallen tree trunk provided a sufficiently high enough platform for pleasing compositions.

By Sean Setters

Take a look at the picture above and try to guess which color gels were used to create the in-camera effect. Then read on.

Backstory

Last week, Patrick, a friend of the site, emailed us asking for advice on how to photograph school children, in costume, for an upcoming performance of Peter Pan. Patrick said that he would be photographing about 70 kids and would be creating formal portraits in a gymnasium before the kids' initial performance. He had all the necessary equipment, but he simply wanted some guidance on the lighting setup.

During our email exchange where we discussed different ideas and setups, I suggested that Patrick might use 2 CTO (orange) gels on his main light and set his camera's white balance to a very cool Kelvin value to get a warm main light against cool (ambient or ungelled flash) fill and/or background light that might simulate theatrical lighting, the same technique that I described in a post from last year.

In the end, Patrick decided to go with a more traditional lighting technique that yielded great results. But the email exchange got me thinking about how opposite colors, like orange and blue, can be used to create intriguing images.

With a single (or stacked) CTO gel(s), you can vary the color intensity of the gelled light – even to white – in-camera by how much you shift your camera's white balance to blue (for example, using a low Kelvin white balance setting). That means you may be able to neutralize any color by shifting the white balance opposite direction (that's exactly what Auto White Balance does). But that also means that we can shift the color spectrum of our image to the opposite color of any gel by telling the camera that a neutral color target lit by the gelled light is actually neutral with Custom White Balance.

With that in mind, take a look at the image atop this post again. What gel (or gels) were used to create the in-camera color effect?

Gelling a Flash to Produce the Opposite Color

To test out this idea, I flipped through my collection of color gels until I found one that intrigued me – dark green (not the much lighter Plus Green). I honestly couldn't remember what the opposite of green was on the color spectrum and had to ask Google to help me out. The answer, of course, was red. I set up a tripod-mounted Canon EOS 5D Mark III and EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM, a couple of Canon Speedlites and a mottled gray background for a self-portrait.

The first thing I needed to do was photograph a neutral target using the gel. But instead of gelling the flash, I decided to gel the lens. Why the lens? Because my gel was big enough to cover the front element of the lens I was using and, if I had to illuminate a large [white] color target with multiple lights (for example), it would be easier to gel the lens rather than each individual light. I had never tried gelling a lens before, but it seemed to make sense for this purpose. I photographed a white target that filled the frame, illuminated by a bare Speedlite (very low power), using the green-gelled lens. I then used the image to set a Custom White Balance in-camera.

I put a flash grid on a Speedlite and pointed it at the background. A few test shots proved I was on the right track; the illuminated areas of the background were red. Now it was time to tackle the main light. I decided to use a gridded 24" collapsible soft box (similar to this) and positioned the soft box so that its light didn't contaminate the background (camera right, slightly behind me, pointed slightly toward the camera). I attached two gels to this flash, the green gel that I had used to create the custom white balance (in essence, turning the flash's output white) and a full CTO to provide some warmth.

As for the fill light, I decided to simply open the curtains on the windows behind the camera and let the daylight ambient light left the shadow areas. I reasoned that the indirect sunlight would be close enough in color to my bare flash that the effect would be similar, and even if they weren't, exact/precise color balance wasn't necessarily the point of this exercise. As long as the result looked interesting and illustrated the concept sufficiently, I was going to be happy. However, a few test shots confirmed that the color of the fill light looked similar to the light on the background, at least as far as this colorblind photographer was concerned. I also know that adding the additional CTO to the main light likely caused a less pronounced difference between its color and that of the background, but I thought the less dramatic color shift would make the image look a little more organic. After it was all said and done, I had a portrait with a red background and a red fill light with a much-less-red-tinted main light – in camera – without using a single red gel. EXIF for the image was f/4, 1/160 sec, ISO 800. In hindsight, I could have easily used a slower shutter speed and a lower ISO, but I was so used to using 1/160 second when using off-camera flashes with radio triggers to kill the ambient that I didn't think to adjust the shutter speed when I actually wanted the ambient to play a supporting role in the lighting.

When might this concept come in handy? Well, if you wanted your overall scene to be a certain color, but you didn't have that color gel in our kit, you could use the opposite color to shift your white balance to get similar results. Or, if you simply don't have enough gels for a multiple light setup, you could again shift the color spectrum of all your lights using a gel of the opposite color. This won't likely be a technique that gets you out of a jam, but... it can certainly be a fun technique to experiment with, and thinking about color balance and how to manipulate it in different ways may prove beneficial down the line.

B&H sells color gels for flashes.

by Sean Setters

I spent this past Saturday morning at the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge with the hopes of photographing a few birds while I was there. Unfortunately, opportunities to photograph my intended subjects were few and far between as it's just past the peak season for waterfowl in the area.

And that got me thinking. When photographing birds, it's often ideal to photograph them from ground or water level, which means you will likely be positioned near the water's edge and in a rather defenseless, prone position. Unfortunately for us photographers, that's the same area where alligators find their easiest meals.

• Avoid the water's edge and especially don't crouch down next to it. An American alligator can sprint at about 11 miles per hour (17.7 kph) for short distances. Alligators don't like chasing after prey, so the farther away from the water's edge you are, the less appealing you'll appear even to a particularly hungry one.
• Stay alert. You are most vulnerable when looking through the viewfinder, so look around before doing so and try to minimize viewfinder usage as much as possible.
• Alligators, like crocodiles, often work in teams. If you see one, there's a good chance there's another one (or more) nearby.
• Alligators are most active from dusk to dawn, so try to avoid traversing alligator-prone areas during those times.
• If you are attacked by an alligator, make as much noise as possible and fight back by hitting, kicking and poking it in the eyes. Alligators will often release prey and retreat when they cannot easily overpower it. Of course, seek medical attention as soon as possible.

Of course, you may find yourself in the same situation as me where the alligators prove to be the most interesting subjects available at the time. By staying away from the water's edge, remaining alert and minimizing use of your viewfinder, you can relatively safely photograph alligators using the same equipment ideal for bird photography; that is, a very long telephoto lens.

by Sean Setters

Before we delve into the different techniques for capturing focus stack images, it's important to understand why focus stacking is an important tool, especially in regards to macro photography. Focus stacking allows you to gain more DOF (depth of field) so a larger portion of your frame can be in sharp focus. Your DOF is determined by the relationship between format size (full frame or APS-C), focal length, aperture and focus distance. Macro photography, especially as magnifications of 1.0x (or greater) are achieved, necessitates focusing on very close subjects, which in turn produces a very shallow DOF even at relatively narrow apertures.

For instance, using a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV and an EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM Macro lens set to f/5.6 with a subject distance of 11.8" (the lens' minimum focus distance), your DOF would be approximately 0.08" (2.03 mm). Switch out the 5D Mark IV for an EOS 7D Mark II and the DOF would change to 0.05" (1.27 mm). Note that if a 7D Mark II were used and the framing remained identical between the two cameras, the APS-C 7D II's DOF would be greater than the full frame 5D Mark IV's (see FOVCF).

With such a shallow DOF at f/5.6, why not just use a much narrower aperture to gain more DOF? There are two main reasons. The first is that even if you used f/16 with the 5Ds R under the shooting conditions listed above, your DOF would only increase to 0.23" (5.84 mm) which still won't be enough DOF to cover your subject under a lot of macro shooting conditions. And the second (probably more compelling) reason is that the cameras listed above have DLAs (Diffraction Limited Apertures) of f/6.7 and f/6.6, respectively. Noticeable sharpness and contrast penalties are incurred when using apertures significantly narrower than a camera's DLA, so shooting at f/5.6 allows you to obtain the sharpest image within your DOF.

In short, focus stacking allows us to obtain exactly the DOF we desire in a scene while maximizing sharpness at the same time (assuming an aperture wider than the camera's DLA is used).

Now that we've established why focus stacking is important in regards to macro photography, let's dive into ways you can capture the images necessary for focus stacking.

A perennial favorite for macro shooters is the use of a focusing rail to move the camera forward/backward at set intervals. Focusing rails are typically adjusted by rotating a screw on which the camera platform sits (or otherwise the platform freely slides along the rails until clamped into position) with markings provided to make precise interval shooting a breeze.

Move the camera forward so that the new plane of sharp focus overlaps with the previous shot and activate the shutter button. Repeat as necessary until the desired DOF has been captured.

If you prefer an automated solution, Cognisys, Inc.'s StackShot Automated Macro Rail can be programmed to do the work for you.

Note that if your macro lens features a tripod ring, you could attach an inexpensive macro plate (one with scaled markings) to the tripod ring and manually slide the camera, clamp, shoot and repeat to capture your focus bracket. This approach isn't as convenient and won't likely be as precise as using a geared macro rail, but it is much less expensive.

One issue that you may run into when using macro rails is that your perspective changes as you move the camera. However, most focus stacking programs are designed to properly align source images even with the perspective change.

Variable Focus, Fixed Camera Position

For this technique, the camera is mounted to a solid support system (typically a tripod) and images are taken as the lens' focus distance setting is changed to move the plane of sharp focus forward or backward. This can either be done manually by very carefully and minutely rotating the focus ring in between shots or the process can be automated through various camera remote platforms (CamRanger, CamFi, DSLR Controller). For the sample image atop this post, I used the Canon EOS 5D Mark III and EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro (and some extension tubes) to capture 17 RAW files while manually adjusting focus from the nearest in-focus element to the farthest.

Varying focus does not lead to perspective change. However, if the lens exhibits focus breathing (many do), the scene will be framed slightly tighter or looser as focusing is adjusted throughout the imaging sequence, making details larger or smaller in the frame. This change isn't typically an issue for most focus stacking programs.

Which focus stack capture technique should I use?

As a lens's maximum magnification is only achieved at its minimum focus distance, moving the camera position will enable you to achieve the lens' max magnification throughout your image sequence. Also, manually moving the camera via a macro focusing rail can enable you to capture a more precisely spaced set of images compared to manually varying focus (automated systems would likely be equal in that regard).

A focusing rail will not work as well for scenes with a lot of depth as your camera's travel distance will be limited to the length of your rail. In those cases, varying focus will be your only option. If you are on a limited budget and want to give focus stacking a try, the variable focus method doesn't require an investment in specialized equipment, making it much easier to just hit the ground running when the inspiration strikes.

Which focus stacking software should I use?

There are a few programs dedicated to focus stacking and at least a couple of general image editing programs have a focus stacking feature built-in. I decided to try three of them with the same stack of images to see how they compared.

• Adobe Photoshop CC
• Affinity Photo
• HeliconSoft Helicon Focus

To capture the stack images, I used the variable focus technique, manually adjusting focus between shots. Here's what the nearest focused and farthest focused shots looked like in the 20 shot sequence at f/5.6:

Each of the programs used did a decent job assembling the in-focus areas of the focus stack, but there were some notable differences. Photoshop seamed to do a great job assembling the in-focus areas, but it didn't handle the transitions to out-of-focus areas very well, especially in regards to areas showing depth. Affinity Photo seemed to do a better job handling the areas that troubled Photoshop, but it produced noticeable halos throughout the image.

It's important to note that Photoshop and Affinity Photo have very limited (if any) focus stacking options to allow for tailoring the stacking algorithm to best suit a given set of images. Affinity Photo provides no customization options for focus stacking while Photoshop CC gives you the option of Automatically Aligning the source images (highly recommended) in the Scripts/Load Files Into Stack dialogue box and provides two checkmark options – Seamless Tones and Colors and Content Aware Fill Transparent Areas – in the Edit/Auto Blend Layers/Stack Images dialogue.

On the other hand, Helicon Focus provides three separate algorithms for stacking – Weighted Average, Depth Map and Pyramid. And if you choose Weighted Average or Depth Map, you can choose specific Radius and Smoothing settings. The Radius setting adjusts how large of an area is analyzed around each pixel. Low Radius settings enable fine details to be better resolved, with an increased risk that halos will appear in the image. The Smoothing setting dictates how the in-focus to out-of-focus transitions will appear, with higher settings enabling a softer transition.

In the end, I liked the Helicon Focus Weighted Average result best, and with the ability to adjust its algorithms' variables, Helicon Focus will likely prove most adept at producing pleasing focus stacking results. But if you already own Photoshop CC or Afffinity Photo, give their focus stacking features a try to see if they work well for your needs.

by Sean Setters

If you're like me, you sometimes get the itch to photograph something, but your immediate surroundings leave you somewhat uninspired. Thankfully, the Multiple Exposures feature found in most mid-to-high level Canon cameras can help with that.

Canon Cameras that can shoot multiple exposures in-camera include:

• EOS 1D X Mark II
• EOS 1D X
• EOS 5D Mark IV
• EOS 5Ds / 5Ds R
• EOS 5D Mark III
• EOS 6D Mark II
• EOS 6D
• EOS 7D Mark II
• EOS 80D
• EOS 70D

While most of the DSLRs above can be set to record the final multiple exposure image and the images used to create the final exposure, the EOS 70D, 80D, 6D and 6D Mark II only allow for saving the finished image (not the component images). This feature limitation can be important as you will not be able to create your own multiple exposure in post-processing using the component images.

While testing out some different lighting setups in my studio this weekend, I remembered that a dark silhouette-style portrait can create an ideal base for a multiple exposure image. However, I didn't want a complete silhouette, and instead opted to use two rim lights (studio strobes with gridded strip boxes) for the profile image so that the lit areas of my face and head would still be visible in the combined exposure. A single, bare 580EX Speedlite provided the lighting for the background.

With my base image captured and specified in the Multiple Exposure menu options, I switched my camera to Av mode (leaving the camera set to f/5.6 and ISO 320), walked out my studio door and searched for subject/composition that might work well for the multiple exposure. At first, the trunk of a large tree that borders the backyard caught my attention. This was the result:

If you'd like to try out your camera's Multiple Exposure feature, here are a few tips we outlined in our article, Multiple Exposures: Yet Another Way to Add Value to Your Wedding Services.

Set the camera as follows:

1. Create a silhouette image to use as the base layer. Note that the brighter areas of the each image will be what comes through prominently in the final image. An underexposed profile/silhouette set against a bright sky (or pure white background) tends to work well for a base layer.
2. Turn on Live View. Use the LCD's preview to help you align the next shot. Note that you may need to use negative exposure compensation (for both the base and second image) to keep from overexposing the final image.
3. Preview your results. If you don't like the final image, simply go back into the Multiple Exposure options and designate your original base image to be used for your next attempt.

by Sean Setters

Let's face it, while light stands can be extremely handy, they can also take up a lot of space in your studio when in use (especially when multiple light stands are being used) and cumbersome to transport. Other times, a light stand simply won't fit where you want to place your light. Thankfully, there are a few good alternatives for propping up your shoe-mount flashes and/or studio strobes when a light stand just won't do or is otherwise unavailable.

The Justin Clamp is a spring clamp with a cold flash swivel shoe. It's great for clamping shoe-mount flashes to boards/pipes/banisters up to approx. 1.6" (4 cm) thick.

So why is it called a "Justin" Clamp? We have famed photographer Joe McNally to thank for that. According to his 2009 blog post:

I was hanging SB-80 flashes all over aircraft with these cheesy, flimsy, third party [lousy] hot shoe clamping doobers, and getting frustrated as [could be], cause the little ball heads really couldn’t hold more than a thimble full of weight, and they were always slipping and the flashes would spill light in unwanted directions.

I called my bud Justin Stailey, then of the Bogen Corporation, and complained. Photographers. We’re good at complaining. I said there had to be a better way, and Justin being Justin, found one. He brought some off the shelf Manfrotto parts over to my studio and cobbled this little Frankenstein of a clamp together. I said "Perfect, that’s what I want, give me 10 of them."

I wrote about in American Photo, and called it the Justin Clamp. Got Justin in hot water, though, cause his professors at RIT were pretty upset that a relatively recent graduate all of a sudden had a frikkin’ piece of equipment named after his own self. Justin is now with Leica cameras, and exploring the wonders of German optics.

The Super Clamp allows you to affix your flash to pipes/tubes 0.5" - 2.1" (1.3 - 5.3 cm) and also includes a wedge insert that allows you to securely clamp the device to flat surfaces as well. The standard Super Clamp comes with a hex stud that you can use to mount an umbrella swivel or a studio strobe (some studio strobes may require a Super Clamp with Pin). Also, if using with a monolight, you may be better off getting a T-handle/ Mafer version of the super clamp as the ratchet version may impede using ratchet mechanism on your studio light.

A drop ceiling scissor clamp is an inexpensive tool that is especially well suited for office environment lighting applications. Hop on a chair (carefully), reach up and affix the clamp on a cross bar and it's ready for mounting an umbrella swivel or strobe. I've had a pair of these in my lighting kit for years and they've been very helpful for on-location headshots (I typically use them with shoe-mount flashes to light the background or for a hair/separation light positioned behind a subject). Drop ceiling scissor clamps are so small, and so inexpensive, there's no excuse not have at least a couple of them in your lighting kit.

If you don't have room to set up a light stand, but you have a smooth, flat surface (such as glass) available, the Avenger Pump Cup can really save the day. With a load capacity rating of 4.41 lbs (2 kg), you won't want to use this tool with heavy modifiers on your lights. However, for loads within the load capacity rating, the stability of this device is impressive. I recently got a second one to use in my automobile boom rig, and decided to test the new F1000 before having to depend on it for a shoot. After pumping the cup to the proper suction (the red line disappears), the tool was impossible to remove from a window pane. In fact, it remained there for 3 days (with me trying to release it each day) before it finally released after a significant amount of effort.

Note that Avenger makes a swivel pin version (seen above) and one with a straight pin. While the straight pin model is slightly less expensive, I think the versatility afforded by the swivel pin is well worth its slightly higher price.

For permanent studio applications, baby pin wall plates provide fixed mounting options at a bargain price compared to quality light stands. For less than $15.00 and the cost of 4 screws, you can mount a 3" or 6" (7.6 or 15.2 cm) baby pin wall plate to your ceiling, a wall stud or a support beam/column. For those with small studios, mounting your lights to the walls and ceiling can help you maximize the space you have for posing your subjects. On that note, I recently installed an Avenger F805 6.0" Baby Wall Plate to a ceiling support beam in my studio so that I could leave a hair/separation light semi-permanently installed in a typically optimal location.

Wrap-Up

Don't get me wrong, I love light stands, especially C-stands and my personal favorite, the Matthews Maxi Kit Steel Stand. But there are times when adding a (or another) light stand to your setup is impractical or even impossible, given certain constraints. In those situations, the tools above can provide you with various ways to mount your lights without requiring the use of a light stand. Also, don't underestimate the importance of minimizing the number of light stands you have set up for a particular session; one less light stand erected means there is one less light stand leg for your subject (or yourself) to trip over, possibly causing injury or equipment damage in the process.

How old is your computer? I'm prompted to ask because Sean just posted a hot deal on a model similar to what I upgraded to a few weeks ago (the model I purchased has the i7-8550U 1.8GHz processor).

I typically upgrade my laptop annually as the improved performance is usually worth the cost and effort of doing so. But, I had been using a Dell XPS 15 (9530) for nearly 3 years (it was a very fast model when I bought it) and I was still struggling to find the time to make the switch. Finally deciding to make the move, I chose to go with Dell's powerful-but-tiny XPS 13. What it delivers in the tiny form factor is quite impressive.

While there are a lot of benchmarks for measuring computer performance, highly relevant to me is the RAW image conversion time. A hand-timed measurement for processing 8 RAW EOS 5Ds R files into 16-bit TIFF files using Canon Digital Photo Professional on the 3-year-old laptop was 2:00. The new laptop smoked the old one, knocking out the same task (same RAW files) in 0:50. Update: I was later testing another feature with a fresh set of RAW files and, for whatever reasons, was getting considerably longer processing times on the new laptop. The times were still faster than the old one, but not so dramatically so.

So, how old is your computer? We focus on keeping our camera gear up to date, but today, computers fill a key role in our photography workflow. If your computer is more than a couple of years old, you may find great benefit in upgrading it. Think about the difference I experienced if you are processing images from a sporting event, wedding or other shoot that generates a large number, perhaps even thousands, of images.

Not all tasks, especially less-intensive ones, seem to be accomplished noticeably faster in my upgrade. But, does the computer you are using now have an SSD? If not, brace yourself for the speed improvement a model with this drive type will bring. That difference is dramatic even for short tasks like opening applications.

If this sweet little Dell XPS 13 is not the model you are looking for, B&H has many other options for you to choose from. Head over and take a look.

What do you do with the old laptop/computer? While computers don't hold their value as well as lenses, they are still worth something on the used market. Try selling it on eBay (always use the eBay link at the bottom of all pages on the site).

Another good option is keep the old computer for secondary use, including as a backup to the primary model. Turning the replaced computer into a digital picture frame, bringing your deep archives to life, is a great idea. One more suggestion: there are many charities that would love to put your used machine to use in doing good.

I had planned to share this suggestion with you, but today's Dell XPS 13 deal accelerated my timeframe for this post. I wanted you to be able to catch the deal.

by Sean Setters

I had been checking the ISS Transit-Finder web app regularly for opportunities to photograph the International Space Station against the sun or the moon. While there were no solar transit opportunities the month ahead, there was a great lunar transit opportunity with the center line of the transit falling only 1.15 miles (1.84 km) from my front door.

Date & Time: February 1, 11:36:36.16 pm
Transit Duration: 0.84 seconds

The address provided along the center line of the transit belonged to an apartment complex, which was perfect. I could simply park in the parking lot, set up my tripod there and wait for the transit to occur.

As the transit time drew nearer, I packed my Canon EOS 7D Mark II (because of its high burst rate), EF 300mm f/4L USM (precursor to the IS version), tripod and a wired shutter release (TC-80N3) and anxiously watched the sky as patches of clouds rolled overhead. I downloaded an app for my smartphone that could display an NTP synchronized time (down to the milliseconds). This would hopefully allow me to perfectly time my continuous burst. My plan was to composite an entire ISS transit sequence into a single frame using the individually captured burst images.

At 11:15pm, I went outside to find the clouds had vanished. I grabbed my gear, hopped in the car and traveled to the apartment complex parking lot.

By 11:25pm, my EOS 7D II, lens and wired remote were mounted atop the tripod with the moon centered in viewfinder. I fired off a few images to test for proper focus and exposure parameters. With the moon almost full, the exposure parameters I settled on were f/5.6, 1/640 sec, ISO 200. The lens was set to Manual focus and I disabled Anti-Flicker Shooting in the 7D II's menu so that I could achieve the camera's maximum burst rate.

I reasoned that the f/5.6 aperture would give me the sharpest result without diffraction impacting image sharpness, and that a faster-than-1/500 shutter speed would likely allow me to freeze the ISS as it crossed the moon (for longer focal length lenses, an even faster shutter speed would be required). ISO 200 allowed me to achieve a decently bright moon at 1/640 second.

With the transit time only 90 seconds away, I reframed the scene to put the moon slightly lower and to the left of the middle. My earlier tests had given me a pretty good idea of how the moon was traveling through my frame, so I had a good idea where to put the moon so that it would fall right into the middle of the composition to take advantage of the lens' sharpest area of the image circle projected. And then I waited, with the wired remote in one hand and my smartphone in the other, counting down the seconds. As my app passed 11:36:35, I waited roughly half a second and then held down the shutter button for roughly 2.5 seconds. Excitedly, I flipped through the captured images on the camera's LCD screen.

And.... I quickly realized that I had missed the first half of the transit, roughly, with my first image in the burst showing the ISS having already covered approximately 40% of the Moon's surface. My timing was off. I should have taken full advantage of the 7D II's 3-second RAW buffer and started my capture at 11:36:35 to give myself a small buffer before the calculated transit time. Regardless of my failure to capture the entire transit, I really liked the [heavily cropped] composition of the shot shown above.

ISS Lunar Transit Tips

• Download a synchronized time app that shows NTP time down the milliseconds.
• Use a tripod, your longest telephoto lens and a wired remote shutter release. Using a tripod with a high max height can make framing the moon high above much easier.
• Set your camera to continuous shooting (burst) mode with a shutter speed fast enough to freeze the ISS (approx. 1/640 second @ 300mm on APS-C, faster for longer focal lengths). Disable Anti-Flicker Shooting (if available) to maximumize burst rate.
• Try to time your continuous burst duration so that your camera's RAW image buffer gives you an equal time before and after the event to ensure you capture the entire sequence, even if your timing is slightly off.

Relevant Article

• Use Your Solar Eclipse Gear to Capture an ISS Transit of the Sun

by Sean Setters

When presented with a scene that requires more exposure latitude than your camera can capture in a single image, exposure bracketing (taking several images at varying exposures) and HDR (High Dynamic Range) processing with programs such as Aurora HDR can be used to capture detail in both the highlight and shadow areas of the scene.

Below are a few tips for capturing exposure brackets with Canon cameras.

1) Set your desired AEB (Auto Exposure Bracket) variables in the Custom Function menu, if applicable.
Those with mid-to-higher level cameras (in Canon cameras, the EOS 80D and above) will have the ability to choose the number of bracketed images (a higher number tends to produce a cleaner final image with smoother transitions between highlight and shadow) and the sequence in which the bracketed images are captured. The default sequence (0,-,+) can be a little confusing when perusing bracketed images in post-processing, so we prefer to change the sequence to either (-,0,+) or (+,0,-) for a more natural layout of the exposures in post processing.

2) Choose an Exposure Compensation range in which the highlights and shadows are easily contained in the darkest and brightest images, respectively.
Sometimes it can be difficult to survey a scene and determine the exact exposure latitude needed to capture all the details in your composition. Therefore, try a ±1 stop exposure bracket and see how your bracket looks. With the histogram enabled, if you see clipped highlights in your darkest image or clipped shadow areas in your brightest image, either increase the exposure compensation range (if the base exposure is ideal) or otherwise adjust the whole exposure range up or down accordingly (up for an overall brighter image, down for darker). Rinse and repeat until desired results are obtained.

3) Use a tripod.
When capturing an exposure bracket, a fully stabilized camera is ideal, necessitating the solid support a good tripod and head provide. Even though most HDR programs can automatically align images that may not be perfectly identically framed, the best results will be achieved using a tripod.

4) Disable lens image stabilization and autofocus.
While many lenses feature tripod-sensing IS systems, if you're unsure about the design and capability of your lens' built-in stabilization, then your best bet is to turn it off. Doing so will prevent motion blur (sometimes caused by a non-tripod-sensing-IS) and slightly shifted compositions between bracketed images. And because you want the scene that's captured to be absolutely identical between exposures (aside from the varying exposure times), using manual focus (aided by your camera's Live View at 10x magnification) will ensure your focus doesn't drift between frames (take several brackets of the same scene in case movement occurs in one or more images).

5) Set the camera to 2-second delay in Live View mode.
With Live View enabled, you will ensure that the mirror assembly's movement does not create internal vibrations which can impact image sharpness (same as having Mirror Lock-up engaged). Enabling 2-second (or 10-second) delay has two distinct benefits. First, the delay allows for vibrations to settle down before the shutter is released. The second benefit is that your bracketed images will be captured automatically in succession without you having to touch the camera again. If the possibility for movement in your scene is high, you may want to leave the camera in single shot mode and use a wired remote release (or your camera's built-in wireless features) to trigger each image when the time is right. Note: Mirror Lock-Up must be disabled for automatic AEB capture to work. In this case, we don't need Mirror Lock-Up because shooting in Live View accomplishes the same goal of eliminating vibrations caused by the mirror assembly.

After you've captured your bracketed images, all you need to do is load them into your favorite HDR program (Aurora HDR 2018 is my current favorite, but Photomatix is another good option) and tweak the final image to your heart's content!