I’m thinking of attempting to photograph the Perseids next month. Does anyone have any experience photography meteor showers? If so, any tips? I am going to head to the beach to avoid as much light pollution as possible.
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I assume you obviously know you’re going to need a tripod. There are apps that can help you point your camera correctly. I think you probably want a wider angle lens, so you have more chances of something interesting happening in frame. Since they’re not always quite as frequent as you like, you’re going to need to start a long exposure and hope something happens in frame. You’re going to do this pretty much constantly until you get lucky and get what you hope for. Practice patience.
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I am going to be honest with you, this is all an elaborate excuse for me to get a new tripod.
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You da man 
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On that note, anyone have any tripod recommendations? @ant_pruitt have you done a tripod show yet? I’ve been looking at the Manfrotto Element Traveller Big.
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I have a GorillaPod that I like for quick and dirty shooting, but it’s not really what you would use for this application unless maybe if you’re working on a picnic table or something.
EDIT: This is long and probably mostly filled with things you’d already know, but some beginners might find it useful: https://shotkit.com/camera-tripod-guide/
2nd EDIT: I remember Andy recommending something on MacBreak, and my GoogleFu found a reference to a Kickstarter for one from PEAK. https://www.peakdesign.com/collections/tripods
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Yeah, I was looking at that. It’s either the Manfrotto or the Peak Design tripod for me.
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I was just looking at some of the bags on that Peak Designs site I mentioned above… now I’m having gear lust again 
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I discussed tripods, but not particular ones on Hands On Tech some time back. I love my heavy duty tripod. It’s not designed for travel, but it’s rock solid and has taken a beating. Manfrotto 190x, I think.
I reviewed the Peak Design travel tripod. Pretty magical considering the size.
Mine. (Affiliate)
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I have the Everyday Backpack 30L. Love that thing. It saved my gear on two occasions from heavy water.
Thanks, Ant. The Peak Design Tripod looks great, but I wouldn’t use it often enough to justify the premium. I might go for that Manfrotto Travel tripod.
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I’ve got the 6L sling. It’s great for my X100V plus a few accessories.
If you have Instagram, I showed where the bag saved my gear.
https://www.instagram.com/s/aGlnaGxpZ2h0OjE3OTc4OTg3NDg4Mjc1NDUw?igshid=1gt72rid2t17h
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@ChrisMarquardt discusses a couple of useful apps here
Make sure you listen before choosing one or the other:
His advice here The Best of 2016 about fireworks probably also applies “You should get a remote release that allows you to trip the shutter without touching the camera.”
And last, but maybe most relevant is:
Sunday September 25, 2016 “This week’s photographic super power is shooting stars.”
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Thank you so much for putting this list together!
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Based on my experience: use a normal-to-wide-angle lens. Take 15-30 sec exposures – any longer and star trails become a distraction. Be sure to focus at infinity. Set ISO to 800 or higher. Take some test shots and adjust ISO and f-stop to get noise level and sky brightness you like. Point camera at dark part of sky, set intervalometer to keep taking 30 second shots for a long time, sift through what you get.
To benefit from experience of others, I would suggest spaceweather.com. Go back in the archive to around Aug. 13 in previous years – look at photos, many of which have technical notes. Good luck!
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Thank you. I think that my biggest hurdle will be overcoming air and light pollution.
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