Last week I showed you some night sky photography with some stills blended together. When shooting night skies getting some detail into the foreground takes a bit of work when you are shooting in a dark skies compliant area like Sedona, Arizona. While I was capturing those images with my Lumix GX85 I set up the Lumix GX8 on a tripod for a time lapse sequence.
The lens was the Vario 12-35mm f2.8 set at f2.8. ISO 200 and 30-second exposures. I set the interval to 32-seconds to give the camera a little time to reset. Noise reduction setting was disabled as the camera would have been taking an extra 30 seconds to create the noise reduction for each image. Way too long for what I was trying to do. Using the camera’s processing I was able to make videos at various settings without any problems at all. Here is a minute and a half video showing all of the results including an edit with Photoshop.
Stars are making a circle around the north star. Funny how they twinkle just as they do when you are looking at them live.
Time Lapse Video of 140 images processed in-camera at twenty-four, twelve , eight and four frames per second. I also processed the images in Adobe Photoshop using the timeline to create a ten frames per second video.
One note. I was able to take the RAW files into Photoshop and process the red rock area different than the sky area which allows more detail and color to be in the final video. All the files were imported into Adobe Premiere and resized, captioned and rendered to HD. The videos I made in-camera were processed out as 4K files which gives more possibilities in the final movie. I could have left them large and then had the possibility of movement like panning or zooming through the video to create even more interest.
Here is a still image processed from the same scene. A one second and a thirty-second exposure blended with extra process in MacPhun’s Intensify CK
The half moon was high in the cloudless sky. I thought this would make an interesting test of the Lumix GX85 and the 100-300mm f4.0-5.6 lens extended all the way. I don’t recommend handheld shooting at this range with the lens set at 600mm equivalent. At night. But, I’ve been interested in how far the in-camera and lens stabilization can be pushed on this new camera.
And I keep finding myself pleasantly surprised.
Half moon photographed handheld with 600mm equivalent lens at f5.6 ISO 200 1/250th of a second
I don’t have a huge image to work with as after it was cropped from the frame it was about 750 pixels. What impressed me is the detail and sharpness of what was captured. I’m liking this little camera a lot.
Thought I’d give the red rocks under the night sky a shot. We have dark skies ordinances in Sedona and the Village of Oak Creek. Add to that the undeveloped land under the Park Service and State Parks the stars can shine.
It was a new moon night, and the clouds had parted for places unknown. It was a very clear night. When the cat woke me up, I decided to run out and see what I could do with the new Lumix GX85. I added the 15mm f1.7 lens and started taking multiple exposures for combining later in post-production. There are all kinds of rules for focusing properly and how long your exposures can be before the stars start to move and streak during your exposure depending on lens choice. I’m not going to share that part cause some photographers have been doing night photography much longer than I. A bit of searching on the web can get you that info. After I have practiced more, I’ll share some of that information after I’ve tested more.
Castle Rock in the Village of Oak Creek, Sedona, AZ
Courthouse Butte Looking north. I will share time-lapse video sequences captured by the GX8 in a future post.
Both images were made with multiple exposures layered together using Adobe Photoshop.
It’s a new world for me to play in.
Now all I have to do is be able to stay awake overnight!
If you follow me and my work you’ll find I enjoy capturing panoramic photos. Maybe it’s because I live in wide-open spaces. Whatever the reason they give a slightly different viewpoint of an area that doesn’t come across in storytelling in any other format.
Today I wanted to share a couple ideas about the in-camera feature in a lot of the Panasonic cameras. Stitched panoramic photos and how I use them. When I want a full-on capture of a panoramic scene I will tell you I shoot multiple images and stitch them together using Photoshop or another program. That is what will get the best quality beyond a shadow of a doubt. I will also, depending on the density of the scene shoot bracketed exposures to ensure the highest quality rendering for a print including the highlights and shadows.
Let’s give you a little preview of one of my favorite spots to photograph here in Sedona.
Castle Rock formation with Bell Rock and Courthouse Butte in the Village of Oak Creek in Sedona, Arizona
This image came out of the camera 6100 pixels wide 1/2000 sec ISO 800 f13 with Lumix Vario 35-100 f2.8 lens
When I want a full-on capture of a panoramic scene I shoot multiple images and stitch them together using Photoshop or another program. That is what will get the best quality beyond a shadow of a doubt. I will also, depending on the density of the scene, shoot bracketed exposures to ensure the highest quality rendering for a print including the highlights and shadows.
I use the in-camera pano feature more as a ‘sketch’ of a scene. Why is that? Number one – When making the pano capture there can be some slight stitching errors. You’ll sometimes find these in very simple areas like plain blue sky or conversely in very, very detailed areas. Number two – The files are rendered as a jpeg which means that the camera settings are baked into the file and that information will be stripped during the compression process. Number three – Finally, the files are not that large. Panoramas tend to need to be printed large to appreciate them.
So why do them in camera at all? I mentioned the ‘sketch’. Number one – This finished jpeg stands as a quick reference of the scene which can be filed with the RAW captures. Number two – It can be uploaded via the in-camera Wifi to send off to others to share what I’ve just seen. Number three – There might not be time, for example when traveling with others to complete a full-on capture of the frames. Number four – Sometimes I am just looking for a ‘record’ of the area to remember to go back to because there weren’t great conditions. I do this when scouting locations.
An overcast day in Sedona. This image ends up with quite a bit of ‘depth’ due to the weather and distant mountains. In-Camera Pano 7600 pixels wide. 1/100th at f7.1 ISO 800
Hope this give you some ideas on how to leverage features in a way you might not have considered before.
There is a new Firmware version out for the GX85 the leverages the 4K video feature called Post Focus. Post Focus will run a little video capture that will make an image with approximately forty focus points. You can pull any of the still frames, and each frame of the video is focused in a different place. You can then play back the video in camera and select any frame you wish and save as an eight megapixel still frame. See the video below.
You ask, “Wait a minute Bob, why is this a nice feature?”
Number one, it enables you to choose what’s in focus in the image after the fact. For example, you are capturing an image of someone’s face with a VERY shallow depth-of-field without a lot of time to check on your focus point. You can dial in the corner of the eye or the beginning of the iris or the other eye if you’d like for creative possibilities. Here’s the cool part. You can take a few of these images and put them together with a process called Focus Stacking and control exactly what is in focus or out of focus in your photo.
Single still frame with just the middle portion of the image in focus bringing attention to the Plus 25 bar placed on the red bag.
Number two on the cool list, we can now do the focus stacking right in camera and have it saved as a jpeg right to the card. This can save a bunch of time. Before you had to take the video into another program, save each image as a single frame and then run those frames through Photoshop or another program to obtain your stacked focus image.
This image was Focus-Stacked in-camera to show detail throughout the entire range. Total time for processing about thirty-seconds
Nuber three, you can use this feature the way I have been to get a hyper-focus image but stacking all the images together. This will allow you to use a macro lens which can give incredible detail. Usually, that detail is very shallow depth-of-field, but with Focus Staking you can get focused detail from the front to the back of the image.
Here’s the video showing all the points of focus that were captured. The original is a little over one second long. I slowed it down to about twenty percent so you can see it move through all the focus points.
This is a photo of the representation of my achievements and service to photography through Professional Photographers of America (PPA). The bar on the red bag is the newest sent to me and shows 25 merits earned through service, education, and imaging competition. The medals on the bottom of the ribbon are degrees earned and the small rectangle in the PPA National Award presented by Arizona PPA. As members of the association, we are charged with wearing the medals at conventions and PPA events. It is a message to other members that we are accomplished photographers available to answer questions.
For infrared conversion of my cameras I use LifePixel. Infrared allows you to put an older camera to use and opens up a new time time of day for productive image creation.
Fotopro tripods are well worth checking out. You can learn about the ones I use and recommend by clicking on the Fotopro Tripods link at the top of this page. If you want to see what other tripods might fit your needs check out the Fotopro.com website. Check back with me before you buy as a Fotopro Ambassador I’m able to get you discounted pricing including complementary continental USA shipping for my followers that you won’t find through retail outlets.
Learn Photoshop in a fun environment. Aaron Nace applies the right amount of fun with easy to understand and follow tutorials. Actions and brushes are included with lessons!
Lightning, waterdroplets, sound, time-lapse, HDR sequences, smiles and much more control for your camera!
Cameras Get Smarter -
A High Speed Smart Camera Remote
Best embroidery ever. Give Queensboro a try, get a $20 instant credit to get started by clicking on the logo! They specialize in great quality custom logo apparel and promotional products with the best customer service.
Platypod has become a great resource for being creative in getting your camera gear easily into unusual places. As an Platypod Pro I get to work/play with the gear even before it comes out. Head over to Platypod, subscribe to the newsletter and you will get special discounts reserved only for subscribers.
