Tag: long exposure

Caught In A Spiderweb

Inside the tunnel of an underpass, I decided to have some fun with the camera. For safety reasons, try this only when you are a passenger.

Set the camera’s shutter speed to between 1 and 2 seconds. Click and rotate your camera during the length of the exposure. The rotation need not be a full or perfect circle. Your mileage may vary.

To make the light bluish at the end of the tunnel, change the white balance to one of the presets by pre-viewing to see which works best.

This may be one of the last of such colour combos as the city’s street and infra lighting are gradually converted to daylight-coloured LEDs. The spider web patterns here are the result of warmer and older sodium lights.

I wish there are more taillight reds but many local motorists fail to see the need to turn on the lights when entering a tunnel. The red streaks are cars braking into a traffic jam at the end of the underpass.

Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 50, f22, 1.6 sec.

Conjunction of Jupiter And Venus – Part 4

The two planets (and earth) are orbiting and a bit of ‘trailing’ was captured by the slow exposure.

From my position, they appear to be descending or moving diagonally towards the horizon.

Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 100, f11, 4 sec.

Conjunction of Venus And Jupiter – Part 2

The weather forecast for Kuala Lumpur tomorrow night, when the planets are supposed to be closest, don’t look too good. Plus, I wanted a picture when the planets are not merging or merged into a single blob as some predicted, so I shot some tonight just in case.

This is my first time looking and photographing a conjunction of planets, so I really don’t know. Tomorrow could be even better, weather permitting.

There is no need to try to get very close with a very long lens. Although bright, the planets are still small and far, even when using long tele lenses. You will need a telescope with tracking mount to get really close.

You don’t want a a picture of the pair by themselves, anyway. Find a local landmark to juxtapose, if you can. This gives the picture a geographical perspective or identity.

City skyscrapers are good but tricky as the surrounding roads are usually polluted with light from street lights. This can cause flaring and other unwanted effects.

To expose correctly for lighted buildings, you may end up underexposing the relatively less bright planetary bodies.

Finally, you don’t have to photograph the celestial event at all. Watch it live with your naked eyes, take in its beauty and store it to to your memory.

This was photographed with the Sony FE 70-200mm G OSS Lens in 2X CIZ mode.

Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 100, f14, 4 sec.