Part-time prevaricator
Last night Kathleen suggested I check out Image Hill for some astrophotography. Since it was only five minutes’ drive from the farm, I checked it out.
I got about 25 minutes’ worth of star trails (I set my timer for 30 minutes but my camera battery had other ideas).
We got to the farm last night in the dark, and the skies were clear and starry. So, after visiting for a bit, I took my camera and tripod out in the lane.
I went to my dark spot last night from about 10:45 pm to 11:45 pm or so, and set up my camera. I was hoping to catch a few of the Perseid meteors, though I knew I was too early for the peak.
I let the camera run for about an hour (the battery actually died at about the 0:55 mark, but close enough), and the result is the star-trails photo above. I found two bright(ish) meteor trails in it, highlighted below. (The star trail image is bright because the sky was still faintly glowing with sunset light, even at 10:45, when I started; the meteors below are from later on in the process.)
My goals for this past week’s writing retreat were:
Let’s see how I did.
So, on balance, that was a good week.
Continue reading “Writing Retreat 2020: The Numbers”
Friday:
All in all, a good Friday, even if it was a bit too hot to even think straight. (No sweeter sin than air conditioning, I tell you.)
Wednesday:
Tuesday’s action:
I wish I’d noticed that there was some flickering northern lights just as I was packing up for the night; I’d have stayed longer, even though I was tired.
It’s supposed to be clear again tonight, and hopefully the solar wind will strike twice.
As always: if you’re interested in prints of any of these photos, let me know. We’ll see what we can work out.
Monday, I:
This reinforces my previous experience with the Lensbaby lens: it’s great for macro shots, like the one with the single stalk of flowers against the grass, but in most other uses it reduces most if not all of the frame to an impressionistic blur. If that’s your aesthetic, great, but more often than not I’m disappointed in the photos I take with it.
It’s still fun to play with, though.
The bluer photo of the comet, the close-up, was taken with my 50mm f/1.8 lens. Look closely, and you’ll find I caught both tails. You might have to view the photo at full size.
As always: if you’re interested in prints of any of these photos, let me know. We’ll see what we can work out.
Last night was nice and clear, so I grabbed my gear and drove about ten minutes west of town, hoping to catch Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE).
It was about 10:30 when I got to my spot, and the sunset was still too bright to see the comet. I noticed Jupiter on the other side of the sky, so I snapped a couple shots of it first. I’m not 100% sure, but I think I got all four Galilean moons in the shot, too.
Then the sun set enough, and I swung back around to face northwest.
As I was getting ready to pack up, I noticed a haziness to the northeastern sky. I knew thanks to SpaceWeather.com that a coronal mass ejection had just arrived, triggering some aurora. So I put my widest lens on my camera and snapped a few more shots.
All in all, a good night. I even got to wave at the International Space Station as it went by.
Taken on a side road just off Highway #10, about 15 minutes south of my house, at about 1:30 AM.
14 photos, each 25 seconds, 3200 ISO, 11mm, f/2.8. Stitched with Hugin.
96 images in the timelapse above, each one 25 seconds @ 11mm, f/2.8, ISO 3200. The video took almost an hour to shoot, and, at 10 frames per second, lasts about 10 seconds.