Entries by Silvana Della Camera

Winter: Are you a hibernator or forager?

If you live in areas where cold temperatures, snow, and ice are the components, the very word may invoke distaste, dread, or delight. Like other mammals, some humans hibernate, while others continue foraging through the winter season. Which camp are you in? Foragers keep digging for nuggets. These take the form of learning new camera […]

How to: Create a Moonrise Timelapse

An image of a full Moon is enchanting. However, a moonrise timelapse leaves enchanting behind and gives the viewer a visceral kick in the head. A moonrise can be a challenge to photograph, especially when the Moon is full and rises after astronomical twilight and you’ve set your sights on a foreground object that is […]

Gear How-to – Benro Polaris Astro Setup

The Benro Polaris Astro is an amazing “smart” tripod head. I am very happy with the abilities of this amazing tool. When I purchased it, I discovered that that wasn’t a lot of information on the setup. The manual isn’t great, not unlike any other manual I’ve encountered. After many false starts and utter failures […]

Gear Review – Focus on Stars Filter

Photographers always have their eye and ear out for a gadget to help make a task easier. It is often a quest not unlike the search for the Holy Grail. Photography is a combination of artistic creativity with often high technical requirements. A fusion of left brain/right brain as it were. Some types of photography […]

In Search of the Pinpoint Star

This is probably the most difficult part of an astro photograph. It doesn’t matter if we are talking about astrolandscapes or deep space photography, the perfectly focused pinpoint star is a challenge. It’s almost an oxymoron given that stars are so enormous. But I digress. I have been photographing stars for a long time. My […]

How-to: Get Moving (aka ICM)

As in moving your camera. I recently held a photo walk that revolved around intentional camera movement, also known as ICM. As we practiced ICM, it occurred to me why it is sometimes difficult to get going with ICM. As photographers, our quest is to produce sharp, clear images. We exercise proper form by holding […]

All the Noise Noise Noise Noise…

Camera noise. It is the nature of high ISO but it’s nothing you need to be afraid of. You may actually stifle your photography by avoiding its use. As an astrolandscape and infrared photographer, I can’t avoid noise. Infrared is a noisy medium even at low ISO. Astrolandscapes require fairly short exposures to avoid star […]

How to: Peaked Focus

One of my favorite features of my camera is focus peaking. It is a feature that some cameras have that helps you achieve sharp focus when using manual lenses or focusing on a scene that the camera is struggling with due to low lighting conditions or perhaps not having a clear area of contrast to […]

Gadgetmania (Part 2)

Photography is one of those crafts that can span the extremes when it comes to accessories. Technically all you need is a camera to create a photograph. Yes, there is the vision of the photographer that is the driving force, but we are talking about hardware only here. However, there is an abundance of gadgets […]