A Night at the Winter Star Party
While at the Winter Star Party in February, I imaged with multiple cameras through the night. The primary camera was on the telescope with a secondary wide angle camera on the G11 mount and a third camera for night landscape from a tripod. One of the techniques I wanted to experiment with was a time-lapse of our imaging area with a star field for the entire night. My first results of this can be found on my Vimeo page linked below. A higher quality video is available for download from the Vimeo webpage for Vimeo members. Registration is simple and takes only a few seconds.
I really hope to explore this technique more fully over the coming months and to incorporate the results in a more comprehensive artistic output. I hope you enjoy the video and there is more information on the Vimeo webpage. I am also experimenting with the video capabilities of the 5D Mark II and will update the blog with results from that soon. Thanks and take care...
The Globular Cluster of Stars
What contains over 5 million solar masses, has about the same mass of the smallest whole galaxies, and is the second brightest globular cluster in the local group of galaxies? The globular cluster known as Omega Centauri or NGC 5139 is the answer. This image was captured along the beaches of the Florida Keys during the Winter Star Party in February. (Please click on the image for a larger presentation.)
The image was taken with a relatively short focal length telescope at 400mm. This view is very close to approximating the view through a nice pair of astronomical binoculars. That is my favorite way to view this object as the sparkling cluster shimmers against a backdrop of dark space. For more information on the object please see
http://messier.obspm.fr/xtra/ngc/n5139.html.
The image information is: captured with a modified Canon 450D, 11 frames of 3.5 minutes each at ISO 1600 on a TMB 92mm telescope at f5. The mount used was an Astro-Physics 400GOTO. All processing in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. Please contact me if you have any further questions and I hope you enjoy the image.
If you are ever at a southern location in northern hemisphere winter, please do yourself a favor and gaze through a pair of binoculars at this heavenly site.
Horsehead Nebula from Winter Star Party 2009
Hello again,
I have completely changed the way I am processing astrophotos. I am no longer utilizing frame calibrations such as dark frame subtraction, flat fields, and bias frame subtraction. The reason? I felt that the images were pretty clean to begin with and that the camera manufacturers and Adobe LightRoom had better RAW image processing algorithms than any independent software manufacturer. I also know Adobe Light Room and Photoshop intimately and I am in control of the entire image processing chain at every step. So my first effort with this new approach is the Horsehead Nebula region in Orion taken at the Winter Star Party in February 2009 (please click on the image for a larger version.} The image is a composite of 5 frames at ISO 800 and 15 frames at ISO 1600 at 7 minutes and 3.5 minutes, respectively. The scope used was a Tom Back 92mm at approximately 400mm focal length and f5. The camera is a modified Canon 450D. I hope you enjoy the image. I will be posting more on my new processing as I work through other images from the trip. Take care and drop me a line.
Hello Again!
Hello to all and I hope you have had a wonderful winter and spring. I just wanted to touch base with you and let you know that I am producing new work and will be presenting work in many different formats. For instance, you can now join me on Facebook to see what's new. Now Facebook will include a mix of personal and business, but it is a great place to interact and a great way to stay in touch. Please join me on Facebook today.
P.S. I hope to begin sharing with you new ideas and resources on producing multimedia content featuring HD video. Please stay tuned and drop me a note.
Bryce Canyon
There are images and compositions that bug you until you finally decide to develop them for presentation. This image is one of those that has haunted me for the past year. It is also representative of where my photographic style is going. I will have more on my next photographic project, but for now, this is one of my favorite images from a hike within Bryce Canyon taken last November. I hope you enjoy it.
Jeff's Blog
Join me on photography journeys from desert landscapes to deep sky wonders.
