Hi. I’m Philip Jay Walter, Senior Content Provider for ExpertPhotoTips.com. Today, we’re going to be going out of a journey. We’re going out on a cosmic journey in fact because this month, next month, Comet Lulin.

Talking about a cosmic exclusive, this comet will not be back for another thousand years so there’s a pretty good chance if you take some photos, you’re going to be one of the few thousand people on this Earth that had a chance.

So, let’s get started. What do you need to photograph Lulin? Well, you’re going to need a camera, you’re favorite SLR camera will do. And of course, you’re going to need a tripod. This is one of the cases where you’re going to absolutely almost guarantee to need this tripod. Some of our students that have been following at home, you may be able to use a cheaper version of a tripod, maybe even a beanie bag. But like I said, a tripod is an absolute must. So that’s what you’re going to need. You’re going to need your favorite DSLR. And of course, we all know how to shoot a basic night sky. We did that tutorial awhile ago. If not, check up on it. We’re going to do a refresher course here in another week so stay tuned. If you still don’t know how to shoot outdoors at night, stay tuned for next week.

Also, what I would highly recommend you to do is pick up one of these cheap little remote controls for your shutter button. They’re very cheap. They’re on eBay. You can get them for about $5 worth and they’re workforce. They work marvelously. They work wonders for shooting the night sky. You don’t want to touch this.

Alright. Now, focusing on the principles that you know how to shoot a basic night sky. And like I said, if you don’t, stay tuned for next week. But there is one tip here that you probably are going to look over and that is you’re going to want to turn your auto focus off. I know, that was really scary, wasn’t it? The auto focus on most DSLRs when you’re shooting something very dark like the night sky, your camera can get confused. It doesn’t know what’s going on and screaming for help. In many cases, turning off the auto focus will solve the problem and it will often solve little problems like that little blur.

So let’s get to how we can actually find Lulin. Right now, Lulin looks like a little tiny bright blue star. In fact, it’s a comet. And if you look very carefully, you can see distinct little biting tail. If you really want a good shot, I would highly recommend you wait until February 24th, because if you don’t see Lulin, you’ll obviously see Saturn and you’ll have something to take a photo of. I would recommend waiting until it’s at its peak around the 24th of February.

Now, if you have the time money and inclination to attach your DSLR with an adapter to a decent sized telescope which has actually become affordable over the years, I have an event that’s just begging to be photographed. Let’s check it out.

On March 5th, Lulin will pass the Beehive cluster in the constellation of Cancer. Lulin will pass the constellation of Cancer which has this very famous Beehive or N44. Like I said, if you have the ability to attach your camera to a decent sized telescope, this would be an excellent shot. In fact, I planned on doing a little bit of that myself. So there you go. Two great dates to take photographs of great celestial bodies. What more could you ask for?

If you’d like any more information about anything to talk about today including telescope mounts and my true opinion on astrophotography, log on to ExpertPhotoTips.com. Once again, I’m out of time. I’m Philip Jay Walter, Senior Content Provider for ExpertPhotoTips.com saying, with a little bit of me and a little bit of yourself, you’ll start taking great photos in no time. Thanks a lot.