3 ms·

Wait... Stars are visible during the day with time-lapsed photography?

dylan604 9y ago
To be clear, no, that was not taken during the day. In that one clip from Australia, the light is 100% only from the nearly full moon. With a DSLR and a long exposure, that light will completely light up the area to the point that it looks like day light. The only thing to give away that it is not taken during the day are the stars being visible and the smoothness of the water. The smoothness of the water gives away the long exposure. On a full moon in dark sky locations, it is possible to walk around without the need of a flashlight. Of course, you need to give your eyes time to adjust. It is definitely bright enough to cast shadows. I've even seen shadows cast from the light of the Milky Way on new moon nights. It is hard to believe how bright starlight can be.
- dboreham 9y ago
  I live in a "dark blue" area per the map, with a ~1h drive to absolute black. Mind you, I'm not sure I've noticed that much difference between my back yard and deep in the middle of Yellowstone. Anyway, the thing that surprised me about long exposure DSLR dark photography is that you get pretty decent color rendition. For some reason I didn't expect that. You can very clearly see the different color temperature of the stars in Orion, and if you have a very dimly illuminated foreground as you mention, you see it in accurate full color. I guess I didn't expect it because human eyes don't register color in low light. DSLR sensors are doing it photon by photon through the Bayer filter..
- tigershark 9y ago
  Mmm..nope. The Milky Way cannot cast shadows visible to the human eye, it’s around magnitude 5. Even if it was possible (and it isn’t) there are many much brighter stars in the sky that would cast a stronger shadow. I saw a shadow cast from a meteor that was around -7 magnitude, so brighter than Venus, but I don’t think I ever saw a shadow cast by a star, even Sirius that is -1.6 if I recall correctly. Although I have never been in an area mapped as black, the darkest that I have been for star gazing was the dark green accordingly to the map.

To be clear, no, that was not taken during the day. In that one clip from Australia, the light is 100% only from the nearly full moon. With a DSLR and a long exposure, that light will completely light up the area to the point that it looks like day light. The only thing to give away that it is not taken during the day are the stars being visible and the smoothness of the water. The smoothness of the water gives away the long exposure. On a full moon in dark sky locations, it is possible to walk around without the need of a flashlight. Of course, you need to give your eyes time to adjust. It is definitely bright enough to cast shadows. I've even seen shadows cast from the light of the Milky Way on new moon nights. It is hard to believe how bright starlight can be.

dboreham 9y ago
I live in a "dark blue" area per the map, with a ~1h drive to absolute black. Mind you, I'm not sure I've noticed that much difference between my back yard and deep in the middle of Yellowstone. Anyway, the thing that surprised me about long exposure DSLR dark photography is that you get pretty decent color rendition. For some reason I didn't expect that. You can very clearly see the different color temperature of the stars in Orion, and if you have a very dimly illuminated foreground as you mention, you see it in accurate full color. I guess I didn't expect it because human eyes don't register color in low light. DSLR sensors are doing it photon by photon through the Bayer filter..
tigershark 9y ago
Mmm..nope. The Milky Way cannot cast shadows visible to the human eye, it’s around magnitude 5. Even if it was possible (and it isn’t) there are many much brighter stars in the sky that would cast a stronger shadow. I saw a shadow cast from a meteor that was around -7 magnitude, so brighter than Venus, but I don’t think I ever saw a shadow cast by a star, even Sirius that is -1.6 if I recall correctly. Although I have never been in an area mapped as black, the darkest that I have been for star gazing was the dark green accordingly to the map.