Lost Through the Lens is soon to be Lost in Space

CREDIT: Paul LeFevre

That's right.

For years now I've wanted to take photos of fireworks, on New Years Eve I never had a clear view of them. What do fireworks have to do with Space? Well, the camera settings are similar and it was the beginning of my interests of taking photos of things in the night sky.

A year or two ago I happened to witness a lunar eclipse. I attempted to take photos with my DSLR and 70mm lens, but the photos were of poor quality. The settings were all wrong and 70mm just wasn't long enough.

The next day Flickr.com was spammed with hundreds of lunar eclipse photos. That day my love for astronomy was born...or reignited from my Primary School days.

Not long ago I happened across Dark Atmospheres photography - a website of Roth Ritter's photography. His astronomy photos were spectacular! There were close-ups of the craters on the Moon, the beautiful red nebula and clusters of stars. I was inspired.

I looked up the camera he used and was taken aback by the price of it, but then I found out astrophotography doesn't have cost an arm and a leg. To get some really fantastic photos of the Universe you only need to pay $2000-$3000 on an auto tracking telescope and less than $100 on a camera adapter. Sometimes you don't even need an adapter to take photos. If you've got your own tripod (like I do) just sit your DSLR on that and set it up so the camera lens is near the eyepiece and use Live View as a lovely little shortcut. Mind you, this is a more professional set up.

A novice astrophotography set up just requires a 5"- 8" telescope (that is the amount of light that can enter the telescope - the larger the better) and like photography it needs a large f/stop. In the taking photos on Earth world (especially concert photographers) we like our f stops to be between f/1.2-f/2.0. In astrophotography that kind of f stop is going to be expensive. Something like f/5 or 6 is good enough.

Depending on where you are buying it from the cost of this telescope would be $500-$800. It depends on what you need and the build of the model. That's cheaper than a beginner level SLR and it could get you a nice non-L telephoto lens.

The most important part is your skill with a telescope and the amount of patience you need to get a photo of objects in Space. It can take hours.

I like to compare cameras (DSLRs) to telescopes. It makes it easier to separate the awesome from the crap.

Telescopes can come cheap like digital point and shoot cameras. Similarly to them they don't have the best optics, they may boast a big magnification (much like digital zoom) and their batteries don't last long (if your telescope is an auto tracker it takes 8 AA batteries).

You also got your DSLR range. The best in the camera world are the Canon, Nikon, Pentax and Olympus. In the telescope world it's the Dobsonian, Celestron, SCT and Orion.

I've adopted the idea that the Dobsonian is a Canon EOS of the telescope world. Their L Series is the Dobsonian 12" collapsable auto tracker, and it costs as much. In fact I'd go as far to call it the 5D.

The one I've chosen to buy is a Dobsonian 8" Skywatcher Newtonian Reflector and to me it's a Canon 350D (or a 500D to those new to Canon SLRs).

In 2006 I bought my DSLR. It was 8 megapixels so I compare this to the '8 inches' in my Dosonian. Did I just say 'my'? Oh well. Mega pixels are important in cameras, inches are important in telescopes. Their is also the build of the telescope to consider, just like the build of lenses for cameras. Remember my boasting of the L Series? Imagine if Canon started making L Series telescopes? Oh the weight, oh the creamy colours of the nebula.

But I shall be using my Canon 40D (a step up from a beginner level SLR) to take astrophotographs and later, much much later a 7D.

I've decided to purchase the Dobsonian 8" on March 2nd, 2010 because it's four years to the day I got my Canon 350D. I sure do love patterns!

It's funny, seasoned astronomers buy their telescope kit piece by piece and that's just what I did when I bought my second DSLR. It's cheaper and you get the best out of your equipment. Will the same happen when I purchase a second telescope? Somewhere my mum just screamed.

Another thing astronomers do is build their own telescope. Yeah...we don't do that in the photography world. Could we?

Well now I've got a lot of cash to save, time to wait, and technical astronomy terms to learn. Oh and I really need to make sure which constellation is which.

Note: I'm a noob. In fact a pre-noob, because I'm yet to have my first telescope. So I've probably got a lot of info on telescopes wrong. It's all very confusing. I'll get it eventually. So keep your criticism to yourself, seasoned astronomers.

In other news: I shall be photographing Tim Rogers on friday.

An update that's fit to sing

Skybombers supporting You Am I, 14th November, Annandale Hotel, Sydney. CREDIT: LTTL

Gosh, I've been busy. First, I went to four of Annandale Hotel's four You Am I shows, including a secret support slot by The Vines that played under the name 'The Crimes'. I also got to meet Craig and Hamish and 3/4 members of You Am I. A plus was meeting a well known photographer named Colin Lucas who said my photos were better than Nic Bezzina (someone I admire very much).

I got ten photos published on the official You Am I site.

I also had my first paid shoot in years - Enspier at Bridge Rd Hotel in Rozelle.

It's not been very easy for me, because I recently found out that my eyes cannot take strobe lights, but hopefully my tinted sunglasses can fix that. Yes, I will wear them inside at a concert if it helps me cope.

The latest good news is that my next international shoot will be AFI; those handsome boys pictured left. Ever since I saw Talitha Conway's photos of them (especially an air shot of Jade Puget) I've wanted to photograph them. A downside is it's the same night as one of my favourite bands Motion City Soundtrack, but I'll be seeing them at Soundwave next year. I'm not sure how much work/begging I'll have to do to get a photopass for the festival. Photographing their sideshows are much more relaxing. Although photos of Faith No More...no no, I made my decision.

Next gig is going to be Tim Roger's doing a tribute to The Rolling Stones at Bridge Rd Hotel in Rozelle next week (I think). Would have loved to photograph JET this friday but I've run out of money. Damn my giving Christmas spirit.

Oh yes, I have been asked to take photos at The International Day For People With a Disability Dinner Dance. It's just local but I feel honored to do it. A few of my photographs will be printed for display on dec 13 to celebrate Disability Awareness Day.

Here are some photos from the latest gigs I've photographed:

YOU AM I, THE VINES and ENSPIER photos:

November is Aus Music Month

For me it is at least.

Magic Dirt w/ Red Sun Band and Ripping Dylans Nov 6.

Deserters w/ Mink Jaguar Nov 7

You Am I w/ The Laurels Nov12

You Am I w/The Laurels and The Crimes Nov 14

You Am I w/ The Laurels and Royal Headache Nov 15

The Basics at The Factory, Nov 20

Gyroscope at Gaelic Theatre w/ The Salvagers, Nov 21

Enspier at Bridge Hotel, Rozelle, Nov 28

I don't think I've ever filled a month with that many gigs before.

I shot two gigs on the weekend; Magic Dirt and Deserters.

Check out photos at www.fasterlouder.com.au and www.thedwarf.com.au

Poison the Well + Fear Before

Another gig I wanted to shoot and got to was Poison the Well at Manning Bar, October 23. I was a bit moody so didn't feel like taking social photos like I normally did. It was great to get in front of the barrier again.
I've been a fan of Poison the Well for a few years, nothing really obsessive and I've only heard a few songs by Fear Before. But they were awesome. I thought I'd get head spins from the music for sure (sensory sensitivity) but nothing like that really happened.
Ambrosia and Homewrecker were the two local support bands and they were brilliant. The singer of Homewrecker reminds me of the singer of Takedown. It brought me back to the day where I saw hardcore bands in churches and record stores and had to avoid being knocked over by the lead singer. I'm talking 'bout you Eamon.
Not really much else I'd like to add, so here are some photos:

Upgrade time!

A few things I'm covering in this post: took photos for a local band called Tzar Bomber, researching new photographic equipment and a little bit about the next band I want to shoot.

Paid gigs are kind of a rare occurrence for me, so I was excited about taking promo and live photos for Nowra band Tzar Bomber. I may be taking some photos for a Kiama band too, and if I haven't scared them away with my inflated price - a band from Sydney that wants me for a few gigs.

I may also be getting a grant for my photography so I may be finally upgrading my equipment. I could just jump in and get a Canon 5D Mark ii with a 70-200mm lens or I could get a camera and a few lenses that will be able to give me the kind of images I need.
The Canon 7D looks promising. Might be 2-3 grand and not full frame though it has a very high ISO, a bigger viewfinder and is 18 megapixels which is 8 times greater than what my 40D is. There only seems to be a bit of noise at 12800 and on my 40D I get noise at 3200.
The lenses I am thinking of purchasing are a Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro, a 20mm f/2.8, and maybe a 70-200mm f/2.8L IS.
I would love the 100mm for up-close photos and to get good drummer shots. I'm doing ok now but once I get into a arena the drummer does get a bit further away.
The 20mm is good for portraits and well wide angle shots.
The 70-200 is an ideal festival lens. It's a must have for any band photographer, and I think it's about time that I got one.
Even the 17-55mm f/2.8 IS could be a great addition to my kit.
I need to think about what I'd use the lenses for more and if I want to get into studio work. So far I'm doing good at live band photography but I'm a novice at promotional photography. And maybe I should upgrade my 430 EX flash. I'm doing a lot of flash work now, so I should just go for the top range. Is it 580? It's probably way higher than that now.

The next gig I'm keen on shooting is Poison the Well and Fear Before, which this friday at Manning Bar. I haven't shot a heavy band like this in a long time. I should be ok as long as I bring out the 1.8 lens.
Anyway, I'm going out tomorrow to purchase the PTW 2 cd set and will cross my fingers that I get approved for the shoot.

Filth Festival photos

All last week I had been planing just to take photos of After the Fall, then a day before the gig I find out it's a festival that starts at 1pm rather than 8pm. So after a week of working all day I have to get up at 7am on a weekend and catch a train to Sydney.

I was pretty much just there for After the Fall and Calling All Cars but I did enjoy a few other bands at the festival including The Vignettes, Alter Ego Mania, Royal Chant and The Protectors.

I don't really know much about The Filth but I was impressed with the festival that I'd probably go to a few more shows.

On with the photos. I haven't had much time to edit these properly because I'm working so much. I haven't even got time to say who's who in the photos.

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