International Space Station flies over tree
International Space Station (ISS) flyby over UK skies.
This is a composite image comprising 16 No long exposures captured in the early evening overnight in my local village of Cotesbach (Again, you don't have to travel far to explore the heavenly wonders). This shot captures the 1903hrs pass. Especially dramatic as the flyby was almost overhead and flew right over the crescent moon, over the giant oak tree and fading out as the ISS enters Earth's shadow (love this).
BEHIND THE LENS
To capture this, firstly using the excellent GoSatWatch phone app, I was able to find the time and direction of the flyby (Almost always west to east). The flyby was also directly overhead, which required an extremely wide angle lens to capture land & sky - In this case the Olympus f1.8 8mm fisheye was perfect. I located a good foreground subject (oak tree) gauging where the ISS would rise from horizon & finish (using the app). I mounted the camera on a tripod and set up the composition such that the ISS would rise above the crescent moon (far right) and pass over the tree. Set the focus to manual and shoot a few test images to ensure subject fits & is level (using LCD screen). Once I was happy with the composition and using the remote cable (set to lock - which forces the camera to shoot continuous exposures) I waited for the ISS to come into view & set the camera off. The foreground & tree were lit up using a technique called light painting. During the first few exposures I shone a strong torch over the tree and 'painted' with light. This helps bring daylight to a 'No Light' scene.
I then took the camera back indoors & transferred 16 images (High res JPEG) to MAC and imported in StarStax software. This very useful (& free) software easily produces a single composite image.
The resulting image reveals over 4 mins of the Space Station flying overhead. Not only does it look good on camera it is also a spectacle to watch with the naked eye. Download the app, go outside & look up....it's that easy :-)
CAMERA: Olympus OM-D, E-M5II
LENS: M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 8mm 1:1.8 FISHEYE PRO
ACCESSORIES: Olympus Remote Control RM-UC1
SETTINGS: Manual, ISO 400, F1.8, 15s. Resolution LN (4608 x 3456)
TIP: Download GoSatWatch app which tells you all the ISS flyby times and maps where they will fly across the sky - A great tool.