Star trailing

In the Porto Velho skies

Above a first experience with star trails. It was made with a D40X Nikon digital SRL. For the 28 minutes exposure, I had to buy the camera's expensive infrared ML-L3 remote control.

In the first attempts, the city lights ruined the photos in Bauru, Sao Paulo. The picture above was made in Porto Velho, Rondonia (where the city lights did ruin some photos too).

So far I've learned there's still a lot to be learned to get real good star trails. I'll keep trying.

Basic photography tips (that people usually ignore)

No built-in flashes please

If you don't have a tripod, buy one. If you're not a pro, it doesn't have to be large. A mid-sized or even a small one will do and could be mounted on a chair or table if necessary. And if there's no way you can get the tripod, the same chair or table could help you proceed as described below.

Even for posed photos, people usually use the built-in flash of their digital cameras when the scene is too dark. But since the photo is posed, a better option would be to turn the camera to manual mode, select a longer exposure time and use a tripod instead of the built-in flash.

The longer exposure time is necessary so that more light can pass through the lens and the picture therefore won't look dark. But exposure times lower than 1/60 seconds usually yield shaken photos due to the movement of pressing the button, or even due to your breathing. So the tripod and the camera timer should be used.

Yes, the camera timer. Every digital camera I've seen or heard of has a timer. Check your camera's manual to learn how to use this function. The good news is that once you've learned how to use it, you can press the button, run to join the rest of the group and appear in the picture too.

Ok, the people posing for the picture would have to hold their position a bit longer, but usually it won't take more than a few seconds. It wouldn't hurt.

But if you really want the credits for that great photo, don't join the group you're photographing. It would be hard to convince people you're the photographer if you're one of the smiling faces in the picture!

I hate David Alan Harvey

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Some reasons why I hate David Alan Harvey:

He's photographed for NatGeo dozens of times and is much celebrated there. The editor of the magazine in Brazil never bothered to answer when I emailed him asking questions for a term paper.

He's succeeded as a photographer. I'm just trying hard not to quit.

He can afford any camera he wants. I hardly managed to buy my first (and so far my only) SLR.

Harvey started in photography when he was just a boy. I started when I was 37.

His photos have been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Mine can be seen only on the internet.

He's published some inspiring books. I only have this blog.

He's good at capturing people in their daily lives. I don't think I'm good at photographing people at all.

But at least...

I can learn from his great work. He can't!

Hello, world!

Hi, I'm Angelo, a journalist and photographer from Brazil. This is more of a trial version of a blog than an official thing. I'm still to find out whether I'll have the enthusiasm (and the time) to maintain a blog on a regular basis. Anyway, It's about the things I like most: jounalism, photography, a bit of music... and maybe economics (the dark side)!

Most of my photographic material online is at Flickr (flickr.com/photos/angelodeassis). I think it better stays there, but I'll post some photos here as well. Here I can write more about each one of them -- what I felt when I was taking the picture, why I chose that subject in particular, the circunstances when I was shooting, etc.

This first photo, I call it "Green and blue". I like it because I didn't expect it to be so good. The blue flower was photographed in Garça, a small town in the state of Sao Paulo. Hope you like it too.

That' it for the moment. Hopefully I'll find the time to post new material every now and then!