It’s Calendar 2015 time and these are the images I have managed to narrow down too. I need your help to make the final selection.

So what do you do?

First look through all the images below and find the 3 images you like best. Take note of the numbers next to the image.

Once you have your favourite 3 images, send me a message via the box below including the image you wish to vote for, your full name and your email address.

You can vote once a week for your 3 favourite images so make sure you keep coming back.

Your votes will be recorded and the 12 most popular images will be included in the Calendar. You can keep your choices the same or mix them up a bit to give you more chance.

The winner of the Acrylic Print will be the person whose vote count is highest for the most popular image. In the event that there are multiple people whose vote count is the same for the most popular image the second most popular image will be calculated for those people, and so on until a single winner is confirmed.

Sounds Easy?  Go vote today the images are below.

No 1

No 2

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No 40

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Calendar Time 2015

It’s Calendar Time, and time for me to start sorting my images for the Wall Calendar of 2015. Shooting Sunrise every day had made it hard for me to decide on the images as I have taken so many.  I have narrowed the selection down to 40 photos from various Locations across the Central Coast and Hunter region. I have decided to allow you, the people that follow my work to decide on the final 12. I will be running a competition over 6 weeks, asking you to vote for your favourite 3 images. The 12 images with the most votes for them will be the ones included in the Calendar.

What do you win?

First prize is a 24×16 inch Acrylic Print of your favourite image in the calendar posted to you. The print will be done by Deluxe Art Prints. 5 Runner ups will receive a copy of the Calendar.

How do I enter?

Go to the Portfolio section in the Webpage and select Calendar 2015. In that gallery will be the 40 images I have selected from the last 12 months. Each image will have a number that you can see by holding your cursor aver the image. Select your favourite 3 images taking note of the number and send me a message via the contact page including your selected image numbers, your full name and your contact email address. You can vote once a week, giving you the multiple entries you will need to win. The competition will be run for 6 weeks from the start of July and the Winner will be the person whose vote is highest for the most popular image. In the event of multiple people with the winning result, the second most popular image will be calculated for those people until a single winner is found.  The Winner will be contacted via email within 5 days of completion of the competition.

The Calendar will retail for $20 plus postage and should be available by Mid-September. If you order 5 or more calendars the price will be reduced to $18 each. The Calendar would make in ideal Christmas Gift.

Please indicate if you would be interested in purchasing a wall calendar so I have an indication of the quantity to order.

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RAW image converted in ACR

JPG image processed in Camera

RAW verses JPG

One of the biggest questions people have is, “What is better, shooting Raw or JPG?”

There are lots of available opinions on the merits of shooting RAW versus  JPG. Based on years of experience, I’d like to present mine.

JPG

JPG (also abbreviated as JPEG) is a form of lossy image compression. One can trade-off the degree of compression against the amount of information loss and thus potentially the subjective image quality.When you select JPG in the camera’s menu it will prompt you to select either Basic, Standard or Fine. Depending on this setting, JPG files are usually ¼ the size of the equivalent scene RAW file, so you can store more images on a given memory card. The images that are stored on the Memory card are readable immediately without a converter program like Photoshop as a JPG file is universally recognised. Since even the most basic image viewing programs support the JPG format and can read it straight from the camera’s memory card, viewing JPG formatted images is easy.

If you have selected a JPG mode, when you press the shutter button, the camera’s recording of the scene will be influenced by other camera menu selections. For example, White Balance (WB) should be selected when shooting JPG. You can leave the camera on Automatic but that can sometimes misread the scene. By selecting cloudy or shade you make the camera select that specific WB to apply to the image. One catch with JPG is that once the compression is done you cannot easily change many of the exposure aspects of the captured image.
So what happens when I shoot JPG?

The camera will take the information recorded by the sensor as well as the details of how the image was shot and examine the data for redundant information. Colour information and dynamic range are usually some of the most effected data. Detail is also lost when the compression is made to heavy. If you have set your camera to Fine you will find the level of compression is quite acceptable. The Basic setting on the other hand will appear flat and soft with noticeable loss in colour and fine detail. Keep in mind the White Balance, Colour Space, Picture Control as these setting will affect the final recorded image.

RAW

RAW files are a recording of the raw data recorded by the chip set. No compression is done to the information recorded by the sensor. You don’t need to specify file size or white balance when shooting. RAW files require a special conversion program such as Photoshop to be processed and viewed. Even the image you see on the back of the camera is a temporary JPG created by the camera to allow you to see the image. The RAW format file sizes are quite large, my 12MP camera can store about 300 images on an 8GB card in RAW and nearly 1200 in fine JPG

So what do I do with the RAW file?

A Raw file as I mentioned before is just raw data not an image.  The data must be processed by a programme like ACR in Photoshop and Lightroom, Capture NX2 for Nikon, CR2 for Canon. There are other programmes but these are the main ones used on the market. When you open the RAW file in these programmes you will see an image on screen. Most people find the image flat and lacking contrast, even the colour will appear lifeless. The first thing to do is adjust the White Balance. In RAW you can leave the camera on Auto for WB as you can adjust it now in processing. For the images shown the RAW the WB settings I choose was 6600K with a +8 on the tint. The camera chose 5950K with 0 tint. I used a grey card to get the correct Colour Balance. I adjusted the brightness up by 1.4Ev and the contrast by +25. I dropped a little highlight and increased the shadows but not too much to create a halo effect. I didn’t change the saturation but did increase the Vibrance by +15. I added some clarity and saved the image as a Jpg which is what you see here. In all about 2 minuted of processing. This image is not over done and looks more the way the scene did than the Jpg recorded by the camera. The image had more dynamic range and the colours are not clipped. Look at the yellow area in the sky near the Copacabana headland for what I am talking about.

How was the Image shot?

I usually shoot the brightest point in the image at +.67 Ev, Shooting in Manual Mode, with point metering and single point focus. The camera was a Nikon D3s and the Lens a Sigma 24mm f1.8, the camera settings were f11 with a ½ second exposure at ISO100. The JPG settings were WB- Cloudy, Colour Space- SRGB, Picture Control- Vivid.

Conclusions

As I said at the start this is my opinion and I will restate that there is now Correct way to shoot and Process. It is all up to the Photographer. having said that I personally find that shooting in RAW gives me more ability to capture the image I want. I think most people who have followed my work will find I try and keep as close to “reality” with my images. While I may try and catch the Ureal the image is still essentially the image as the camera caught it. Looking at the 2 images I have attached I find the RAW image to have more depth colour, vibrance, Dynamic Range, and more personal appeal.

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So you would like to capture the Milky Way in a nightscape shot.

It’s not as hard as you may think. You will need a camera with a good response to high ISO (pretty much all new DSLRs). A wide angle lens that’s quite fast. f3.5 seems to be the standard now but if you can get an f2.8 or even an f1.4, that would be better. A good tripod and a remote release for the camera are also necessary.  Next you need to find a fairly good dark sky, if you can easily see the Milky Way from your shooting location when the moon is not up you will be in the right place.  For most people that will require a drive of between 30 minutes to several hours. Some are lucky enough to be able to shoot from their own back yard but not many.

The first step is to become familiar with your camera without the need to turn on the lights. You will need your dark adaption to make sure you centre the Milky Way in your field of view. If you must use a light try to make it a red one as that won’t affect the dark adaption as much. You will probably want to change the camera to M manual, that way you’re in control of everything. Then select a fairly high ISO on the camera say 800 to start with then put the wide angle lens on the camera body. Turn off the Auto Focus then set the aperture as low as it can go.  Set the exposure time to 30 seconds to start with. Next you need to focus the lens. If you have Live View, turn it on and focus on a distant light, if you’re in suburbia look around the horizon for a street light. If you’re in the country and away from lights look up and find the brightest star you can see. Use the zoom function on the display while in live view until you can see the light easily. Rotate the focus ring till the light is crisp, your now ready. If you don’t have live view on your camera you can set the camera to infinity and take a shot of the star or distant light. Once the image comes up on the display, zoom in and see if the light is in focus. If not slightly rotate the focus ring and try again. It may take a few minutes to get the focus right but once done you’re ready to start shooting.

Connect the remote release and try your first shot by centring on a bright part of the Milky Way.  Presto you have taken your first shot of the Milky Way.

Now you have a few questions about things I bet. I will try to answer them now for you.

How long do I expose my image for?

That will depend on the look you want to achieve. Since this is capture the Milky Way I will assume you’re not taking a star trail shot. you’re looking for the effect of the Milky Way looking like a NASA shot with some tree’s or a hill in the foreground like the shot displayed at the top of the post. The best way to estimate the exposure time is to use the rule of 600. The rule is to divide the size of the lens into 600. For a full frame camera the calculation is simple. Say you’re shooting with a 20mm lens, the exposure time will be 600 divided by 20. The Answer is 30 which is the number of seconds you can expose the image before the stars start to trail. a shot taken longer than 30 seconds with a 20mm lens will show the stars at little lines, any time shorter than 30 seconds the stars will appear as points on the image. Most DSLRs on the market are a crop sensor, Nikon is 1.5x and Canon is 1.6x. To make the calculation correct you must also account for the crop factor. The example about is for a 20mm lens so the calculation will be 20mm x1.5(crop sensor factor for a Nikon) =30.  The final part of the calculation is 600 / 30 creates an exposure time of 20 seconds. If your a Nikon User the Crop factor is 1.5 and for Canon the factor is1.6.

How do get the foreground to be illuminated?

It’s called light painting and can be done in a variety of ways. I have used an iPhone to illuminate the image shown above. Whatever light you use try to make sure it’s not a cool blue style light source like an LED. Halogen globes are excellent so a small Maglite is great or a dolphin torch. Once you start the exposure make sure you constantly move the light. It’s like painting the light across the foreground interest. It does look better if you evenly illuminate the entire foreground but you may have your own idea.

Why does the Milky Way look faint on my photo?

You haven’t processed it yet. The best advice I can give you how to process your Milky Way shots is to tell you to watch this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOAmP7A_x6c This is an easy to follow step by step introduction to making your Milky Way images POP.

When do I know it’s ok to go out and shoot the Milky Way?

Most people don’t know the night sky very well and so working out when to go out to shoot can be difficult. This item can be a big help to you http://www.ozscopes.com.au/star-disc-planisphere.html it’s a Planisphere and can tell you when the Milky Way is rising, overhead or setting for every day of the year. They are easy to use and quite economical to purchase.  For the Southern hemisphere the Milky Way rises in the early evening during Autumn, is Overhead during winter and is setting during Spring.

Can I take shots with a larger lens like a 50mm or a 200mm?

Yes you can but you still need to apply the rule of 600. A good 50mm lens like an f1.4 will have an exposure time of 12 seconds before trailing occurs. With the wider aperture at f1.4 you are 2 stops wider than a f2.8 lens so the shorter exposure time still works out. Images with this set up can look truly amazing. The second image shows the effect you can achieve with a 50mm lens.  When you take a telephoto lens like a 200mm f2.8 lens your exposure time is down to 3 seconds. having said that you can get results by taking your ISO up to 3200 for instance. Camera shake can become an issue it that magnification so make sure your tripod is very sturdy, use the timer setting on the camera and use the Mirror up function if you have it. The movement of the mirror can add a vibration to the camera which will be visible in a 200mm lens. The 3rd image shows the effect of a 200mm lens centred on a bright patch of the Milky Way near the Southern Cross.

Will this work for other parts of the sky?

Yes you can use the details described here to capture any part of the night sky. Some great areas to capture away from the bright Milky Way would be the Large and Small Magellanic clouds, the constellation of Orion and the area around Pegasus and Andromeda. you can also try to capture a distant storm with the stars surrounding the clouds.

If you have any other questions about how to capture the Milky Way please send me a message.

Until next time Clear Skies.

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The idea is for Photographers of Various skills to gather together and share ideas and thoughts as they watch and photograph the wonder of a beautiful Sunrise. We go to various locations over the Central Coast as well as the Lower Hunter coastal regions. So far we have visited most beaches on the Central Coast at least once  from Patonga to catch the sun rising behind the Barenjoey lighthouse to the caves at Caves Beach. The invitation is open to anyone who would like to attend. Even if you don’t have a camera please feel free to come along. I have meet many people now through Social Sunrise some of whom are now good friends. There is always something to shoot and chat about.

Please keep an eye on https://www.facebook.com/AndrewMurrellPhotography?ref=hl to find out where Social Sunrise will be held.

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In the digital age, more and more people have access to cameras. The ability of even smart phones to take photos is impressive and the DSLR is now becoming quite common. While more and more people take photos than ever before something has been lost. The Art of photography seems to be declining. This blog will be written to showcase the “art” of Photography. In time and with practice everyone can be an taught to create beautiful images. Here I will show Sensational Sunrise Shots with descriptions of how the image was taken. Tips on Beautiful Wedding and portrait photography and how to achieve the look. How to process your images in Photoshop so the Goldilocks in you is satisfied. Not to heavy, not to light, but just right.

To start with I though I would talk a little about me.

Hello my name is Andrew Murrell. You probably already knew that considering your looking through my web page but I had to start somewhere. I was born in July 1967 (I can picture some of you counting on your fingers) and have lived on the Central Coast my entire life. The Central Coast is one of the best places in Australia. Since I’m biased in thinking Australia is the best place on Planet Earth, ipso facto the Central Coast is one of the best place on the Planet.

I am 6’2″ tall, carry a little too much weight, I have grey hair which is so thick an bushy I doubt I will ever go bald.. I have large hands, large Feet and a…….. (Sorry to much information.) I have been told I have the perfect voice for Radio and have been known to burst in song as I love to sing, a passion that has recently resurfaced after a gap of nearly 30 years.

I have several hobbies and Interests including Astronomy, Photography, science in general and Doctor Who. My interest in Photography started when I was about 12 and my sister Kerrie received a Cosina CSM camera for Christmas. When Kerrie upgraded to her first Nikon a few years later she gave the Cosina to me.  I have fond memories of using that camera down the Beach at Umina and in Coonabarabran when I was there observing with my telescope. It wasn’t to much of a step for me to start combining both Hobbies and I quickly learnt how to mount the camera on my 4″ scope and hand track to allow me to take 5 minute exposures. I have some great photos of Comet Halley doing this. I also learnt how to do Star trail photos and have a few examples I’m proud of today. Eventually the Cosina needed to be replaced and by then I was doing some part time work fruit picking so I purchased a second hand Nikon EM. I chose Nikon again due to my sister Kerrie as that was the brand of camera she upgraded to.

As a hobby photographer I shot mainly landscapes and nature. I found I loved the way the sky changed as the Sunset developed and I can remember making the wish occasionally that I would become a Professional Photographer as the first stars appeared.

Eventually I started to learn to develop and print my own black and white images. Taking a keen interest in people like Ansell Adams and learning the darkroom skills and techniques they used to make a print with more impact. Naturally when Photoshop became available I recognised some of the terms and functions from my B&W days. Photoshop is a tool just like the camera and is your friend, there to be embraced and used to assist you with your photography.

I currently shoot with a Nikon D3s and a series lenses ranging from a 14mm f2.8 to a 300mm f2.8. I still shoot my landscapes and Astronomy related images, but I have embraced Portrait photography and have built my business based on Weddings and Event Photography.

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