Astro Disaster, Bluebell Delight.

I go out to my local beach to try to photograph the milky way for the first time this year. Unfortunately just as the Milky Way is about to start rising above the horizon a bank of cloud rolls in and ruins everything. I give up and go home for an earlier than expected night.
The following morning I decided to cheer myself up by going to my local woods and photographing the bluebells.

[@CluelessYoutuber]

Great to see another vid from you Clive 😁 unfortunate about the clouds, #1 enemy in astro. I have yet to do some astro this year, hope to do it soon too. Hope you can capture the Milky Way soon! Bluebells were a delight.

[@focusphotonsfrugally6644]

Thanks Keith, not been on KZbin for a while as it's rained for about 6 weeks here, so lost a bit of motivation. I really enjoyed your video on kit lenses sorry I didn't comment, It feels like everyone is just waiting for milky way season to kick off properly.

[@CluelessYoutuber]

@@focusphotonsfrugally6644 no need to apologise buddy 😁 KZbin and having expectations to always capture something “epic” really has its ways to make us lose motivation. You’re doing great just by going out!

[@m3fnc]

Hi ya Clive I’ve recently found your channel and must say love your style of filming no messing around. I’m longing to photo the milky way can I ask how do you find out the days and time and location in the sky when the Milky Way is to appear any information really appreciated. Keep up the hard work of vlogging. Cheers Fred.

[@focusphotonsfrugally6644]

Hi Fred thank you for your comment I really appreciate it. I am glad you like it I want to be quick to the point no nonsense, and show people that you don't need loads of really expensive gear to get great photographs. I don't want to waste people's time with pointless click bait. Basically if you are in the northern hemisphere you can photograph the milky way all year round. But really we are talking about the milky way core, which is visible in the night sky from just before dawn in the east from about march. As we move through the spring and summer months it becomes visible earlier in the night in the south east moving through the south to eventually set in the early evening in the south west in about September. June, July and August are the best it will be in the south and visible after the sun has fully set . Obviously you need clear skies, no moon, a clear view of the horizon, and be able to look into an area with no, or very low light pollution. Most people use wide angle lenses of about f2.8 or better, focus on infinity, iso 3200-6400, shutter speed between 10 and 20 seconds depending on camera and lens. Most people use an app called photo pils, it's invaluable as it shows the movement of sun, moon, milky way etc to help you find the milky way and compose shots. Sorry this is only brief, if you have any questions just ask.and be careful chasing the milky way can easily turn into an obsession.

[@m3fnc]

@@focusphotonsfrugally6644 Hi Clive sorry for the delay thanks so much for the info really appreciated. Will definitely give it a go this year, if successful I’ll let you know. Keep up the hard work with the vlogs and thanks once again.

[@focusphotonsfrugally6644]

@@m3fnc Hi Fred no worries, let me know how you get on I would be interested to know.

[@udeshmadhusanka1301]

Love your work..❤ I'm about to move from d7200 to either d750 or z5 or z6ii(6ii is way expensive anyway). I'm doing landscape and thinking of starting doing some portraits as well(not weddings).how do you feel about z5 AF system and do have any disadvantage of not having the BIS sensor ?Whats your comment on selecting a camera out of these? D750 $900(used) z5 $1400(used) z6ii $3000(new). Appreciate your opinion. ❤

[@focusphotonsfrugally6644]

I would just go straight to z5 or Z6ii, miss out the d750 completely it’s old tech the whole point of the z cameras is you can take advantage of the new z lenses that are in a completely different league to the old f mount lenses. I have no problems with z5 autofocus in my experience it’s as good as anything Sony fan boys rave about. The z cameras have tools and features that make photography so much easier that a d750 just can’t do. The difference in sensors is so small between the z5 and z6 in my opinion it’s down to weather you want to pay extra for maybe a few % improvements in noise reduction. But the better video spec and frame rate for stills may push you towards the Z6ii. But for landscape and portraits do you really need that extra speed, I decided I didn’t. The money difference between z5 and Z6ii is better spent on a lens if budget is an issue.