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)
I saw this Praying Mantis climbing a weed off my back deck. I initially tried to get some images with the camera & telephoto lens at hand, but the minimum focus distance for the 600 mm f/4 VR lens is ~ 17 feet. I switched to a 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens, with a minimum focus distance of 7 feet. When viewed close up, the Praying Mantis looks deadly. There was a black fly that kept landing on the back of the Praying Mantis. I guess the fly knew where the safe zone is. Ultimately, I think the Praying Mantis got tired of me, and moved further into the shrubs.
Fly Riding a Brown Praying Mantis. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens (ISO 100, 300 mm, f/6.3, 1/200 sec). (David J Mathre)Fly Riding a Brown Praying Mantis. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens (ISO 100, 300 mm, f/6.3, 1/200 sec). (David J Mathre)Brown Praying Mantis. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens (ISO 100, 300 mm, f/6.3, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)Brown Praying Mantis. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens (ISO 100, 300 mm, f/8, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)Brown Praying Mantis. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens (ISO 100, 300 mm, f/8, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)Brown Praying Mantis. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens (ISO 100, 300 mm, f/8, 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)
Doe Portrait Session. When I got home from work, I noticed a couple of young deer in the backyard. I quickly went in and picked up the camera with the 600 mm telephoto lens that I used last night for the moon. I didn’t have time to set up a tripod or find the monopod, so these images are hand-held. One does not hand-hold this lens for very long. I forgot that the TC-E III 20 teleconverter was still on the camera, so 1200 mm.
Doe Portrait Session. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 600 mm f/4 VR lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverer (ISO 1000, 1200 mm, f/8, 1/160 sec). (David J Mathre)Doe Portrait Session. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 600 mm f/4 VR lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverer (ISO 560, 1200 mm, f/8, 1/160 sec). (David J Mathre)
Indoor Crane Fly. A macro image of a Crane Fly. It looks like an over sized mosquito, but does not bite. It has a hard time flying, and its legs seem to be double jointed. This Crane Fly is missing its right front leg. The green compound eyes are interesting. I guess that this one got in while I was trying to do some night sky photography. The sky has actually been clear for two days straight. For this Crane Fly image, I used my Nikon D300 camera since the other camera bodies were outside for the night sky project.
Indoor Crane Fly. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 60 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 200, 60 mm, f/16, 1/60 sec) with SB-900 flash. (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)
