HOW TO PHOTOGRAPH STARS AND METEOR SHOWERS PART 4

Posted by : wdkhan Saturday 7 September 2013

TRIGGERING:

Before getting started, disable the lens and camera auto focus engine then get the star in focus by simply setting the focus distance for infinity. If your lens has an AF-S focusing engine, it is required to fine tune the focusing distance for infinity. The infinity must be set in middle of the arrow. Otherwise the image will be out of focus.

Picture focus setting

If your lens does not have a focusing panel, Rotate focusing ring all way to the right until you feel the focusing ring almost clicking. Then rotate the focusing ring very little to the left by two or three millimeters.

Once you get your subject in focus, lower the viewfinder cover into position. When doing long exposure, blurriness that is caused by camera shake is more noticeable due to slow shutter speeds. Sharpness is more critical when doing long exposures. There are several ways to trigger camera without resulting in camera shake. For example, using a remote cable in single shot, self timer, and mirror up then let the camera sit untouched for 30s or using a remote cable in mirror up. Either way you prefer to trigger the camera, a sandbag is recommended.