Aaron Paul Vogel

My "Photographer's Notebook" has been languish pretty much from the start, but I figured I'd drop this in there just because it actually fits. Now I'm not one to do a lot of pre-planning - a shortcoming I'm working hard to overcome - but I knew I'd need to in order to re-shoot my Portal Trail Tent shot from my last trip to Moab. With a fresh plan I set out to try some test shots first. This is one I did to test the flash setup. So here's the info:

Now, from doing other research, I know that to get the star trails I want in the sky I have to shoot at f/5.6 or lower and for way longer than 30 sec. We're talking hours here. From other test shots I also know that I need to do 8 passes of my spotlight over a subject from around 40' away to get the light-painting effect I want at f/8 ISO 100. So, going from this information I need to do the following things to get the shot I want (illuminated tent, light painted ground and star trails with the city in the background):

1. Moonless sky (too much light pollution on the ground and in the sky). This means a post moon-set shot, In my case, 1 a.m. or later, or a new moon, which is far less accommodating than my personal schedule.
2. Cloudless sky (so I can get the stars). This is actually what kept me from doing the shot last night, kind of glad for that though... hope it stays clear tonight.
3. Flash settings: 1/8 power, 28mm zoom, fresh batteries and a stofen
4. Camera settings: ISO 100, f/5.6, 1 minute (to start, the length of the exposure isn't for the purpose of letting light in at this point, it's just to get the star trails).
5. Light Painting: I think that one or two passes with the spotlight should do as I'll be much closer than 40' to where the tent will be. I'm going to try various means of diffusion/direction to get the right feel.

So, those are the notes I had in my head after last night. Now they're "on paper" for posterity, and my own reference when my tenuous hold on reality final slips.