HELP
Uploaded: February 19, 2012
My assignment this week is to photograph the sun. But rather than the regular sunrise/sunset I wanted a sun star. Foreground or subject always to dark. any suggestions?
Exif: F Number: 13, Exposure Bias Value: 0.33, ExposureTime: 1/500 seconds, Flash: did not fire, compulsory flash mode, ISO: 100, White balance: Manual white balance, FocalLength: 23.00 mm, Model: Canon EOS REBEL T3i
Aimee C. Eisaman February 19, 2012
This would be something that I would figure out how to use the bracketing function on my camera. I've never done it, but bracketing usually allows you up to three exposures. The camera takes one shot and provides you with that shot in three separate exposures. Hopefully someone who knows more about this can chime in.Another option since everythign in your shot is stationary would be to use a tripod and take a shot to get the sunstar, then adjust the exposure for the other objects and take another. Then blend them together in editing.
Both of these options would require post processing.
Um....you could use that tool you had found to lighten the shadows a bit. It's so hard to give detailed suggestions when I don't know anything about the program you have. I sure hope PSE gets too you soon.
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Aimee C. Eisaman February 19, 2012
PS: I like how you aproached this assignment....got creative!Also I think I found a dirt spot on your sensor or lens. It is just above and to the left of the roof on the building. #9990454
Jeff E Jensen February 19, 2012
Hey, I remember this place. I had plans to come to Alberta this summer for a family reunion and was hoping to get in some grain elevator shots. Not gonna happen now. Hopefully next year.It looks to me that this shouldn't be too hard to fix with a bit of shadows adjustment as Aimee suggested.
Aimee - bracketing does exactly what you described in your second option. The camera simply takes three images, one exposed as it thinks best, one under by a stop and one over by a stop (some cameras you can change the increments) You then take the three images and combine them in your editing software. #9990779
Kristin Duff February 19, 2012
Thank you both for your suggestions and yes Aimee, I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of PSE. One thing I forgot to mention was because this is an assignment the only editing I am allowed to do is crop. I shall try this again tomorrow, perhaps trying earlier in the day. And I will clean my lens! I am awful about jumping out of my vehicle and shooting without paying attention to those details! #9991165Jeff E Jensen February 19, 2012
Kristin - If you can't do any editing, try shooting so that the grain elevator becomes even more of a silhouette. I would even try getting the sun lower in the sky so that it is partially obscured by the building. If you catch the sun right on an edge of the building, it will create a pretty decent star. At the same time, it should make the building pretty dark if not completely black.Check out this post on my blog for an idea of what I am talking about:
http://jeffejensen.blogspot.com/2011/10/arch-rock.html #9991175
Kristin Duff February 19, 2012
thanks Jeff! #9991243Stephen Shoff February 19, 2012
In everyone's rush to answer your question and provide suggestions to help you improve this kind of shot, we forgot to mention how good this is to start with! A sunstar picture that doesn't need much more than some routine "open up the shadows" adjustments is pretty incredible. Nice job.I'd like to suggest that you add the shooting information, otherwise kown as EXIF data, to the description of your shots. That's information about your camera settings (ISO, shutter speed, aperture, etc). This would provide addditional information to us to make suggestions on how to take pictures in addition to how to adjust them afterwards. You can see my posts to see what I mean. As a club, we are pretty inconsistent on this, so this is jut my opinion.
For example, sunstarts can be optimized using smaller apertures. With the shooting information, Jeff could have included more specific suggestions for a more optimal aperture for achieving a sunstar and a corresponding shutter speed that would have helped turn the grain elevator into more of a silhouette.
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Kristin Duff February 20, 2012
Stephen, I can do that!! ISO was 100, shutter speed was 1/500, f13, with an exposure compensation of +1/3. I hope that information helps! #9991784Aimee C. Eisaman February 20, 2012
Yeah...I personally don't see a problem with this shot as is. Can see good details in the building even in the shadows. Was just trying to offer suggestions since you didn't seem happy with them. :~) Look forward to seeing Stephens suggestions in action. #9991965Kristin Duff February 20, 2012
Aimee...it arrived today - I am so excited I can't stand it...It is a holiday today in Alberta and I am hosting a family dinner. All I want to so is play with my new program but I have to cook Waaaaaaa! Thank you so much, will talk to you later, just wanted to let you know it arrived safe and sound! Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!! and ps. I will learn how to bracket! #9992260Aimee C. Eisaman February 20, 2012
Horray...that was fast! I'm so glad you got it! Maybe you can find time to at least get it installed. :~) You are going to learn things so fast in this club you won't have time to worry about a learning curve. Enjoy your company! #9992325Sue C. Cole February 20, 2012
Sounds like a lot of excitment going on here. I can't wait to see what you can do to your images in PSE, your already off to a great start with this wonderful image. #9993231Kristin Duff February 20, 2012
ok, I have managed to install it, but honestly this is like giving a 2 year old a blackberry! #9993247Kristin Duff February 21, 2012
...off to buy Photoshop for Dummies, any other suggestions? #9994344Sue C. Cole February 21, 2012
there are a lot of good tutorials on You tube. #9994353Debbie E. Payne February 21, 2012
I'm with Aimee, Kristin. You have a good composition and you've placed your subject well, and good leading lines to boot. Yes bracketing would give you what you want but if your assignment was to do this without hardly any editing, you did an amazing job! Yes, it's all about being able to jump out of cars quickly and be ready for anything that you might pass by. #9994419Kristin Duff February 21, 2012
thanks Sue and Debbie #9994448Carla Capra Anderson February 21, 2012
Great job! #9994493Peter W. Marks February 21, 2012
Jeff, old buddy, as always in my deep humility I am more than prepared to be found wrong but are you sure about the bracketing at three exposures and then combining them! Seems to me this would result in the 'over' and the 'under' cancelling each other out and you would be left with the "camera's best image" so bracketing wasn't necessary.Debbie E. Payne February 21, 2012
That's right, Peter. With Canon, you get only three but if you have a Nikon you can select up to 5 images. Your reasoning seems right but three is somehow the minimum magical number with all the algorithms and other mathematical formulas. I can spell the word (or maybe not, but I couldn't tell you what one was for the life of me). #9994966Jeff E Jensen February 21, 2012
Peter - in theory, you are right. What you are missing is the step (that I left out) where you combine the three images in layers and then remove the unwanted parts, leaving only the correctly exposed parts. This is the same thing that HDR programs do, but on a much more basic level.Debbie - Have you checked in your 5D? You might be able to tell it you want 5 images. I know I can change it in the 1D Mk IV and I think it can be done in the 7D. It's worth checking out. Also, you can tell it how much variation you want (in stops) between the exposures of each image. Of course, you could always do the bracketing manually. Just determine what the correct exposure is, then adjust your shutter or aperture down 1,2,3,4,5, or whatever stops then fire, adjust, fire, adjust, fire, adjust, etc. In theory, you could have as many images as you want in your series.
Kristin- check out a series called "The Missing Manual" I have that for PSE7 and I still refer to it on occasion. #9995145
Dale Hardin February 21, 2012
Sorry I'm late. Been out of town. First off this is a great shot as it stands Kristin. Very easy to get the results you are looking for using PSE. By the way, the book Jeff suggested is a good one and there is one for PSE 9 ane 10 as well.This type image is another reason I chose the camera I did. It has a DRO (dynamic range opmimization) feature that takes multiply images and combines them in camera to give up to 15 f-stops of range. Most camera provide 7 or less. #9995245
Kristin Duff February 21, 2012
Thank you Jeff. @ Dale, what type of camera do you use. I don't think my Canon T3i does that ...at least I cannot find it in the manual. I know it does bracketing but that's not the same thing is it? #9995340Sign up for an interactive online photography course to get critiques on your photos.
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