Early Early Morning Star Trails. With the continuing clear skies, I set up two cameras to record star trails early this morning. I started at 3:00 AM after the moon set. I was still worried about condensation on the lens. I pointed a Nikon D3 camera with a 16 mm f/2.8 fish-eye lens north, and a Nikon D3x camera with a 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens at 14 mm pointed south. I used some gaffer tape to prevent the focal length lens creep on the 14-24 mm lens that ruined a previous star trails session. The Nikon D3 camera stopped recording after 2 hours. After the fact, I realized that I used a EN-EL4 rather than the higher capacity EN-EL4A battery. The D3x camera with a EN-EL4A battery ran until I went out to get the cameras at sunrise. Unfortunately, condensation on the lens started distorting images after about 5 AM. Both the North and South facing Star Trails ended up about 60 images (2 hours). The really bright trail in both the Northern and Southern view is Jupiter.
North View Star Trails. Autumn Early Morning in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 16 mm f/2.8 mm Fisheye lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/4, 1 min 59 sec). Composite of 56 images combined using the Startrails program. (David J Mathre)South View Star Trails. Autumn Early Morning in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 14-24 mm f/2.8 mm lens (ISO 100, 14 mm, f/4, 1 min 59 sec). Composite of 60 images combined using the Startrails program. (David J Mathre)
With a clear sky, and bright waxing gibbous moon I experimented ways to acquire sharp images of the moon through a 600 mm f/4 VR telephoto lens. The lens is mounted on a tripod with a Wimberley gimble tripod head. VR is turned off, and the camera set for “mirror up” mode. I used a remote release, and let the system stabilize for 30 seconds (time-out for mirror up) before the shutter would be triggered. The first five images are #1 (f/16, 1/50 sec); #2 (f/11, 1/100 sec); #3 (f/8, 1/200 sec); #4 (f/5.6, 1/400 sec); and #5 (f/4, 1/800 sec). I think the best was #4 (f/5.6, 1/400 sec), although all were pretty good. The next two images used a TC-E III 20 teleconverter for an effective focal length of 1200 mm #6 (f/16, 1/50 sec); #7 (f/11, 1/100 sec). Here I think #7 (f/11, 1/100 sec) is best. With the additional magnification, a faster shutter speed is needed to counteract the motion of the moon.
I also made several DSLR videos of the moon, since I was using my Nikon D3s camera body. When I reviewed the videos, I saw that I had captured at least two satellite transits in front of the moon. These transits are less than 1 second long. Subject for another post.
Waxing Gibbous Moon (75%). Image taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens. (ISO 200, 600 mm, f/16, 1/50 sec). (David J Mathre)Waxing Gibbous Moon (75%). Image taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens. (ISO 200, 600 mm, f/11, 1/100 sec). (David J Mathre)Waxing Gibbous Moon (75%). Image taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens. (ISO 200, 600 mm, f/8, 1/200 sec). (David J Mathre)Waxing Gibbous Moon (75%). Image taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens. (ISO 200, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec). (David J Mathre)Waxing Gibbous Moon (75%). Image taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens. (ISO 200, 600 mm, f/4, 1/800 sec). (David J Mathre)Waxing Gibbous Moon (75%). Image taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter. (ISO 200, 1200 mm, f/16, 1/50 sec). (David J Mathre)Waxing Gibbous Moon (75%). Image taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter. (ISO 200, 1200 mm, f/11, 1/100 sec). (David J Mathre)
Gone to See California: Point Reyes National Seashore.
I drove out to Point Reyes National Seashore to photograph the Lighthouse. I’ve tried to photograph this lighthouse on several previous occasions, but it was always shrouded in fog. I got there early in the morning, and this time it was very clear. In one image, the moon is above the lighthouse. Remembering my mentor Winston Hall telling us to always look behind you for a better picture, I turned around and saw this buck on a ridge in the early morning sunlight.
Moon over Point Reyes Lighthouse. Point Reyes National Seashore. Image taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 24 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/11, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)Morning Light at Point Reyes Lighthouse. Point Reyes National Seashore. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 180 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 180 mm, f/4, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)Early Morning Buck on a Ridge at Point Reyes National Seashore. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 180 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 180 mm, f/2.8, 1/800 sec). (David J Mathre)
When the conditions are right, you can see the Milky Way in New Jersey. Two views, a 5 minute and 15 minute exposure.
Summer Night in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 16 mm f/2.8 mm Fisheye lens (ISO 400, 16 mm, f/2.8, 300 sec). (David J Mathre)Summer Night in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 16 mm f/2.8 mm Fisheye lens (ISO 400, 16 mm, f/2.8, 900 sec). (David J Mathre)
I am back in New Jersey after a short trip to San Francisco. I hate flying and this trip was bad. I spent 4 hours in the plane before taking off in Philadelphia (we did get back to the gate for a short stop to avoid the 3 hour federal regulation rules). Ultimately it took 12 hours from the time I left my office to get to the hotel in San Francisco. I hate flying, and would rather drive. For the return flight, the airline decided there were too many empty seats and substituted a smaller plane (and bumped 20+ passengers). ARRG! I just wanted to get home, and was not interested in a $400 future credit. Ultimately I got a seat on the original flight. It was a middle seat, and I had to force the armrest down to separate me from the over sized person next to me oozing into my seat. I hate flying. I hate flying. I hate flying.
Star Trails. Following Hurricane Irene, we had a couple of days and nights with very clear skies. You could even see the Milky Way (although a lot dimmer than in locations with less light pollution). I set up a Nikon D3s camera with a 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens to do star trails last night. The settings on the camera were manual (ISO 400, 16 mm, f/4, bulb). The exposure time was controlled with a MC-36 itervelometer (delay 5 sec, long 59 sec, interval 1 sec, N —). In camera long exposure noise reduction was turned off. The 1 second interval is required to allow the data to get transferred from the camera to the card, and effectively have one image taken every 60 seconds (1 minute). The MC-36 is required for exposures longer than 30 seconds. After the images were transferred to the computer, the RAW images were processed with Lightroom, and converted to JPG. The JPG images were then processed using Startrails.exe program to make composites. The following images show a single exposure, then startrail composites of 2 minutes, 5 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 60 minutes, 120 minutes, and 300 minutes. Some high level clouds came in for the 300 minute (5 hour) image.
North View Star Trails. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 16 mm f/2.8 mm Fisheye lens (ISO 400, 16 mm, f/4, 59 sec). Single image before using the Startrails program. (David J Mathre)North View Star Trails. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 16 mm f/2.8 mm Fisheye lens (ISO 400, 16 mm, f/4, 59 sec). Composite of 2 images combined using the Startrails program. (David J Mathre)North View Star Trails. Image taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 16 mm f/2.8 mm Fisheye lens (ISO 400, 16 mm, f/4, 59 sec). Composite of 5 images combined using the Startrails program. (David J Mathre)North View Star Trails. Image taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 16 mm f/2.8 mm Fisheye lens (ISO 400, 16 mm, f/4, 59 sec). Composite of 15 images combined using the Startrails program. (David J Mathre)North View Star Trails. Image taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 16 mm f/2.8 mm Fisheye lens (ISO 400, 16 mm, f/4, 59 sec). Composite of 30 images combined using the Startrails program. (David J Mathre)North View Star Trails. Image taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 16 mm f/2.8 mm Fisheye lens (ISO 400, 16 mm, f/4, 59 sec). Composite of 60 images combined using the Startrails program. (David J Mathre)North View Star Trails. Image taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 16 mm f/2.8 mm Fisheye lens (ISO 400, 16 mm, f/4, 59 sec). Composite of 120 images combined using the Startrails program. (David J Mathre)North View Star Trails. Image taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 16 mm f/2.8 mm Fisheye lens (ISO 400, 16 mm, f/4, 59 sec). Composite of 300 images combined using the Startrails program. (David J Mathre)
