Eternal Oblivion

[panos_adgr]

Good morning Panos, yes that would be great! I am not technically minded when it comes to cameras, but I am learning slowly! I assume your camera is able to be programed to take your shots with a 2 second time gap between each one? I only have a bridge camera and to get the effect that you produce I can only set a long exposure max 60 seconds. Then I use lightroom and photoshop to tweak the photos to try and get the water surface like yours! They are getting better but not upto your standard. I have tried taking 9 photos and stacking them in photoshop, but the end result just looks like they photos before I stacked them. I do stack my drone photos all the time and I am happy with them. Seeing your work flow would be great, thank you. Have a great day!

Hello Phil! Almost all cameras can be progeammed with an interval time between the shots. All of my cameras are set to the least possible time space between the shots which is 0,5''. And I use self timer to start my shots with a 2 second delay after the press of the button. I use self time mode and I set it to 9 sequential exposures.

You can get the effect of the water or clouds even with one long exposure. But it depends also on the weather and motion of the water or clouds. If clouds are moving fast you can have a nice effect even with a 30''. If they are moving slow then you will need a longer exposure. The water blur effect is absolutely relevant with the wave motion. If the sea is calm you do not need a very long exposure. 30''-60'' seconds are almost enough. If the sea is rough then you will need longer exposure.

The photos above are many images stacked. Each one is 30'' but the effect after stacking is equivalent to the sum of 9 exposures, times, 30'' which gives us an equivalent effect of 270''.

You can use a darker ND filter or stop down the aperture to a higher f/ number to achieve longer exposure. I use the stacking method of many shots to cancel out the noise in stacking process (noise has a random pattern in each shot which is recognised in mean stacking mode and is cancelled) and to avoid sensor overheating because of very long exposure which has a result of 'hot pixels' (blue red and green dots in photo). Even if you have the most expensive camera on the planet hot pixels in very long exposures are inevitable.
I use short intervals between shots because the shorter the interval is the smoother the blur of the stacking is. If you have even 1'' interval then the clouds are blurred but you can 'see steps' in motion in clouds. Like you have blended many shots with different cloud positions. In 0.5'' the gap is small and 'mean' mode stacking is blending it smoothly.

I will be back with more information at some time.

 

[Jack]

I was thinking the DJI Mini 3 Pro or if I can afford a more the Mavic 3. It also looks very interesting the DJI Avata.

I have purchased Mini 3 Pro. It's a great drone, and very compact as well. I have also Air 2s, but that's when I'm going to visit empty fields, or highlands.

Dji avata is a FPV drone, I would not say it's good for photography. You also can crash it very quickly, it's very loud too.

 

[panos_adgr]

I have purchased Mini 3 Pro. It's a great drone, and very compact as well. I have also Air 2s, but that's when I'm going to visit empty fields, or highlands.

Dji avata is a FPV drone, I would not say it's good for photography. You also can crash it very quickly, it's very loud too.

Thanks for the advice Jack! You have more experience than me. I was thinking also the Air 2s but in some reviews they say that although it is very good it is a bit old and new models are more improved.

What is very important for me is Raw shooting ability and of course a good camera. I do not want one with 1'' sensor. I would prefer a drone with a four thirds sensor but these are pricey.

The drone is quite secondary in my thoughts though. Next investments are a Nikkor 24-120mm VR F/4.0 or a 3rd party 24-70mmm f/2.8 and then a Tamron 150-600mm to close my system. After these I might look for a drone or possibly for Fujifilm GFX body or a Nikon Z8 if it comes out apparently and if my financials are good. If not then I will be watching them from my pc.😂

 

[Jack]

Thanks for the advice Jack! You have more experience than me. I was thinking also the Air 2s but in some reviews they say that although it is very good it is a bit old and new models are more improved.

Air 2s is still a good drone, and it's not really old drone. I purchased the mini 3 Pro because of its weight, is 249g. If you can afford, go for Mavic 3, but that is for professional videographers.

I love my drones, but honestly I'm not using much my air 2s as I'm using my mini 3pro for now. Both drones shoot in raw which is good.

I'm saving now for 100-400mm lens as well, and hopefully in the future a mirrorless camera.

 

[Guest 272]

Hello Phil! Almost all cameras can be progeammed with an interval time between the shots. All of my cameras are set to the least possible time space between the shots which is 0,5''. And I use self timer to start my shots with a 2 second delay after the press of the button. I use self time mode and I set it to 9 sequential exposures.

You can get the effect of the water or clouds even with one long exposure. But it depends also on the weather and motion of the water or clouds. If clouds are moving fast you can have a nice effect even with a 30''. If they are moving slow then you will need a longer exposure. The water blur effect is absolutely relevant with the wave motion. If the sea is calm you do not need a very long exposure. 30''-60'' seconds are almost enough. If the sea is rough then you will need longer exposure.

The photos above are many images stacked. Each one is 30'' but the effect after stacking is equivalent to the sum of 9 exposures, times, 30'' which gives us an equivalent effect of 270''.

You can use a darker ND filter or stop down the aperture to a higher f/ number to achieve longer exposure. I use the stacking method of many shots to cancel out the noise in stacking process (noise has a random pattern in each shot which is recognised in mean stacking mode and is cancelled) and to avoid sensor overheating because of very long exposure which has a result of 'hot pixels' (blue red and green dots in photo). Even if you have the most expensive camera on the planet hot pixels in very long exposures are inevitable.
I use short intervals between shots because the shorter the interval is the smoother the blur of the stacking is. If you have even 1'' interval then the clouds are blurred but you can 'see steps' in motion in clouds. Like you have blended many shots with different cloud positions. In 0.5'' the gap is small and 'mean' mode stacking is blending it smoothly.

I will be back with more information at some time.

Hello Panos, Thank you for taking the time to type up the information. I use a remote shutter release, and do a rough count between shots would that ultimately produce the same effect? I also use a 1000 ND filter thats the largest filter I have, would you recommend getting a stronger one? I realise that is also dependant upon the amount of sunlight at the time of taking a shot. I recently posted 2 photos under the "Lakes" forum (Page 3) If you could have a look at them and let me know what you think, it would be appreciated. All the very best. Phil.