NikonGear'23

Images => Life, the Universe & Everything Else => Topic started by: ColinM on September 25, 2015, 15:33:52

Title: Once in a Blue Moon
Post by: ColinM on September 25, 2015, 15:33:52
Now my son works in a wine merchants, birthdays have become a bit more interesting:

(http://www.pbase.com/celidh/image/161396719/original.jpg)
Title: Re: Once in a Blue Moon
Post by: ColinM on September 25, 2015, 17:13:47
Oh by the way, he didn't pay for it all (just told me about some promising bin-ends and we used his staff discount).

I don't normally get to try stuff in this price range very often.
We're hoping to try the Bolly tonight ;)
Title: Re: Once in a Blue Moon
Post by: Fons Baerken on September 25, 2015, 17:18:16
lovely holidays ahead :)
Title: Re: Once in a Blue Moon
Post by: ColinM on September 25, 2015, 17:32:37
Quote from: Fons Baerken on September 25, 2015, 17:18:16
lovely holidays ahead :)
Better than that - my birthday on Saturday :)
Title: Re: Once in a Blue Moon
Post by: Jacques Pochoy on September 25, 2015, 17:43:03
Quote from: ColinM on September 25, 2015, 17:32:37
Better than that - my birthday on Saturday :)

Happy Birthday... :-) We'll share a virtual bottle of Champagne... :-)
Title: Re: Once in a Blue Moon
Post by: Gary on September 26, 2015, 01:38:14
Happy Birthday and bon appetit.

(http://www.garyayala.com/Travel/Edna-Valley/i-8k58qWc/1/X2/_GP16309-X2.jpg)

You know Colin, you have a few holes in the wine rack. You gotta fill 'em. (I really want to see the Parisian's wine collection ... probably fills up the entire cellar.)
Title: Re: Once in a Blue Moon
Post by: elsa hoffmann on September 26, 2015, 02:59:09
Colin - clearly you did something right :)
Title: Re: Once in a Blue Moon
Post by: ColinM on September 26, 2015, 05:13:40
Jacques - thanks (hope you enjoyed that as much as I did!)

Gary - cheers (that looks like a potent red you're pouring in there, plenty of "legs" on it as it rises up the glass)

Else - you're too kind. I guess you're talking about the emphasis I put on my parenting priorities and the children's upbringing?!
Title: Re: Once in a Blue Moon
Post by: elsa hoffmann on September 26, 2015, 05:59:39
Quote from: ColinM on September 26, 2015, 05:13:40
I guess you're talking about the emphasis I put on my parenting priorities and the children's upbringing?!

exactly
Title: Re: Once in a Blue Moon
Post by: Frank Fremerey on September 26, 2015, 07:59:28
Happy birthday. I love wine if my health allows to digest it.
Interesting your son is in the business. My take on wine is
to find a good one buy lots of it and stay with the kind for
quite a while. Other friends like to open three different bottles
on one evening wich is not always a good idea.
Title: Re: Once in a Blue Moon
Post by: ColinM on September 26, 2015, 16:14:48
Thanks Frank.

I have been fortunate not to suffer from hangovers when I was younger. Nowadays I am more aware of the after-effects so don't drink that much.

For me the biggest danger is that a glass or two of something nice often makes me feel like eating. And by that stage I have the willpower of a tiny gnat, so it can be fatal for my waistline :(
Title: Re: Once in a Blue Moon
Post by: Gary on September 27, 2015, 19:54:36
Frank, variety is the spice of life. I am always sampling new stuff. There are wines that I repeat ... but in my wine storage, the new stuff is in greater abundance than the repeats.

(Whenever I see this title I think of beer not vino.)
Title: Re: Once in a Blue Moon
Post by: ColinM on September 27, 2015, 22:38:34
And tonight in Europe, it's not a Blue moon, but the super/eclipsed moon we've got to look forward to.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-34375868

Sat outside in front of a fire as the moon came up an illuminated the whole garden. No fine wine tonight, just a glass or two of home made mead (made with the finest Welsh honey).

Sadly we have to wait till 1 or 2am till the eclipse fully kicks in. I'm relying on some of you more organised people to get some pictures of this.
Title: Re: Once in a Blue Moon
Post by: elsa hoffmann on September 27, 2015, 22:51:32
well I am getting up at 3:45 to see the blood moon. And a nice young man offered to play body guard.
friggen pressure now to actually get a photo....  ::)
Title: Re: Once in a Blue Moon
Post by: ColinM on September 28, 2015, 09:37:19
Quote from: elsa hoffmann on September 27, 2015, 22:51:32
well I am getting up at 3:45 to see the blood moon. And a nice young man offered to play body guard.
friggen pressure now to actually get a photo....  ::)

Ahh, you didn't tell us you were too distracted to take the photo Elsa..... ;)
Title: Re: Once in a Blue Moon
Post by: ColinM on September 28, 2015, 09:41:11
Well I guess that planning & practice are the secret ingredients for a successful moonshot.

I did neither - in fact I hadn't planned to get up for it (I got "persuaded"). As others may have reported, the light levels got so low that achieving any sort of reliable focus was a lottery. In retrospect, maybe I should have tried to focus on the stars as I think they were brighter.

Plus the small amount of "play" between my 300mm, TC14 and D300 that doesn't normally affect daytime shots became apparent when shooting exposures of 2-10 seconds.
There: excuses over:

(http://www.pbase.com/celidh/image/161428519/original.jpg)
Title: Re: Once in a Blue Moon
Post by: ColinM on September 28, 2015, 09:42:34
Actually a set of transition shots would have been far more interesting, as there was a bright crescent on one side as the eclipse built.

Sadly this had disappeared by the time I worked out the setup I needed. And it was already 03:45am on a work day, so waiting for the process to repeat on the second side wasn't very appealing.