Starlink satellite sighting prediction link if you would like to either see and/or try and photograph these satellite "trains" that happens after each Space X launch with a new payload of Starlink satellites:

https://james.darpinian.com/satellites/?special=starlink&fbclid=IwAR0oPbUiYJ8mHYa8bT9Ugv786F6yZ39zm1BMTLtOYy2dCkNvbRjXyoRJRX8

Best Camera Settings for Photographing the Moon

To photograph just the moon by itself, without any objects in the foreground, you will need a long telephoto lens like explained above to magnify the moon and try to fill as much of the frame as possible. With your telephoto lens mounted on your camera, secure the two on your tripod and point at the moon. When it comes to camera settings, including shutter speed, aperture and ISO, here is what I recommend for general use:

• Image Format: If your camera can shoot in RAW image format, choose RAW instead of JPEG. This way, you do not have to worry about your camera settings affecting your images, including White Balance.

• Camera Mode: Set your camera mode to full manual mode.

• ISO: Set your ISO to your camera’s base ISO, which is typically ISO 100 on most cameras. If you have a point and shoot camera, see if you can find a menu setting to set your ISO to 100. Make sure “Auto ISO” is turned Off.

• Aperture: Set your aperture to f/11.

• Shutter Speed: Set your shutter speed to 1/100.

• White Balance: Set it to “Daylight”, although it does not matter if you shoot in RAW – you will be able to change it in post-processing.

• Lens Focus: Use the rear LCD screen of your camera to zoom in and focus on the moon. Once focus is acquired and the Moon appears sharp, make sure to set your lens to manual focus to prevent your camera from refocusing.

• Image Stabilization: Turn it off, since you are shooting from a tripod.

• Camera Shake: To reduce vibrations from the mirror mechanism on a DSLR, make sure to use Mirror Up mode. To reduce vibrations from the shutter mechanism (both DSLR and mirrorless cameras), make sure to turn Electronic Front Curtain Shutter on.

For those of you that have macro lenses or extension tubes for your "normal" lenses, these videos might be of help to you.

1) Complete Macro Photography Tutorial for Beginners

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CbfL4fvH6M&t=157s

2) How to use Extension Tubes with Macro Photography - A Cheap Way to Photograph Small things

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyCdzkPm5vQ

View the Wildlife Photographer of the year images from the current and previous years' competitions. These images were awarded for their artistic composition, technical innovation and truthful interpretation of the natural world.

https://www.nhm.ac.uk/wpy/gallery?tags=comp.adult

5 Minute Photo - Birds in Flight

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yS4gG8Pk6zc

Taking Sharp Bird Photos - In dept

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exk-9pbj2Rk

Is this the future of mirrorless?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5h3fptMvKn4&feature=youtu.be

Photo Theme of Perspective

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&gl=ar&tbm=isch&sxsrf=ALeKk02VZol0X1uoTwn7V7DKzPweWt9KVw%3A1603129854834&source=hp&biw=1280&bih=610&ei=_tGNX-qBMI2d-gT61qfoDQ&q=perspective+photography&oq=p&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQARgAMgQIIxAnMgQIIxAnMgUIABCxAzIICAAQsQMQgwEyBQgAELEDMgUIABCxAzICCAAyAggAMgIIADIFCAAQsQNQoBBYoBBg_ChoAHAAeACAAU2IAU2SAQExmAEAoAEBqgELZ3dzLXdpei1pbWc&sclient=img

Exposure compensation is a camera function that many of us may not be using as often as we should to get the best possible exposure in-camera.  Remember, the camera picks an exposure for what it sees and you as the photographer may need to compensate exposure for the subject you see of interest in the composition.

Here is a link to the video that offers an excellent overview on how and when to use exposure compensation.

https://youtu.be/6auHlQ0wDCM

Histograms In Photography

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtdQz6piFpI

Post Processing your images

Back in film days I always considered my work in the darkroom the other half of photography. Developing film, printing and developing images in the darkroom was my normal post processing workflow. 

Today's digital workflow is no different except the darkroom processes have now been replaced by computer and software. Photo editing software programs are now the "darkroom" for today's digital photography workflow. Every image you take will need to undergo some post processing to be considered the final product of your efforts.

There are free and fee versions of photo editing software programs available. GIMP is a very popular free photo editor that would be a very good starting point if you are new to digital photo editing. The attached link gets you to an article that reviews "The best free photo editors in 2021:

https://www.techradar.com/best/free-photo-editor

Photographing the Perseids this August 2021?

Here is a video demonstrating the use of the PhotoPills app to do your advanced planning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H73kPZhCrPI

8 Camera Hacks that Actually Work for Landscape Photography

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3htuqt1636M&list=WL&index=1&t=2s

How to Solve the Biggest COMPOSITION Problem in Landscape Photography

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYBOP2yY36E&list=WL&index=2&t=1s

The FASTEST WAY to FOCUS STACK!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9dEuTxJ2_Q&list=WL&index=4&t=2s

100,000 Stacked Images of the Sun

Here is a link to some pretty amazing cosmic images including the one I mentioned that was made up of 100,000 stacked images of the Sun. This photographer has recently moved to AZ from CA and continues with his incredible backyard astro images.

https://www.instagram.com/cosmic_background/