Astro Photography
Photographing the heavens
(updated Mon., Nov. 3,, 2016)
This page focuses on my photographs of the night sky, of astronomical objects.
Astrophotography, definition of:
as·tro·pho·tog·ra·phy noun \ˌas-(ˌ)trō-fə-ˈtä-grə-fē\
Definition of ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY
: photography involving astronomical objects and events
As I mentioned in http://vanvooren.us/Photography/Photography_Interest.html, my initial interest in photography started with a desire to photograph the stars, planets, Halley’s Comet and other object in the night sky.
Initial efforts were not so good - many poor images with blurs or nothing captured.
Fast forward to the mid-2000s and the Kodak Z1275 & Z1285 cameras an things were different. With the ability to set the exposure time to up to 8 seconds, ISO to 800, use a tripod, and to set a timer so I wasn’t touching the camera as it took the picture, images improved dramatically.
There is a link to a good article on how to take good astrophotographs, and I share some of my favorite images, below.
Outdoor Photographer magazine’s November, 2016 cover photo and story is “Under the Stars.”
The issue (I’ll post a link as soon as they make it available) includes several awesome articles, including:
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-“Star Struck,” by Mark Edward Harris / Photography by Shane Black - http://www.shaneblackphoto.com
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-“Shooting Meteor Showers,” Text and Photography by Glenn Randall - http://www.glennrandall.com
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-“Behind the Shot” - “Lost Lake Milky Way” - by Kevin Shearer - http://kdsphotography.smugmug.com
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-“Nikon D500” - astrophotography - Text and Photography by Tony Rowell - http://tonyrowell.com
Thank you to the writers and photographers, and to the OP staff, for this great “Under the Stars” issue!
And, to see some of Shane Black’s time-lapsed videos, please see:
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-“Adventure is Calling” - https://vimeo.com/76820114
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-“Adventure is Calling II” - https://vimeo.com/shaneblack/adventureiscalling2
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-“Inushuks Under The Stars” - https://vimeo.com/54400762
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-“Dancing Lenticular clouds over Mt. Rainier” - https://vimeo.com/171332456
See the November, 2014 issue, ...
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
Landscape Astro Photography
Tips, techniques and gear for exploring the exciting world of creating starry sky scenic photos Article Icon Author
Text & Photography By Adam Woodworth
http://www.outdoorphotographer.com/how-to/shooting/landscape-astro-photography.html#.VVV1SM5hevk
... Adam Woodworth shares some very practical guidance, including
“I'm usually shooting at 25 seconds, ƒ/2.8, using ISO 3200 and a focal length of 14mm. This will give you stars that look close to pinpoints in a large print, but your foreground will be out of focus (and, most likely, underexposed) because you're focused for the stars at ƒ/2.8. For stars with minimal trails, as a rule of thumb, you can divide your focal length into 500 or 400 to get a maximum exposure time. (I prefer dividing into 400 for smaller trails.)”
See also:
Introduction to Landscape Astrophotography
November 27, 2013 by Adam Woodworth
https://luminous-landscape.com/introduction-to-landscape-astrophotography/
As seen on the SmartPhone Camera page, Pro Camera pointed us to a great astrophotography blog worth checking out:
Mike’s favorite astrophotographs:
These are some of my favorite night photographs:
to see any in more detail, just zoom in your browser...
press Ctl - + ... Control and the plus button
February, 2016
ProCamera is made by Cocologics.
ProCamera release 9.3 / v9.3 was released this week, and it included the LUX+ / Low Light Plus in-app purchase. For only $2.99 you get one AMAZING ability to take astrophotographs... something I have longed for since getting our iPhone 6+, and something which CocoLogic, who makes ProCamera has been working on for some time now.
Once you download the app, and select the LUX+ setting, you can make images like these. Before such a photo would have some points of light you could almost see. Now, you get photos with the stars you can see, and others you cannot see!
Thank you, Cocologics!
March, 2016
Jupiter and the Moon, as seen through a blossoming Hawthorn Tree just down the street from our house.
This may well never be seen again, as the moon has already sped past Jupiter; it them being in conjunction (near one another), at the same couple week window when the tree is blossoming is a treat!
March, 2016
Also seen - Jupiter and the moon, as seen through a saucer magnolia at Holy Infant Church.
February, 2016
Johnson’s Shut-ins, just after we got unpacked, the halo appeared around the moon.
The Olloclip Active Lens’s Ultra-Wide Angle lens was needed to capture it in full... enhanced by Low Light Plus (LUX+) mode)
About 45 minutes later, I was able to capture this image of Orion; no extra lens, just the iPhone and Low Light Plus (LUX+) mode.
February, 2016
Orion, the Hunter
~ 11pm
Canis Major / The Big Dog
Holy Infant Church steeple, and Jupiter
Standard Camera mode
Holy Infant Church steeple, and Jupiter
this is just the way my eyes saw it!
LUX+ / Low Light Plus mode
February, 2016
Dryer vent in the cold winter air
July, 2015
Blue Moon, July 2015,
also called STEM Moon at STEM Camp 2015, Beaumont
(BSA / Boys Scouts of America)
November, 2011 -- Morning sunrise, Palm Desert... Abby and Dad waking, still on St. Louis / Central time:
October 9, 2010 -- The moon setting over Page, AZ, just after we crossed the Glen Canyon Dam, en route from Zion National Park (in UT) to Grand Canyon National Park (in AZ):
October 8, 2010 - 5:35am MT -- Orion and Canis Major (the bid dog) - home of Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, and one of the 10 closest to our solar system), in Zion National Park.
October 8, 2010 - 5:30am MT -- The Big Dipper, in Zion National Park.
June, 2010 -- The crescent moon, on the drive home after the Cardinals defeated the Seattle Mariners:
April 1, 2010 -- Venus (upper left) and Mercury (lower right), above Mt. San Jacinto. The light on the mountain is the top of the Palm Springs Aerial Tram (which we rode the day I proposed to Ann Marie... in 1999 ; see also http://vanvooren.us/VV/Palm_Desert_-_Palm_Springs.html).
March 30, 2010 -- The moon setting over Mt. San Jacinto, in the pre-dawn sky of Palm Springs / Palm Desert. We were up this early in order to get to DisneyLand on time.
April, 2008 -- Moonset over San Jacinto.
The week before this trip, we worked on a proposal, to convince a client to have us do some work. The night before we left, at approximately midnight, mere minutes before I was shutting down the laptop to go to bed, ~ 6 hours before we departed on this trip, we received the “congratulations, we picked you for the next round, please complete a more detailed proposal” email. That resulted in me working during our trip. Because I needed to focus, I worked in the bedroom and in the hotel lobby for the first three days and nights of the trip. Looking back, I should have approached this differently... the long hours and lack of sleep made my output suffer.
When we were finally finished with the proposal, I resolved to sleep that night. I had wanted to get up to photograph the full moon at night, but knew I needed the sleep. Abby was just over three years old, and up until she was around two and a half, she had still been waking us regularly at night, but for the previous 6-9 months she had been consistently sleeping through the night.
For the only night on this trip, and for the only time for many many many more months to come, Abby did wake up. She came into our bed, crawled in, and kicked me in the head at 4am local time (PT). Reluctantly, I arose and captured these images... I had less than 15 minutes from Abby’s kick to the moon disappearing behind Mt. San Jacinto. I remain convinced this was one of many “God moments” in our lives and am thankful for it, as these pulled me out of the rut of that proposal and back into vacation mode... and gave me another glimpse of the beauty of God’s Creation.
February, 20 2008 - 9:40pm CT -- Lunar eclipse (moon in earth’s shadow), Regulus, and Saturn
taken by Matt and Dad
These are all of the links to the Astronomy Merit Badge pages:
Astronomy Merit Badge - Extra “Fun Facts”
Astronomy - Great American Eclipse
Astronomy - Great American Eclipse 2017
These are all of the links to the Space Exploration Merit Badge pages:
New Horizons - Mission Overview
New Horizons - Pluto Resources
The images from Mr. Berman’s “Secrets of the Night Sky...” and Outdoor Photographer were scanned directly from the book using the Halo Scanner Mouse - http://shop.halo2cloud.com/collections/computer-and-backup/products/scanner-mouse, which I received as a Christmas present from my mother in 2013.
Regardless your desire to pursue an astronomical career, it is hoped that you learned enough about astronomy through this merit badge to at least be interested to continuously look up at the sky in awe and wonder. If you pursue with enthusiastic interest, that’s great. If you do make a career in the field, GREAT.
May you be better off having completed your Astronomy Merit Badge than you were before you started.
