NikonGear'23
Images => Nature, Flora, Fauna & Landscapes => Topic started by: Seapy on November 17, 2018, 20:45:29
-
Leonids peak morning is on 18th.
Leonid meteor shower is expected to be at its best in the predawn hours on Sunday, November 18, 2018 long after the moon has set.
Planning an overnight vigil on the shores of Coniston Water. D3 and D300S in the hopes of an eventful night, good weather is forecast.
-
Keep fingers crossed for clear skies :D
-
Keep fingers crossed for clear skies :D
Or course that would mean that whatever is out there would also have a clear view of us! :-\
-
It does not look good here according to the Weather Service and the excellent Canadian Astrospheric App.
I have seen about one rather intense meteor/fireball per evening of tracking here lately, actually quite impressive, but nothing recorded on camera. I am not sure of their origin.
-
It is daytime here and cloudy. :o :'( :o :'(
Hope you would share some results, Robert!
-
Well I just
walked staggered in. Need to unload the cards, has been a busy night.
On our way out to the proposed location we encountered a strange man wearing a white tight fitting shirt and black tights, walking along the central white line of a very busy main road, death wish or what? Am about to check out the dash-cam to see if I got any video of him...
Will check back in when I have been through the images and video. Oh, also got the sunrise.
-
Well it was a lovely, if cool night, barely a cloud in the sky and no mist.
Having caught up with some sleep I have had a look at the images from the D3 and processed a couple, the first one from Coniston Water, taken by the Bluebird Café on the shore, view to the South. This one of the very few with a meteor, a very strange one, I don't understand the bright blob along the streak unless it collided with something?
The lights to the left are Brantwood, John Ruskin's home. http://www.brantwood.org.uk/about-brantwood/
The water very close in to the shore was mirror smooth, with a very slight swell, which distorted the reflections of the stars slightly. Taken at 05:04 Hrs GMT.
D3, Nikkor Fisheye 16mm f/2.8, 20 seconds @ f/2.8, ISO3200 40% de-fished in Lightroom.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4889/45214898664_98c36d207e_o.jpg)
The second image taken on the Leven and Crake estuary (The River Leven drains Lake Windermere and the Crake drains Coniston Water.) just after dawn, 08:00 hrs GMT. An HDR image from 7 frames.
D3, Nikkor 20mm f/2.8D 1/1600 second @ f/8 ISO200
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4839/45939063741_08cb101e02_o.jpg)
As for the strange line walker, I found his picture on my dash-cam...
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4827/45939707281_2da57ab902_o.jpg)
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4839/45027316625_7ae522df8e_o.jpg)
-
Amazing night shot, Robert!
-
Robert, thank you for sharing marvellous images!
In the image #1, you seem to have captured a so-called "fireball"? Really nice!
-
Thank you Jakov and Akira, It was a good night, very enjoyable. I have many more but not sufficiently 'different' to warrant posting I don't think... I just set the intervalometer and hope!
Mind you, I haven't looked at the D300S images yet.
I am varying my technique a little, not pushing beyond ISO 3200 in camera and keeping the exposure time down to 20 seconds max, I seem to be getting more keepers that way and the files still have enough room to push them in pp.
-
Really great night shot Robert! It must have been beautiful being out there! Would you mind posting a 100% crop of the area around the meteor? How did the frame afterwords look - any signs of smoke trails when zooming in to the frames?
Some holes in the clouds happened to open up here, so I had the D7100 out for 1 3/4 hour with 28mm AIS at f/3.2, 10 sec exposures at ISO 1600 due to the light pollution. However a couple of scans though the 400 frames showed no meteors caught on camera, and none were seen while out setting up and checking. As our time zone is 9 hours behind may be we were beyond the peak.
-
Beautiful night scene! Very nicely post processing ;)
-
Not just beautiful, it is breathtaking!
-
Really great night shot Robert! It must have been beautiful being out there! Would you mind posting a 100% crop of the area around the meteor? How did the frame afterwords look - any signs of smoke trails when zooming in to the frames?
OK Øivind, many thanks for the kind words, you have opened a can of worms I wasn't expecting...
Firstly using artistic licence... That meteor was not captured at that time, or location. It was captured later the same morning in the estuary set.
However, since you asked me to show the immediately succeeding frames I took a careful look and was somewhat amazed to find the same meteor seems to continue to be visible over 9 frames. The intervalometer was I think set with a five second interval between exposures and the exposures were for 15 seconds, The time of the first exposure file is 07:10:28, the final file timestamp is 07:13:08. By my calculations an elapsed time of 2 minutes 40 seconds.
Could this have been an 'Earth grazer? I haven't yet layered the exposures but they *seem* to be aligned, they definitely look that way. I will layer them in Ps and check the alignment. Given the scarcity of meteors Saturday night I can't see them all being different meteors following the same path.
I will post images a little later once I have had chance to prepare them.
For now the first true image in the set.
D3 + Nikkor 20mm f/2.8, 15 seconds @ f/4.0 ISO 3200
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4896/31018965047_fab33ab599_o.jpg)
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4830/31018965757_d805935052_o.jpg)
-
Beautiful night scene! Very nicely post processing ;)
Thank you Erik, as usual these jaunts don't always take me where I expect!
Not just beautiful, it is breathtaking!
Thank you for the kind words Ian, a more skilled photographer would probably been able to capture even more beauty than I did, there were Swans , Ducks and Geese swimming around but exposing for them too was too much for me...
-
OK Øivind, many thanks for the kind words, you have opened a can of worms I wasn't expecting...
Firstly using artistic licence... That meteor was not captured at that time, or location. It was captured later the same morning in the estuary set.
However, since you asked me to show the immediately succeeding frames I took a careful look and was somewhat amazed to find the same meteor seems to continue to be visible over 9 frames. The intervalometer was I think set with a five second interval between exposures and the exposures were for 15 seconds, The time of the first exposure file is 07:10:28, the final file timestamp is 07:13:08. By my calculations an elapsed time of 2 minutes 40 seconds.
Could this have been an 'Earth grazer? I haven't yet layered the exposures but they *seem* to be aligned, they definitely look that way. I will layer them in Ps and check the alignment. Given the scarcity of meteors Saturday night I can't see them all being different meteors following the same path.
I will post images a little later once I have had chance to prepare them.
For now the first true image in the set.
D3 + Nikkor 20mm f/2.8, 15 seconds @ f/4.0 ISO 3200
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4896/31018965047_fab33ab599_o.jpg)
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4830/31018965757_d805935052_o.jpg)
Thanks for responding to my request Robert. I did not expect the artistic part ;D actually the original capture is pretty nice too.
What I find a little suspicious is that the 100 % crop shows a white color on the meteor. Most images I have seen shows a green or a whole spectrum of colors. While the most intense part of it could be blown out, the weaker part should perhaps have some color. The appearance over multiple frames also is a bit suspicious. If the bright part was an explosion, it should not be able to reappear on the next frame? But I am by no means an expert, in fact I have never been lucky to capture a meteor on camera myself. I have a vague recollection that there are some man made space objects that have a slow rotation that can cause similar effects. Perhaps posting it in an astronomy related forum could provide some answers.
-
This evening I have layered all nine images (as exposed) in Ps, I have revealed the trail in each layer as the meteor progressed across the sky.
The visibility of the trail varies as it crosses the sky, perhaps due to atmospheric influences.
The screen interval of each trail shortens with each successive exposure, as one might expect, given the meteor is travelling away, apparently in an ark and perhaps slowing down.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4820/45062497995_a2f0ff8d53_o.jpg)
The timing of each exposure is explained in a previous post.
Øivind, do you know of an astro website where I might get a friendly and helpful reception?
Having seen the layered image it seems it's either a man made device or perhaps an 'Earth Grazer' which I think I remember reading, appear to travel slowly across the sky.
-
Isn't it an Iridium flare?
https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Iridium+Flare&FORM=RESTAB
-
Thank you Bruno, certainly looks that way.
Will read up on the phenomenon.
I didn't see the event, set the camera up and went to sit in the car.
-
I'm quite sure it's that. You've been very lucky to record it. Iridium fans do plan months in advance to be at the right place, right moment, with the right weather, to open the shutter at the right moment to record the flare in the few seconds the shutter is open to get the exposure right. Some will scream in despair that you just showed up and got it :)
-
Yep, have read up on them and it's the Suns reflection in the solar panels of an Iridium satellite. They are being phased out and replaced by a non flaring type of satellite.
I made over 1500 exposures with the D3 that night, 15 (or 20) second exposure multiplied by 1500, must be quite a long time, chance to catch almost anything! I haven't even looked at the D300S files yet. Who know what secrets they contain?
-
Øivind, do you know of an astro website where I might get a friendly and helpful reception?
Great effort catching that iridium flare! Seems you got your answer, but to respond to the question I actually find that the DPreview Astrophotography forum to be quite friendly, with low noise level compared to some other fora on that site. There are some very knowledgeable members there to learn from. (There is also the Cloudy Nights site, I just monitor the camera forum there passively from time to time. It seems to me to be somewhat more oriented towards use of telescopes rather than camera lenses.)
-
Photography touches on so many other aspects of life, one of the things I like about it. To learn and discover things like an Iridium flare, by simply setting up my camera in a car park by the estuary, waiting for the sunrise!
Thank you.
-
Very nice image, great story! Congratulations are in order ;)
Again, your PP really makes it glow ;)
-
This evening I have layered all nine images (as exposed) in Ps, I have revealed the trail in each layer as the meteor progressed across the sky.
The visibility of the trail varies as it crosses the sky, perhaps due to atmospheric influences.
The screen interval of each trail shortens with each successive exposure, as one might expect, given the meteor is travelling away, apparently in an ark and perhaps slowing down.
The timing of each exposure is explained in a previous post.
Øivind, do you know of an astro website where I might get a friendly and helpful reception?
Having seen the layered image it seems it's either a man made device or perhaps an 'Earth Grazer' which I think I remember reading, appear to travel slowly across the sky.
This is amazing! Congrats for the capture!
-
I really like the first picture with the clear reflection in the water.
Concerning the person in the middle of the street: some Englishmen are said to be eccentric. 😀😁😂🤣😅
-
Actually to get one with an Iridium flare in it is a result in itself. I agree that the reflections are nice.
I really like the first picture with the clear reflection in the water.
..................................................................
******************************************************
I am sure that the poor chap genuinely thought that he was out in the midday sun................ ;D
.............................................................
Concerning the person in the middle of the street: some Englishmen are said to be eccentric. 😀😁😂🤣😅
Edit: Mad Dogs And Englishmen by Noel Coward: http://www.esl-lounge.com/songs/songmaddogs.php
-
Thank you everyone, I guess Bob Ross would call it a happy accident!
Frank, this is one mad Englishman here! I didn't see any other mad Englishmen (and youngest son) wandering around taking photographs through the night on a pier by the well known (infamous perhaps) Coniston Water.
-
Thank you everyone, I guess Bob Ross would call it a happy accident!
Frank, this is one mad Englishman here! I didn't see any other mad Englishmen (and youngest son) wandering around taking photographs through the night on a pier by the well known (infamous perhaps) Coniston Water.
you are right. self reflection is an art not mastered by man y
-
Some might recall my friend, RZ, that went to shoot the eclipse of the Sun last August. A regular "sky guy", I sent him Seapy's story about going after the Leonids meteor, and below you can see part of is response. Perhaps some here, in what my friend RZ (a Nikon guy himself) refers to as "the Nikon group" will find it to be of interest.
Read from bottom up.
"Cool!
I have a friend who worked on the ICESAT that was recently launched. It uses a green laser to measure it’s altitude to mm precision.
I’m pretty sure it could be photographed, if it happened to pass directly overhead at night. It would be a huge challenge to do so. Maybe worth suggesting to the Nikon group.
-RZ
On Nov 26, 2018, at 5:27 PM, Carl wrote:
Turns out it was an Iridium reflection that fans of which would die for. Seapy just setup the intervalometer and went to his car, had no idea what he got until post processing.
Carl"
-
Some might recall my friend, RZ, that went to shoot the eclipse of the Sun last August. A regular "sky guy", I sent him Seapy's story about going after the Leonids meteor, and below you can see part of is response. Perhaps some here, in what my friend RZ (a Nikon guy himself) refers to as "the Nikon group" will find it to be of interest.
Read from bottom up.
"Cool!
I have a friend who worked on the ICESAT that was recently launched. It uses a green laser to measure it’s altitude to mm precision.
I’m pretty sure it could be photographed, if it happened to pass directly overhead at night. It would be a huge challenge to do so. Maybe worth suggesting to the Nikon group.
-RZ
On Nov 26, 2018, at 5:27 PM, Carl wrote:
Turns out it was an Iridium reflection that fans of which would die for. Seapy just setup the intervalometer and went to his car, had no idea what he got until post processing.
Carl"
RZ just added satellite info.
https://icesat-2.gsfc.nasa.gov
-
RZ just added satellite info.
https://icesat-2.gsfc.nasa.gov
Not much interest in this target it seems.
-
I would not say so. I'm trying to figure out where it can be seen. The ice sheet story made me think it was only on the pole but apparently not. We would need a position calculator, like for the ISS.
-
I have had a good look but it's as clear as mud to me.
I have found two locations which are over the ocean, in Southern hemisphere. The satellites do orbit over the poles, presumably because of the reduced communication demand over the poles. Perhaps their spread of orbits provide an optimum availability pattern.
If they are so elusive that explains why capturing the flares is such a challenge. Also they are being phased out this year, perhaps they are no longer tracked once they are switched off.
I really have been very lucky. 8)
-
I sent RZ a note asking for more info, if he has any I'll post it.
-
Thanks Carl.
-
I really have been very lucky. 8)
Moreso than Bob Ross, you still have happy times! ;)
-
I sent RZ a note asking for more info, if he has any I'll post it.
Just got a response from RZ.
"
The ICESATs cover the entire Earth’s surface every 90 days or so. So, every 90 days, there is a chance to photograph the green laser emission, which is bright enough to be seen with the naked eye.
The problem is being ready when the satellite is overhead, and at night, with no cloud cover.
My friend suggested using this app: GoSatWatch
I haven’t bought the app yet.
-RZ"