Tom Mann
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Recently, there was a request in the Photoshop Newbies forum to walk one of the participants through the process of getting a certain look in cloud streak photography:
http://www.photoshopgurus.com/forum/photoshop-newbies/45593-cloud-effect.html.
Because this is more of a photography topic, and certainly isn't for beginners, I started this thread in the Photography section.
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Hi Bryce -
I would be happy to try to help you recreate this effect, but I'm no expert in this particular style. Heck, I don't even own a functioning intervalometer any more, let alone one for my two go-to cameras (Nikon D700), so I can't demo the effect for you. However, in lieu of that, let me try to find you some links that will help you get you started.
1. First, here's a list of some of the equipment you will either absolutely need, or which will make your job much easier:
1a. A camera that can be put on manual exposure mode and take long exposures.
1b. A good, heavy, rock-solid tripod. It can't move by the smallest amount even if you need to adjust it during the exposure.
1c. A wide angle lens will make your cloud streaks more angular and diverging, as in the photo you posted.
1d. Before you move on to the more advanced "looks" that you can get using an intervalometer (like in the example you posted), you should first become proficient at taking standard, long exposure, cloud-streak photography to learn what weather and lighting conditions give you the best shots. The required exposure times to generate good cloud streaks can be as long as dozens of minutes. One possibility to get such long exposures is to shoot in almost dark twilight conditions. However, this severely limits your possibilities. Another possibility is to purchase either a 10ND (neutral density) filter, or use a piece of much cheaper welders' glass. This will allow you to make long exposures even during the middle of the day without overexposing the scene.
1e. Eventually, you will almost certainly want to use an intervalometer (or equivalent functionality in your camera). Here is a good introduction to them:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intervalometer
1f. Once you are using the intervalometer, you will find it much more convenient to stack multiple exposures using software designed specifically to do this for star trails (rather than using Photoshop). Examples include: http://www.startrails.de/html/software.html and http://www.markus-enzweiler.de/software/software.html .
Practice using the software to process conventional shots of star trails, e.g., http://www.diyphotography.net/your-c...ng-star-trails, http://digital-photography-school.co...cking-software
More tomorrow,
Tom
http://www.photoshopgurus.com/forum/photoshop-newbies/45593-cloud-effect.html.
Because this is more of a photography topic, and certainly isn't for beginners, I started this thread in the Photography section.
=======================================
Hi Bryce -
I would be happy to try to help you recreate this effect, but I'm no expert in this particular style. Heck, I don't even own a functioning intervalometer any more, let alone one for my two go-to cameras (Nikon D700), so I can't demo the effect for you. However, in lieu of that, let me try to find you some links that will help you get you started.
1. First, here's a list of some of the equipment you will either absolutely need, or which will make your job much easier:
1a. A camera that can be put on manual exposure mode and take long exposures.
1b. A good, heavy, rock-solid tripod. It can't move by the smallest amount even if you need to adjust it during the exposure.
1c. A wide angle lens will make your cloud streaks more angular and diverging, as in the photo you posted.
1d. Before you move on to the more advanced "looks" that you can get using an intervalometer (like in the example you posted), you should first become proficient at taking standard, long exposure, cloud-streak photography to learn what weather and lighting conditions give you the best shots. The required exposure times to generate good cloud streaks can be as long as dozens of minutes. One possibility to get such long exposures is to shoot in almost dark twilight conditions. However, this severely limits your possibilities. Another possibility is to purchase either a 10ND (neutral density) filter, or use a piece of much cheaper welders' glass. This will allow you to make long exposures even during the middle of the day without overexposing the scene.
1e. Eventually, you will almost certainly want to use an intervalometer (or equivalent functionality in your camera). Here is a good introduction to them:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intervalometer
1f. Once you are using the intervalometer, you will find it much more convenient to stack multiple exposures using software designed specifically to do this for star trails (rather than using Photoshop). Examples include: http://www.startrails.de/html/software.html and http://www.markus-enzweiler.de/software/software.html .
Practice using the software to process conventional shots of star trails, e.g., http://www.diyphotography.net/your-c...ng-star-trails, http://digital-photography-school.co...cking-software
More tomorrow,
Tom
