Alright, if you attended Startrail Session V and felt unsatisfied, this might make up to it.

First, before I start laying down what happened, I’d like to let everyone know that it was a great honor to meet the people who attended the last startrail session. We didn’t take good pictures (I didn’t even set my camera). But we had our fun just chilling there. That, and I’m honored that the Astrophysicist (Abdulaziz Alareedh) tagged along with us!

Last session, the sky wasn’t so clear. It was cloudy a bit and kinda dusty so stars weren’t THAT bright. Not in a satisfying way. That, and the milkyway didn’t show up because of these circumstances.

However, this will hopefully be different.

To show that usually my timing are roughly right (But weather hates me), I uploaded a simulated video of what the sky would look like using Stellarium:

Milkyway will show up starting around 23:00. Well, not exactly, it should show up earlier. But 23:00 is where it starts getting interesting (And perhaps visible to naked eye).

How to register?

All you need to do is contact me bu one of these methods

• Contacting me by this form
• Message me through twitter
• Email or call me if you already know my email and number (Specially those who contacted me earlier or attended previous sessions)

Meeting up

As usual, we’ll meet up in the parking lot across the street from Mishref CO-OP by 17:00, leave by 17:30 (18:00 max).

Arrival

We should arrive by 18:30 ~ 19:00. We’ll arrive in a quiet place so don’t get too freaked out

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
  • Jackets. The temperature would drop below 15 Cecilius
  • 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.
7. Patience. Lots and lots of it.

And just so you know, a peek of a meteor shower is in May 9th. That means we might still see some good shooting stars.

Let’s all enjoy this trip!

SHARE THIS WITH YOUR FRIENDS!! VIRTUALLY EVERYONE IS WELCOME 😀