What we're about
This is a collective of people who share a passion for night and long exposure photography.
This Meetup is about gathering in groups, small or large, to capture the night and share the outcome with each other. Online events for image studies, goals review, training, as well as self-assigned challenges round out the program. Education, respectful and constructive feedback, exhibition of images and socializing during and after our gatherings are all part of our activities.
We explore old, new, popular and exotic places in the greater Boston area, southern New Hampshire and Maine, Rhode Island, northern Connecticut and central Massachusetts and there are occasional field trips to places such as New York or Maine. Inner city nightscapes are as much part of our portfolio, as will be dark sky star, astro-landscape and Milky Way shoots or light painting opportunities.
The group was founded in 2013 and has been active continuously. We average roughly one event every week, and we keep it alive throughout the winter. Photo shoots are most frequent, but we also have online lectures, individual challenges, conferences and public events and paid excursions. Browse our hundreds of "past meetups" to see what we have been doing.
Most standard meetups are free, membership dues will cover Meetup.com costs, minor group expenses and promotional means, invited lectures and trip organization expenses. There are also some paid events, as announced in those meetups, to provide services to learn from professionals in smaller groups with formal instructions, or to cover venue costs. You can sign up for this group for free and see if this is for you during the one month trial.
Night photography is exciting, presents the world in a truly different light and is serene and calming in many ways. However, it is also very different from daytime shooting, sometimes physically taxing and requires to watch out for yourself and others. All our meetups are conducted with adult and mature members, who provide safety through numbers, but you will always be responsible for your own safety.
Before you get started, please read the group policies: https://www.meetup.com/GBNight/messages/boa... .
We are looking forward to seizing the night with you!
Jürgen, GBNP Organizer
Upcoming events (4)
Meeting point is described in the "how to find us section".
We will explore Battleship Cove in Fall River, which has two actual, large ships, the USS Massachusetts and one other, permanently anchored right in front of the nice looking Braga Memorial bridge. There are other very interesting views if we stray from there.
Right next to it is a railroad museum, which is closed at night, but still enables you to take some shots over the fence. With a little bit of targeted flashlight, we might be able to tickle something interesting out of it.
We will meet at the bigger parking lot (5 Water St) close to the cove. This is good place for closeups of the ship and the picturesque boat house, then roam around the railroads. There are also some interesting looking, old buildings with stacks and Fall River Heritage State Park to be explored.
In the far, across the water and a 10-minute drive away is a nuclear power plant, which you will see and get in your shot when photographing the bridge. The two cooling towers are always active and provide for a nice water vapor plume.
Suggested equipment: super-wide to tele-zoom lenses, you can use both and zoom across the river. Tripod, intervalometer, camera, spare battery.
For more inspiration from a prior meetup, see this link: https://www.meetup.com/GBNight/photos/27632514/458450811/
- Susanne H.
- Edmund P.
- Rakesh K.
- 10 attendees
GBNP has a tradition of supporting our members who present their work to a wider audience.
Join us in supporting Gordon Saperia, a long time member, who is a participant in this exhibit.
There are 20 photographers represented in this show, all of whom completed the 9 month intensive program at the Griffin.
There is a broad range of photographic expression in this exhibit.
- Elizabeth R.
- Jurgen M L.
- Rakesh K.
- 10 attendees
This is a late night into early morning event!
This year's Perseids Meteor shower might be excellent, weather permitting. There will be no moon until 02:40 and if skies are clear, we might see a nice light show of rocks burning up in the atmosphere.
The peak this year is the night of August 12 to 13, and the best time to see the most meteors is anytime that night.
The Perseids radiant (origin) point is the formation of Perseus, hence the name. The radiant will come over the horizon around 10 p.m. north-nort-theast. At 1 a.m., and rise high into the sky, with Andromeda nearby and the Milky Way on full display, too.
Even though meteors come out of the radiant point, they can be observed all over the sky, looking north-east only maximizes your chances to see more.
To shoot this, it works best with the widest angle lens you have, but it needs a wide aperture also, f/2.8 or wider, f/4 is pushing the limits. A 14mm f/2.8 lens is great, something wider is better, but a 20mm f/1.8 might work well, too, because you can shoot at lower ISO. A fisheye will cover the entire sky, getting you more hits, but it is a unqiue viewpoint without much foreground.
If you have two cameras and tripods and lenses, bring both to cover more sky. Include the north star Polaris for reference in your composition. Or use the second camera for regular night photos, tracking the Andromeda or Milky Way.
Stay until 2:40 to shoot a 7% crescent moon rising in the NNE at 52°.
Here is more info:
https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/meteor-shower/perseid.html
and
https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-perseid-meteor-shower/
David Kingham has a great, short video to explain how to overlay photos with meteors in it to look like they are all coming out of one location. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7JVwSX1iAg).
- Jurgen M L.
- 1 attendee
There will be a solar eclipse in October of 2023. In the Boston area, this will only be a partial eclipse with 17% of the sun covered up by the moon.
Partial eclipse begins at 12:18 p.m. @ 176° / 39° altitude
Maximum eclipse is at 1:26 p.m. @ 197° / 37° altitude
Partial eclipse ends at 2:33 p.m. @ 216° / 32° altitude
See this website for more information, search for Boston. This event being around noon, you can shoot this from anywhere with a clear view of the southern sky, probably your backyard.
To shoot this event, you will need a solar filter in front of your lens: https://amzn.to/3PVYi1b and you can buy a cheap step-up ring to glue it in:
* 77 mm lens thread: https://amzn.to/3BYPAJO
* 82mm lens thread: https://amzn.to/3Wqa2eS
* 95mm lens thread: https://amzn.to/3GjyPeO
See photo section for an image how that looks like (I used the 95 to 82mm ring)
You can shoot this with any long lens, the longer, the better. You can shoot this with a wider lens and landscape, but you won't see the eclipse much. Magnifying the eclipse with a long lens is more fun. Anything up to 2000 mm will work, best range is 400 to 1200 mm (with teleconverter)
Make sure that you do not look into the sun and that you only point your camera at the sun with the filter on. You will be able to focus through the filter. To watch it or see where the sun is, use special glasses like this: https://amzn.to/3viKJ2A
You can also convert some binoculars for watching the eclipse. Find two plastic caps that fit over your binocular fronts, cut holes in them, then cover with the above film. I used caps from spray cans. See photo section.
Use a remote control or timed release to avoid camera shake. If you have a tracker, this is a good oppportunity to use it. Even if you don't align it perfectly north (use a good compass), it will still help you slow down motion of the sun on your sensor.
If you want to experience the full, annular eclipse, you need to travel south-west into OR, NV, UT, NM, or TX.
- Jurgen M L.
- 1 attendee
Past events (666)
- Jurgen M L.
- Davinder B.
- 2 attendees
