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Showing results for tags 'photography'.
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With so many awesome pictures posted in our forum from the storms this week, I wanted to get a thread going to share here.
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Here's a blue-hour blend photo from a lookout tower along the Blue Ridge Parkway (North Carolina, October 2019). Using a planning app (PhotoPills), I was able to determine that the Milky Way would align with my position along a colorful ridge line after dark. I took a series of blue hour photos to capture the foreground while it was still dimly lit by the fading twilight. I combined the data of these photos into one image that could pull out the color detail of the foreground landscape. When dark fell, I took a series of long exposures and combined their data in a program called Sequator. I brought the detail of the Milky Way out of the background using Photoshop, then I blended the foreground data with the night sky data for a composite. I used a Sony A7RIII camera body and a Sigma 14-24 f/2.8 lens, but you can get similar results with much cheaper setups. It's all in the processing. When I say "combining data," I'm talking about stacking, a process that aligns several images and averages out the data so that what stays behind is only the pixels that stay the same through the sequence. This eliminates transient objects, like hot pixels and thermal noise - the reason so many low-light photos look so grainy. The weather conditions were cool and clear, so clear that you can actually see a little airglow in the photo.
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Comet NEOWISE has over-achieved its morning show the last 10-14 days. Yes all caps is the acronym of the NASA program which found it. Comet switches to the evening sky this week. Like the morning show, the evening encore this week is low in the sky and in some twilight. However, the weekend and/or next week could be a grand finale higher in the sky. Comet will come closest to Earth July 23; it's already swung around the sun without breaking up. Wow, good news is actually possible in 2020! It's unlikely to fall apart now; but, it gassing and dust will gradually slow down as it gets farther away from the sun. However it will be getting closer to Earth; so, apparent brightness should be maintained. Plus it'll get above twilight by the weekend into early next week, making it even easier to view. Those could be great viewing days! I remember the Halley meh in the mid-1980s, but they knew it was not going to be great. Then the late 1990s brought Hyakutake and Hale-Bopp, two comet gems! Comet NEOWISE should be somewhere in between. A surprise outgassing could get closer to Hyakutake, but I can't see a Hale-Bopp miracle. At any rate I think NEOWISE deserves a thread! Started the thread here since I don't find one in main Weather Disco. We can talk night sky forecasts. I may take a shot in the exburbs with binoculars tonight Wednesday, because the sky is so clear. Thu/Fri might be scattered t-shower debris. Weekend looks solid. Likely will go all out to a rural location with binoculars and maybe scope. Then maybe a few more times next week. Make it cout!
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Actually, this is more of a test image. Just checking out the system, timing, ease of use, etc.© Stormitecture, Jason Foster
