photographing a meteor shower? Help please!

[Dan Jolicoeur]

Can anyone give me any information for photographing the meteor shower that is supposed to peak tonight? My wife went out last night and said it was amazing. I am using a 4x5 with Fuji acros. I have no Idea of exposure time. I live out of town and there are very few street lights behind where I will be aiming the lens. I was thinking that if it was dark enough, that an exposure of an hour or more would only increase the effects of the stars moving and the amount of meteors in the picture. There is a slight crescent moon however that again will not be in the picture. There is a front comming through, so hopefully I will not be clouded in.
Has anyone done this before that can give me a rough idea? Or maybe a reference, I do not have time to read a book after work tonight. I only found out about this yesterday on the MSN home webpage. Apparently this happens every year in August but, this year is better do to something about the moon? Sorry I am not an astronomy buff, however like to star gaze on occasion by a nice fire. The only night shoots that I have done where in town with the lights of cars, and store fronts with exposures in the seconds range if I remember correctly? Many thanks,

[Dan Jolicoeur]

Sorry I meant to add this link also.

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050812.html

[Dean Tomasula]

Dan, check out this page. Although it's geared toward digital, it should have some helpful hints for you and your Shen-Hao.

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/meteor.shtml

Good luck.

[David Luttmann]

Dan,

You're going to find Across slow for meteor photography. I have not tried 4x5 for this, but have done plenty of 35mm and 6x7. In the past I've mainly stuck with Fuji RHG 800. Lens stopped down one from wide open. Exposures range from 45 seconds (which with a 150mm lens on 4x5 will give minimal star trailing) to well over an hour depending on how dark your sky is. The lighter your sky and the longer the exposure you use, will require stopping down to f8.

The problem with 4x5 lenses are that they are typicall too slow. Coupled with slow films, it makes a poor choice for meteor show photography. If you still want to proceed, try a few sheets of your favorite 400 speed film. And try some color. Use your widest lens and aim it somewhat away from the meteor shower radiant to get the longest trails.

Good luck!

[GPS]

Google.

[Dan Jolicoeur]

Dave, My intent was to Have Polaris, or the Northern Star, in the center of the image. I always wanted to do this anyhow, but it looks like it would be a6 to 8 hour exposure to get the effect I wanted. I may try that some other time since the meteors are expected to be at the rate of 1 every minute. Thanks for your input, and Dean there was some good info on that site, thanks!

[Matt Miller]

photographing the stars can be fun. I agree that you need to use the lens as close to wide open that you are comfortable with. Depending on the humidity levels where you are, you may need to watch the lens for condensation as it cools off. A few clouds floating by would really look neat on the film. Have fun.

[Kevin M Bourque]

It's worth trying but I doubt you'll get much. As Dave suggested, LF lenses are just too slow.

I had good luck with the Leonids a few years ago with an f2.8 28mm lens and fast film....I think it was 400 speed but I can't be sure. This was a 35mm camera, of course. I had it on a motorized mount so that it was tracking the stars. It was quite dark and I was using exposures between 15 sec and 2 minutes.