from my balcony

[Olivier]

You don't necessarily have to fly far away to find diversity...
All taken in May this year. X-T1 with various lenses.

[golunvolo]

Impressive Olivier. Natures is strong and it shows from your balcony. Still in Singapore?

[Akira]

Olivier, this is a fantastic series!

Does the star trail image tell that you are almost right on the equator?

[Frank Fremerey]

equatorial trails. yes. wonderful

[Olivier]

Thanks!
Still in Singapore indeed but the future is uncertain for now. We may stay for one more year, or much more, or not...
You are right as usual Akira (and Frank), the almost vertical equatorial trails show my latitude, nearly 1°N... And so does the moon crescent in the first picture btw.
I have identified the details and lenses now:
1. Nikkor 105 f/2.5, my moon portrait lens...
2. Samyang 12mm f/2 for the star trails. (450 pictures with 20s pose and f/4, it is hard to fight light pollution in the city)
3. 12 images pano with the 18-55mm kit lens
4. 6 images superimposed (same protocol as for the star trails), with 18-55mm lens.

Have a nice day!
Olivier

[Ann]

Great series: the sky in its many moods!

I was intrigued to learn that star-trails are vertical on the equator.

[Akira]

Olivier, thank you for the technical details.  A 12mm on APS-C looks nice.  I will try the way you shot the lightning.  When I shot some lightnings last year, I took a 1080p/24 video and extracted the frames.  But, of course, the image quality suffered.

[armando_m]

Great series: the sky in its many moods!

I was intrigued to learn that star-trails are vertical on the equator.

I think they are vertical because he is point east or west, and again I think the give away is that left side trails curve left, and right side curves to the right

[Olivier]

West indeed!

[Hugh_3170]

Nice series Olivier.

The last image with the lightning strikes is so Singapore.  The lightning shows in Singapore are something to been seen and experienced.

[CS]

I think they are vertical because he is point east or west, and again I think the give away is that left side trails curve left, and right side curves to the right

Yes, I noticed that, and  a slight "funnel effect" as they get lower on the horizon. Amazing lightening shot too! Very nice series, Olivier.

[Akira]

I think the give away is that left side trails curve left, and right side curves to the right

I guess that is partially the effect of the perspective distortion of a super-wideangle lens.

[Tom Hook]

Olivier, What a range of color, composition and light. Wonderful images.

[Olivier]

Thanks again.
I would like to dissipate one potential misunderstanding:
The stars always seem to go in circles around the poles. Only on the celestial equator do they seem to "move" in straight lines. This is unrelated to me being located so close to earth's equator.
The incidence angle of the celestial equator on the horizon depends on the latitude of the observation point. On earth's equator, it is vertical (90°). In Hokkaido (Japan), the angle is near 45°. At the poles, it is 0°, so no incidence...

Sorry if I am stating the obvious!

[Akira]

Thanks again.
I would like to dissipate one potential misunderstanding:
The stars always seem to go in circles around the poles. Only on the celestial equator do they seem to "move" in straight lines. This is unrelated to me being located so close to earth's equator.
The incidence angle of the celestial equator on the horizon depends on the latitude of the observation point. On earth's equator, it is vertical (90°). In Hokkaido (Japan), the angle is near 45°. At the poles, it is 0°, so no incidence...

Sorry if I am stating the obvious!

Apparently, my reference to the equator caused the confusion!     Sorry about that.

Olivier was right on the latitude (and not necessarily exactly on the equator!) where he could capture the perpendicular star trail in the center of the frame.

Thank you, Olivier, for straightening things up!