I’m not a photographer first. My interest has waned, but not disappeared over the years. My big bag of Nikormat equipment has been collecting dust. We always carry digital cameras with us on our freerange excursions. Our efforts are sometimes for art and sometimes we get lucky. We publish photos mostly, just to record the moment to augment memory and I usually publish some to help explain the experience when writing reports, on The Secret naturist Society site and occasionally here. It is however, fun to get something more than a tourist picture out of a camera.
Stuart and Karla have been gracing us with some real gems. I would like to see what came of the 2013 Alpine adventure and many more, as well as the art and craft that is displayed.
Stuart commented about the Milky Way in the most recent post. It is a trick to photograph it. The September 2014 issue of Outdoor Photographer has an article as to how best to do this, with some impressive shots.
It occurred to me while reading your report from the Alps, that I’ve seen photos of these stars, but never someone in the picture with them. How to get that into an exposure? It would give quite a celestial air to the model.
Anybody up for it? The winter cold is nearing, although the article stated the best times are in the Fall and especially spring. It would probably be something for next year, unless maybe in the southern hemisphere.
The tips are as follows:
Sagittarius is the most photogenic area. Carinasoft.com has something downloadable to tell exact positions and times of celestial objects.
Away from city lights, ie. Alps, American Southwest, astronomical dusk and dawn, or before and after these.
Clear and moonless
Shoot as high in the sky as possible
Landscapes like snow peaks and lake reflections add to the shot.
The depth of field is shallow with the aperature so wide as is needed, so it is difficult to grab anything in the foreground closer than 20 or 30 feet. I ask, that this would challenge to nude part of the composition and will it be silhouette? Also, how long can one stay still?
Lots of test shots
A good starting point for exposure is 30 seconds. There within the article is actually a chart showing what to expect at different exposures. The stars will streak if it isn’t correct.
Shooting when the moon is 15 to 30 degrees illuminated will get more land, but the tradeoff is less of the stars.
The spring is the best time to shoot Milly Way for various reasons.
Here is another resource on line:
http://www.lonelyspeck.com/how-to-make-an-amazing-photo-of-the-milky-way-galaxy/Looking around the web, there are only figures in silhouette, the true “star” of the shot is the Milky Way. A figure worshiping would probably be a first. Heck, might make someone famous. Or respected. It appears to me that it would be well earned respect. Anyway, there are some serious photographers on this site and I’d like to see naturism positively portrayed in an exceptional photo. I thought that I might spark interest, or a race. I’ll probably find some way to play with this, but then again, I’m not a photographer first.
What do you think?
Jbee
