Settings and processing Milky Way

I wanted to compare my milky way shoot settings and how to post process. So I asked AI for assistance,  

https://chatgpt.com/share/6886d697-3eac-8009-aadc-cc83d1f05c98

Fill the Frame

I got it. Fill the frame, that is important, but it often depends on what the photographers plan.

For me when I am photographing Birds in Flight, BiF. I frequently ask myself, "is that bird to far to get a good photo?"

Yes sensor size and lens focal length figures in to that answer.

So for me my M43 camera and zoom at 300mm, how far away is to far?

My camera has a crop factor of 2x so my equivalent is 600mm. So how far is to far?

Back to PhotoPills FoV Pill. At 300mm, subject 300 ft with FoV of 17'5"x13'. So a large bird say an eagle would "fit". In Postprocessing a 2x crop would lead to  about 8'6"x7'. So basically it fills the frame.  

So maybe set my focus limiter maybe 350' and use the 2x teleconverter I would usually "fill" the frame. But the conventual wisdom is never use your teleconverter. That's true for jpg shooters. But, on my OM-D E-M5 iii, in RAW capture it's only a margination in my view finder. Your camera always captures what is in the sensor. The JPG engine crops you image, RAW doesn't crop. For me when I review the image on the LCD it has a white outline of the 2x crop. Yes if I print a 2x crop image I have 13" on the long edge at 200 pixels per inch. Good enough for an 11x14 inch print.

So when I setup my camera for BiF I'll set my focus limiter to a max of  350 feet minimum of 30 feet, 2x teleconverter. I have configured my camera to have a button to activate/deactivate the teleconverter and another enable/disable focus limiter.  I just have to remember the buttons and functions. 

DoF, Depth of Field

Previously I wrote on DoF and wanted to follow up. So I asked Bard for help.  

Basically what many don't tell you is that there are 4 major factors that influence DoF. 

• Aperture
• Focal Length
• Distance between camera, subject and background
• Sensor size

Read the links above for detail and use DoF Simulator setting your camera and lens to get an idea of your DoF

BiF, Birds in Flight

 I read an article about 5 Common Mistakes. I took the article and wrote my comments and bulleted the 5 Mistakes with comments and included the original article.

This is a link to my PDF File.

Problems with my camera

We went for a Maple Creamee after cleaning up after the flooding in Vermont. After we finished our treat I decided to take a photo of the treeline grunge line.

I grabbed my camera but of there's Hawk flying alone the field. Full zoo, dark view finder. What's wrong. Auto ISO, f/8.0, 1/500s. What's wrong? Changed to sequence shooting. No help. What could be wrong?

Then I removed the lens cap. Duh. What a roockie.

What Settings? photographing northern lights

A while ago I wrote "Don't Ask Me". Since it may be clear night and the northern lights may give me a show I asked Bard, "What are the recommend settings for photographing northern lights with OM-D E-M5 iii"

And AI said "The following are the recommended settings for photographing the Northern Lights with the OM-D E-M5 iii:

• Aperture: f/2.8 or wider. This will allow as much light as possible into the camera, which is essential for capturing the faint light of the aurora.
• ISO: 3200-8000. This will determine how sensitive the camera is to light. A higher ISO will allow you to use a shorter shutter speed, which will help to reduce blur.
• Shutter speed: 1-12 seconds. This will determine how long the camera's shutter is open, allowing light to hit the sensor. A longer shutter speed will allow more light in, but it will also increase the risk of blur.
• White balance: 3500K. This will ensure that the colors of the aurora are accurate.
• Focus: Manual. Autofocus will not be able to focus on the aurora, so you will need to focus manually on a distant light source.

Here are some additional tips for photographing the Northern Lights with the OM-D E-M5 iii:

• Use a tripod to keep the camera steady.
• Use a remote shutter release to avoid camera shake.
• Shoot in RAW format to give you more flexibility in post-processing.
• Experiment with different settings to see what works best for you.

With a little planning and practice, you can capture stunning images of the Northern Lights with your OM-D E-M5 iii.

Here are some additional resources that you may find helpful:

• How to Photograph the Northern Lights with Your Olympus Camera: https://focus9photography.com/free-tutorials/2020/1/22/how-to-shoot-the-northern-lights-aurora-borealis-with-your-olympus-camera
• Night Lights: Photographing the Magic of the Aurora Borealis: https://learnandsupport.getolympus.com/learn-center/photography-tips/astrophotography/night-lights-photographing-the-magic-of-the-aurora
• The Northern Lights: 10 Photography Tips for Beginners: https://www.hurtigruten.com/inspiration/experiences/the-northern-lights/10-photography-tips-for-beginners/"

Just say'n

IMHO all recommendations are just a starting point. Use the settings, take a test shot, evaluate your results and adjust ONE setting. 

Focus is likely the most problematic and most important settings. Use manual focus. Most Mirrorless have focus peaking adjustment. Learn it and Use it. With a DSLR use live view and, with both, zoom to a distant object and focus. 

What settings did you ...

 I posted this photo on my Olympus OM-D E-M5 iii 70-300mm lens.

Perhaps others would like to know the camera settings and features I used.

And there was a question about if I used electronic shutter. So on Facebook I answered

yes but only because of the noise of the camera. Manual mode with Auto ISO, 1/1250s, f/8.0,, ISO 400. Likely 150mm focal length. Spot metering, focus, camera focus Limiter about 100-499 feet. I didn't want to focus on the netting.

Using pro-capture hi, single focus 30frames per sec, 14 pre frames with count limit is 25.

Behind the Shot

The shot,

I think it's important to learn what did the photographer do to create a photo.

I use an OM-D E-M5 iii with a 14-150mm lens. I used Manual mode with the Aperture as wide the lens allows. This lens is a variable Aperture f/4.0-5.6. when set at 14mm I set the Aperture to f/4.0 since I zoom the Aperture stay wide open.  Usually, for BIF, I start with a Shutter Speed of 1/1250s. Knowing I would be photographing  hummingbird's I chose to it use the Shutter mode pro-capture H. I set it to 30fps, 14 per-capture images and limited to 50 total images. The shutter speed was set to 1/12800s. Since I use auto ISO I knew the ISO would be 200-6400.

I set-up a tripod to a wide enough field of view so hummingbird would be in flight and focused on the feeder.  I then enabled WiFi to I could remotely trigger the shutter with my cellphone.

On my cellphone, while sitting in a comfortable chair, I enabled WiFi and connected to the camera. In the Oi.Share app I enabled the half way setting. Using the remote shutter feature I pressed the Half Way button. The camera began storing 14 images. When a hummingbird was in the frame I pressed the shutter button. 

50 shots. 

I repeated  it l until I felt had enough. From time to time I would tap the Half Way button to stop and restart the sequence.

Importing images into Lightroom classic I set cap locked and used the x, p, u keys to mark delete, pick, unmark and advance to the next image. I used P to mark those birds is right. X was empty frame or otherwise bad images. U for any just to advance to the next image that I wasn't interested for this review.

Sorted to the picks and press 3 or 4 for those I wanted to edit and 1 just to advance to the next image. Then the best 3 or 4 we're choose to editing.

In the Develop mode, crop, white balance to daytime, exposure Auto. Then hold the Alt and set white point and black point then  Vibrance.

Remove distractions if necessary in Photoshop. Then Topaz De Noise AI and Topaz Sharpen AI. 

Back in Lightroom, set to 5 and a Green label. Export.

Remember "show your best".

Save Your Camera Settings

I have an OM-D E-M5 iii camera and it doesn't support using Olympus workspace to save settings that you can reload following a firmware update.

To at that end I created a spread sheet to c capture my settings. This is Google sheets format.

The Settings it's the damn settings ({revised})

In  about 4 year's I still don't use my setting's checklist.  

{Basically don't grab and go. Check the settings. Usually with my Olympus OM-D E-M5 iii my walk around lens is 14-150mm. So I set to M, wide open aperture,  auto iso and shutter speed to 1/640 sec. and that usually works fine. Today I changed the lens to a telephoto, 75-300 mm, but left the SS unchanged. I was taking Hummingbird photos.  Ok most are blurry. Dam I knew better. Also take a test shot and analyze in it on your camera's display. }

 

We've all heard it. Reset your camera settings to your base, your standard, settings.

I recently purchased a new camera. More dials, buttons, options. I know my old camera and I could reset to my grab an go settings.

It should be easy, and it is. But there are many things to consider.

I've been using M, manual, mode with auto iso. But I frequently miss something. I have a checklist I need to follow it.