Hi Joe, A lot of great information contained here. Should help improve my images. Now just need to wait for just the right flare. Thank you for the pointers Jimmy Ray ----- Original Message ----- From: "Joe Orman" <joe.orman@xxxxxxxxxxx> To: <az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Saturday, July 14, 2007 16:24 Subject: [AZ-Observing] Re: Latest photos: planets, Iridium flares, ISS/shuttle pass, etc. Yes, Provia 100F is ISO 100. This is fairly slow film; when shooting Iridium flares from the city you don't want to overexpose the light-polluted sky or the foreground (as the captions to my photos stated, the houses were illuminated by a street light). But you need to keep the shutter open long enough to capture the entire flare. So based on previous experience with night photos in my neighborhood, I came up with a baseline exposure of f/4, 60 seconds (ISO 100 film). The time given on heavens-above is for the MIDPOINT of the flare; you have to open the shutter 20 to 30 seconds before that (I keep my digital watch set within a second of the correct time). Another fun challenge is planning the composition in advance using the predicted altitude and azimuth of the flare -- aligning the camera, an appropriately-facing house and the flare location (remember, I'm opening the shutter BEFORE the flare becomes visible). I typically use a 40mm lens -- wide enough to keep everything in focus, minimize trailing, and give enough margin of error so the flare will actually be in the frame! Here are examples of Iridium flares photographed in very dark skies: http://joeorman.shutterace.com/Meteors/Meteors_070315_32.html http://joeorman.shutterace.com/Meteors/Meteors_010624_10.html Under these conditions, you don't have to worry about overexposure, and you can use much faster film, but you need to keep the shutter open longer (~ 2 minutes) since the faint "tails" of the flare will show up (notice the star trailing in the untracked image). I hope these tips are helpful -- if anyone takes any good flare images, I'd enjoy seeing them. --Joe Jimmy Ray wrote: Hi Joe, (oh,oh here comes the nubie with his camera again) Love the way those flares turned out. Couple of questions. Am I to assume the 100F slide film means ISO100? Is there a street light or other close illumination in front of your house? I've done a couple of "flares" but no where as neat as yours. I went for a very small section of sky and 30 seconds. Trailing and focus being the detriment of those images. At 60 seconds yours look spectacular. Jimmy Ray -- See message header for info on list archives or unsubscribing, and please send personal replies to the author, not the list. -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.10.5/899 - Release Date: 7/13/2007 3:41 PM -- See message header for info on list archives or unsubscribing, and please send personal replies to the author, not the list.