Operation PAN-STARRS

I was just rummaging around in the blog and found this unpublished post from last year. 


Mission Control, we have success!

We've been chasing the comet all month. Last night, we pulled into a parking area next to a local business spotted the comet, snapped a couple of pics and it disappeared into the growing haze at the horizon.

Jupiter also had  a close encounter with the moon last night.

It got closer to the moon around midnight, It became a trio: Jupiter, moon and Aldebaran. 

As excited as the kids were for the comet and the moon, the CSX train was far more interesting, loud, big and moving!

Super Moon

I got the chance to get out and shoot the Super moon. It looked like it was going to be a bust, but the skies cleared just in time and I was able to get some great images.

I think the clouds may have made a more interesting image though. Here's the moon breaking free and looking little like a Batman symbol.

The best image of all is the moon peeking through above the Hourigan's Dairy Farm in Elbridge.

Lights on the Lake - Walking Edition

What can do you at Onondaga County Parks? Everything! 24mm 1/30 ISO1600(-1.0EXP) hand held

The two nights before Lights on the Lake opened, it's really open for walking. The first night is for walkers and the second night is for the dogs. We went on the second night, it was raining the night before. I've got hundreds of pictures of the light displays, but bring the camera along anyway.

Wonder! 26mm 1/40 ISO 1600(-1.0EXP) hand held

Now I find myself capturing images of what the kids see. Wonder and amazement at the light, right there where she can inspect it up close. Good luck finding a bulb like this at my house, we use CFL's. She's my engineer, so I would imagine that she was trying to figure out how it worked.
She was real impressed with the blue lights.

The Blue Lagoon 24mm 1/20 ISO 1600(-2.3EXP) hand held

You'll notice the pictures were all taken at ISO1600 and -X EXP compensation. With the Nikon D50, that's effectively increasing your ISO, ISO 1600 at -2.0 becomes ISO 3200. It's a little bit of a cheat, but it works when you've got to get the shot in the dark.

Blue Jazz

We went for a walk last night, well after dark, so the girls took their flashlights along. One green and one blue, the blue had the glowing baton part turned on and was operated by a 2 year old who just wanted to move it around. Hold the shutter open and walk down the sidewalk.

The Waxing Moon

The moon was little more than a sliver tonight. Beautiful, silver and stepping quickly to the west, ever chasing the sun. I had originally gone out to shoot pictures of Jupiter, but it was hiding behind a tree. The moon was off to the southwest and no trees obstructed the view. For the technical diehards, shot the moon from a tripod with Nikon D50 105mm f/5.6 1/250. I did crop and double the size of the moon in post production. I hope that doesn't throw any tides off tonight.

Syracuse Astronomical Society Public Viewing

We had a blast at the SAS last night. We saw a comet, Jupiter and 3 moons and a nebula. I did take along a camera with a 11-18mm lens to capture a wide swath of the night sky.

That's the Milky Way running vertically through the center. This is nearly overhead with a slight tip to the east. For you photo junkies out there, this is ISO 1250 F/4.5 11mm manual focus to infinity.

Here's another shot of the Milky Way looking east off the horizon.

Red light is easier on your night vision, so they have red lights inside their observatory building. There's one more public viewing next month, weather permitting. You can find out more about this little slice of amazing on their website. These are best seen in original size on black in a darkened room.

Christmas in Small Town Americana

In my home town there are many old houses and folks just dress them up with lights for Christmas. Here they are in their holiday beauty.

We don't even need Macys, we have our own beautiful windows that change with the seasons.

There are many more beautiful Christmas lights to see in our little slice of Americana. Check out the Flickr gallery here.