Category: Skyscape

Views of the sky. Sunrise, sunset, clouds, and weather

Tuesday (12-July-2011) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Night Sky over New Jersey.

Jet Transiting the Waxing Gibbous Moon. I am still having issues with the video mode automatic gain “feature” with the Nikon D3s. In doors with normal light levels it doesn’t seem to be that much of a problem. However, when trying to take video images of the moon through a telephoto lens, the moon is over-exposed. During the testing, I managed to catch a jet transiting in front of the moon. I happened very quickly (less than one second). The video below shows the transit  across the lower part of the moon 1) as is; 2) zoomed in from 100% to 250%; and 3) zoomed in at 250% and slowed down to 33% speed. There was also some cloud cover moving during the sequence.

[Insert Video Here]

I also took some still images of the moon with the same camera and lens, but with a TC-E III 20 teleconverter. The goal was to see how sharp an image of the moon I could get with a 1200 mm lens. Focusing was through “Live View”, and to minimize camera shake used the “mirror up” mode to allow the system to stabilize. The D3s allows the use of “Live View” and “mirror up” because “Live View” is now selected via a button on the back of the camera. You don’t have the ability to use “Live View” and “mirror up”. The first still image of the waxing gibbous moon at 92% illumination was taken at ISO 200, f/8, and 1/200 second. The second at ISO 200, f/16, and 1/50 second. If I did my calculations right for a 1200 mm lens on a FX sized sensor, the moon should only move ~0.2 pixels for a 1/50 second exposure.

Waxing Gibbous Moon (92%). Summer Night in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 600 mm f/4 VR lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 1200 mm, f/8, 1/200 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, and Photoshop CS5 (David J Mathre)
Waxing Gibbous Moon (92%). Summer Night in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 1200 mm, f/8, 1/200 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, and Photoshop CS5
Waxing Gibbous Moon (85%). Summer Night in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 600 mm f/4 VR lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 1200 mm, f/16, 1/50 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5 (David J Mathre)
Waxing Gibbous Moon (85%). Summer Night in New Jersey. 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). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5

Monday (11-July-2011) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Night Sky in New Jersey. Star, Jet, and Firefly Trails.

A composite of 897 images looking south taken after midnight. I used the Startrails program for creating the  composite.

Star, Jet, and Firefly Trails. Summer Night in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 14 mm f/2.8D lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/4, 8 sec). Composite of 980 images combined using the Startrails program. (David J Mathre)
Star, Jet, and Firefly Trails. Summer Night in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 14 mm f/2.8D lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/4, 8 sec). Composite of 980 images combined using the Startrails program.

Second day attempts for a DSLR video of the moon continued to be problematic. It appears that the camera is controlling the exposure and not allowing manual selection of aperture, shutter speed, or ISO. The only way I could get an exposure that was not way over exposed was to add a TC-E III 20 teleconverter (effective 1000 mm).

To confirm that there was not a problem with the camera or lens I took this following single image of the waxing gibbous moon with the same setup (Nikon D3s and 500 mm f/4 VR lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 800, 1000 mm, f/8, 1/200 sec))

Waxing Gibbous Moon (85%). Summer Night in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 500 mm f/4 VR lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 800, 1000 mm, f/8, 1/200 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5 (David J Mathre)
Waxing Gibbous Moon (85%). Summer Night in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 500 mm f/4 VR lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 800, 1000 mm, f/8, 1/200 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define 2, and Photoshop CS5

Sunday (10-July-2011) — New Jersey

Summer Backyard Nighttime Sky in New Jersey. Star, Moon, Jet, and Firefly Trails.

A composite of 980 images looking south taken before midnight. I used the Startrails program for creating the  composite.

I had actually gone out to see what type of video I could take of the moon using the D3s camera and a telephoto lens. The moon phase (according to the US Naval Observatory site) is waxing gibbous (76% illuminated). I started by shooting some single images and found that ISO 200, 500 mm, f/8, 1/50 second should be about right. Even though I had the camera set to shoot in manual mode, all of the images of the moon were way over exposed. It didn’t appear that I had manual control while taking the video. I made sure that the ISO setting was fixed (not Auto), that Active D-Lighting was off, and that the white balance was fixed (4000 K). I need to try this again!

Star, Moon, Jet, and Firefly Trails. Summer Night in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 14 mm f/2.8D lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/4, 8 sec). Composite of 980 images combined using the Startrails program. (David J Mathre)
Star, Moon, Jet, and Firefly Trails. Summer Night in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D3x and 14 mm f/2.8D lens (ISO 200, 14 mm, f/4, 8 sec). Composite of 980 images combined using the Startrails program.

Four-Years Ago (04-July-2007) — Colorado

Summer in Colorado. Railroad to Pikes Peak.

Four years ago on a lark I drove from Boulder to Colorado Springs and then to Manitou Springs to take the Cog Wheeled Railroad to the summit of Pikes Peak. Little did I know that you needed reservations for the cog rail trip to Pikes Peak, and that all trips were sold out for the day. I was very lucky that someone in line before me was unhappy that their party was not all sitting together and turned in their tickets. Once I got on board the train, I realized that I won the lottery since my ticket was for the front seat. This allowed me to set up a tripod and camera to capture images for a time-lapse video for the train ride. So as not to annoy the other passengers on the train I used a small Gitzo travel tripod, my smallest camera body, and a small lens. Going up the mountain I used a 18-200 mm lens at 18 mm. Going down the mountain my seat was now in the rear of the train looking back. For this I used a 10.5 mm fisheye lens. This was a case of being in the right place at the right time!!!

Steam Engine at Pikes Peak Cog Railroad. Image taken with a Nikon D200 and 10.5 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 100, 10.5 mm, f/5.6, 1/250 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, Topaz Define, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Steam Engine at Pikes Peak Cog Railroad. Image taken with a Nikon D200 and 10.5 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 100, 10.5 mm, f/5.6, 1/250 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, Topaz Define, and Photoshop CS5.

Four Years Ago (30-June-2007) — Colorado

Summer in Colorado: Rocky Mountain National Park.

Four years ago I drove the recently opened Trail Ridge Road to the pass. At that time I took 5 vertical images with a Nikon D200 and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens to be combined into a panorama. At that time the software to combine images for a composite panorama image were just starting to be available (including manually moving layers in Photoshop CS3), and don’t have the capabilities of the programs available today. The first panorama is the composite of 5 raw images using Auto Pano Giga 2.5. The second panorama used Auto Pano Giga with the Neutralhazer plugin (to reduce the effect of long distance haze). The folks from Kolor that created the dehazer claim that the program reduces the effect of light traveling through long distances of air. The third panorama adds the Topaz Detail (Color Jump) filter to the above. Let me know what you think about the three versions.

Rocky Mountain National Park Panorama on Trail Ridge Road. Images taken with a Nikon D200 and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 100, 105 mm, f/11, 1/160 sec). Composite of five images using Auto Pano Giga 2.5. Additional processing with Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Rocky Mountain National Park Panorama on Trail Ridge Road. Images taken with a Nikon D200 and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 100, 105 mm, f/11, 1/160 sec). Composite of five images using Auto Pano Giga 2.5. Additional processing with Photoshop CS5.
Rocky Mountain National Park Panorama on Trail Ridge Road. Images taken with a Nikon D200 and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 100, 105 mm, f/11, 1/160 sec). Composite of five images using Auto Pano Giga 2.5 and the DeHaze Plugin. Additional processing with Focus Magic, Nik Define, and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Rocky Mountain National Park Panorama on Trail Ridge Road. Images taken with a Nikon D200 and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 100, 105 mm, f/11, 1/160 sec). Composite of five images using Auto Pano Giga 2.5 and the DeHaze Plugin. Additional processing with Focus Magic, Nik Define, and Photoshop CS5.
Rocky Mountain National Park Panorama on Trail Ridge Road. Images taken with a Nikon D200 and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 100, 105 mm, f/11, 1/160 sec). Composite of five images using Auto Pano Giga 2.5 and the DeHaze Plugin. Additional processing with Focus Magic, Nik Define, Topaz Detail (Color Jump), and Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Rocky Mountain National Park Panorama on Trail Ridge Road. Images taken with a Nikon D200 and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 100, 105 mm, f/11, 1/160 sec). Composite of five images using Auto Pano Giga 2.5 and the DeHaze Plugin. Additional processing with Focus Magic, Nik Define, Topaz Detail (Color Jump), and Photoshop CS5.