ATTENTION: The event is cancelled due to weather forecast: It’s cloudy throughout the day (Which is nice) so we can’t see too much stars… At least initially. I’ll be going any way for a peace of mind and getting away from the city for a while. If you’re interested, you’re welcome to tag along with me 😀

I gave up on VIII because it’ll get nasty, so numbers are good… Star trail Session 8 will be up by November 1nd (Friday). Not promising a good show because the milky way hides up early and there’s no good meteor shower activity by then.

But, if you’re still interested in a great star trail experience (And perhaps get poisoned with bad hot dog or bad tea… Just kidding, I do good ones), you’re more than welcome to tag along 😀

Because I received this question a lot, I’d like to say that this isn’t Locals-exclusive. Local, Kuwaiti, expat, alien, turtle, ninja, doesn’t matter. The more the merrier 😀

Meeting up

This time, we’ll meet up somewhere different. We’ll meet up in the exterior 360 parking lot by 16:00, leave by 16:30 (17:00 max).

I decided to set this gathering point because:

1. It’s closer to most people than Mishref CO-OP
2. Many people confuses the usual parking lot and tend to not attend 🙁
3. Geant and other shops are few steps away; we can buy stuff before we leave
4. There’s a gas station literally next to us; we can refuel before leaving as well

How to register?

If you’re contacting me by a comment or filling up a form, please, for the love of everything good, write down your email so I CAN ACTUALLY REPLY TO YOU! AND CHECK THIS POST FOR REPLIES!

I mean, really, I get some questions and I want to answer them. But I either get an email like email@china.com or sdhfskjg@jshgskdjf.com. That, or reply with a comment and the original commenter doesn’t know my answer because he\she didn’t check back!

Anyway, if you’re interested, you can easily:

• Contact me by this form
• Message me through twitter for perhaps quicker replies
• Email or call me if you already know my email and number (Specially those who contacted me earlier or attended previous sessions)
• Submit a comment here (And provide a valid email so I can reply back to you). And actually read this post every once in a while!

Arrival

We should arrive by 18:00 ~ 18:30. We’ll arrive in a quiet place so don’t get too freaked out. It’ll be a desert obviously, but there’s an actual road we’re going through so any car can get in. Hell, I drive a crappy Mitsubishi Lancer. If this can get in, anything can!

What to prepare

• Photography-wise
  • A camera with cable release (And don’t you forget it. I ALWAYS DO)
  • A memory card that’d hold 500 pictures. Not that you’ll use them all, but just in case. A rough estimation:
    • If your sensor is 18MP and below, 16GB is perfect
    • If your sensor is bigger than 18MP, bring a couple of 16GB sticks
  • A tripod. I’d honestly recommend a heavy and stable one, but light one could work
  • Lenses:
    • If you want to do startrails or take pictures of the sky in general, a 18-55mm lens maximum. I recommend anything below (A fisheye lens works wonders).
    • If you want to take pictures of a specific object, well, you most likely know what you’re doing so can’t recommend a lens for you
  • Patience
• Generally
  • Food and drinks
  • Mats and chairs
  • Hoodies. It WILL get chill
  • Flashlights

General tips and hints

1. Point your camera toward Polaris (North Pole). Stars rotates around it.
2. If you want to do startrails, don’t use BULB mode. Stack 20~30 seconds long pictures with this software.
3. Set your ISO to anywhere above 300. I’d personally recommend anything between 400 and 1600.
4. CHARGE YOUR BATTERIES!!.
5. Raise your aperture (As in, drop the f-stops number) as much as you can!.
6. If you want to take pictures of Milkyway
   1. Raise the ISO to anything from 800 to 3200.
   2. Set your shutter speed to 5 ~ 15 seconds.
   3. Set a 10 seconds timer (Count down before taking pictures).
   4. Use your cable, not the shutter button on the camera. Do this so you don’t shake up your camera.
   5. I’ll be bringing a fun toy that’d help take a good milky way picture without trails. I’ll share it with everyone else 😀
7. Patience. Lots and lots of it.

Let’s all enjoy this trip!

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