Using "Bulb" for night shots of stars and lighted objects...

[majordude]

You've seen those shots of stars in a circle (as the world turns so go the days of our lives). How is that done?

And to complicate things, let's say I want to shoot a lighted building too with stars moving.

Does the OM-D do all the thinking for me of is there a setting I use when I select bulb?

 

[Grant]

Point the camers in the direction of the north star and open the shutter for a very long time and that is what you will get. Paint the building with light.

 

[majordude]

Is it an auto mode? I mean, if the building is already lit (say, a hotel)... won't that get overexposed and the sky, under... or something like that.

 

[Fmrvette]

Is it an auto mode? I mean, if the building is already lit (say, a hotel)... won't that get overexposed and the sky, under... or something like that.

Hi MajorDude!

Check out James Vernacotola, he has some nice instructions:

How To Photograph Star Trails - Photography by James Vernacotola

It may answer your questions.

(Manual mode may be the optimal way to go, with a tripod and remote shutter release. Exposure of the sky with a lighted building in the foreground might require a few test shots to get the proper exposure down).

HTH

Jim

 

[majordude]

Awesome! That's just what I was looking for.

I'm drunk (New Years' Eve and all) but I will read it tomorrow.

 

[duvinclunk]

Fmrvette, thanks for the link. I'll be trying this soon.

 

[DoofClenas]

Highly recommended.
http://philhart.com/shooting-stars

 

[Fmrvette]

Fmrvette, thanks for the link. I'll be trying this soon.

Duvinclunk, you're more than welcome.

The good news? Today I took delivery of my radio remote shutter release for the EM-5. I can sit in my warm easy chair and fire the EM-5 on the cold, cold patio.

The better news? There's a meteor shower that should wax between midnight tonight and 3 a.m. EST.

The bad news? It's completely clouded over...

January in Detroit is no time to be messing about with meteor shower photos . I hope you have better luck in your location with the star trails.

Regards,

Jim

 

[Fmrvette]

Highly recommended.
http://philhart.com/shooting-stars

Hi DoofClenas. Thanks much for the recommendation. I had trouble with the "http", so I went with "www." and got that to work:

Shooting Stars eBook | Phil Hart

I'll check the E-Book out.

Regards,

Jim

 

[Mikefellh]

I don't know if it would be good for shooting star trails, but the OM-D has a Live Bulb feature which updates the display during the bulb shoot. You just have to choose the interval of update in Gear E, Live Bulb.

Although for this type of shooting I'd prefer to use Live Time instead..instead of having to hold the shutter open, you tap the release to open the shutter, and tap again to close the shutter, plus there's an on screen timer so you know how long the shutter has been open.

 

[juangrande]

Duvinclunk, you're more than welcome.

The good news? Today I took delivery of my radio remote shutter release for the EM-5. I can sit in my warm easy chair and fire the EM-5 on the cold, cold patio.

The better news? There's a meteor shower that should wax between midnight tonight and 3 a.m. EST.

The bad news? It's completely clouded over...

January in Detroit is no time to be messing about with meteor shower photos . I hope you have better luck in your location with the star trails.

Regards,


Jim

Here we got clear skies, but double digit minus degrees! Is that too cold for the OMD?

 

[Liamness]

You may get better results by shooting at, say, 30 sec intervals and then stacking the images later. That is basically what the camera will be doing anyway; it can't store minutes worth of data from the sensor, then just process it all in one go. Better to do this yourself later, so you have more control over the result. Depending on the lens used, it takes about a minute for the earth's movement to noticeably move the stars, so a 30 sec interval should be safe.

 

[Fmrvette]

Here we got clear skies, but double digit minus degrees! Is that too cold for the OMD?

I dunno about the camera, but it's too cold for me!

I sat up awhile last night to see if the skies would clear, but no joy. Maybe in the spring...

Regards,

Jim

 

[newbert]

.....The good news? Today I took delivery of my radio remote shutter release for the EM-5. I can sit in my warm easy chair and fire the EM-5 on the cold, cold patio.......

Sounds great! Do you have a link to that radio remote shutter release?

 

[Fmrvette]

Sounds great! Do you have a link to that radio remote shutter release?

There are two versions; this is the one I got:

Amazon.com: Aputure 2.4Ghz Trigmaster Kit (One Transmitter + 2 Receivers) Radio Remote Flash Trigger and Shutter Cable Release, fits Olympus E-400, E-410, E-420, E-450, E-510, E-520, E-620, SP-57DUZ, SP-560EZ, SP-550EZ, SP-510EZ, PEN E-PL1s, E-PL2, E

And there is a (slightly) more expensive version that has a bit better range and uses AAA cells in the transmitter rather than an A23:

Amazon.com: Aputure Trigmaster Plus Kit, 2.4GHz Radio Remote Flash Trigger and Shutter Cable Release, fits Olympus E-400, E-410, E-420, E-450, E-510, E-520, E-620, SP-57DUZ, SP-560EZ, SP-550EZ, SP-510EZ, PEN E-PL1s, E-PL2, E-PL3, E-P2, E-P3, E-M, OM-

I picked up the less expensive version because I got a gift certificate for Christmas...and because I wasn't aware of the "Plus" version until after I had placed the order . Another consideration might be the vendor - the cheaper version is stocked and sold by Amazon, the "Plus" version is a third party seller, Fotodiox Inc. I've had good service from Fotodiox in the past, but nearly got burned last year by an (won't name them here) Amazon reseller so I try to get the "Stocked by Amazon, Sold by Amazon" gear when all other things are equal.

I've tested the radio shutter release out around the Swamp here but haven't taken it outside due to the inclement weather and my naturally occurring laziness.

There are a number of radio remotes on the market; between these two if the budget would support it I would recommend the "Plus" version because of the universal availability of AAA batteries. Of course the A23 should last a very long time, and a single spare in the kit would suffice for emergencies, but it means one more thing to check on. AAA's remove that from the photographic equation .

Regards,

Jim