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New Wall: Sunrise on the Church of the Good Shepherd

A new free background image is available today!

Sunrise on the Church of the Good Shepherd

wallscreek-070514-034

http://www.neilcreek.com/church-sunrise

This image is free for you to use however you like, as long as you abide by the following Creative Commons lisence:

You can also purchase a fine art print of the image. Just click on the “Buy Print” button on the image’s page. If you use the image, please tell your twitter friends with the link below the image.

New Wall: Alfred Nicholas Boathouse

A new free background image is available today!

Alfred Nicholas Boathouse

wallscreek-070514-034

http://www.neilcreek.com/boathouse

This image is free for you to use however you like, as long as you abide by the following Creative Commons lisence:

You can also purchase a fine art print of the image. Just click on the “Buy Print” button on the image’s page. If you use the image, please tell your twitter friends with the link below the image.

Chasing a Comet, Finding Much More

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My good friend and exceptionally talented astrophotographer, Phil Hart invited me to go with him last weekend, to a country observing site to photograph Comet Lulin, and test out the 5D2 as an astrophotography camera. As you can see above, we were successful!

Below are a selection of my favourite photos and multimedia from the night, with descriptions. There are two embedded movies and two panoramas, which require Flash 9 to be installed [Download Flash]. Make sure you look at the panorama at the very bottom. I’m very proud of that one! :)

Top: The comet image was taken with Phil’s camera and lens, but I chose the composition and setup, and merged the images before processing. I guess you could call it a colaboration! Canon 40D, 200mm f2.8, 8 x 120sec exposures stacked and processed.

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Above: A beautiful young moon watched over us as we set up our equipment.

Above: Phil carries his telescope, used only for astrophotography, from the car to the tripod. Watch this movie in High Def at YouTube.

Click here to view a larger version of this panorama.

Above: A spherical panorama of our observing field, at the Leon Mow dark sky site, near Heathcote, owned by the Astronomical Society of Victoria (ASV). There were another dozen or so people observing on a different field, dedicated to telescopic observation, rather than astrophotography.

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Above: For much of the night, Phil used my new 5D MkII on his telescope, as seen above, to photograph the comet and to test the capabilities of the camera. I was content to let him use it, as I’m very curious to know its astrophotography capabilities. First impressions from Phil is that it is a very capable astrophotography camera. I entertained myself by continuing to shoot with my 350D.

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Above: Phil uses the 5D2 on his 530mm f3.3 telescope to photograph Comet Lulin, which can just be seen as a tiny green dot to the left of the bright blue Altair, above Phil’s hear near the top of the photo.

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Above: Phil and I weren’t the only ones photographing the comet. Another ASV member is seen here controlling his telescope from an attached laptop. All of these photographs with foreground elements and the stars behind were captured in single exposures, and not composited. They were typically 30 second exposures at 18mm f3.5 and 1600ISO on the Canon 350D. It’s amazing how good a dark sky can look in camera.

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Above: While the 5D2 was clicking away shooting an automated sequence, we visited the observation field, and were able to observe Comet Lulin through a gigantic pair of binoculars, 100mm (4in) in diameter. It was truly an incredible sight.

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Above: I also turned my 350D to the iconic Southern Cross for a 30 second exposure with my 50m f1.8. The stars are incredibly dense and beautiful in this area of the sky.

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Above: Once Phil had completed his tests with the 5D2, I was itching to get the fisheye lens onto the camera, to take advantage of the full frame and photograph the whole sky in a single shot. I did a sequence of almost 200 photos to create a time lapse, but for the photo above, I stacked 14 of the exposures together to minimise the noise and increase the brightness of the stars.


Night Sky Time Lapse by Fisheye.

Above is the full time lapse sequence built from the nearly 200 photos taken. Unfortunately the compression in the video at Vimeo doesn’t look great, but it’s better than the dreadful quality of the version at YouTube.

Click here to view a larger version of this panorama.

Above: Finally, I experimented with the all-sky photograph, as seen above, and turned it into an interactive panorama that you can click on and drag to look around the whole night sky. It’s really worth seeing this one bigger, so please click the link above. This has inspired me to try an photograph an all-sky panorama with my 50mm lens, and stitch all of the image together, to make a highly detailed interactive panorama of the night sky!

[Update] Phil just posted his own blog entry on the evening. Go check it out and see how a REAL astrophotographer shoots a comet – his photo is *gorgeous*: http://www.philhart.com/node/127

Your Favourite Photos 2008 – Results

A few weeks back after I posted my Top 10 photos from 2008, I invited readers to link to the favourite photo of theirs which they made last year. There has been a fantastic response, with twenty-one people sharing their best shot.

I’ve collected all the photos here for you to enjoy. There is such fantastic talent on display here, and some truly remarkable images. Scroll through the images below, and make sure you click on the image to be taken through to the photographer’s web site or image gallery. The images are shown in the order they were submitted, and the description which accompanies them were provided by the photographers.

Jessyel Ty Gonzalez

Jessyel Ty Gonzalez
I think this was my favorite photo this year that I took. Had a great night and the whole thing was just an experience.

wheeliebin

wheeliebin
My favourite simply because of the surreal fog!

Martin

Martin
"Grazing" is probably one of my favourites from 2008.

<strong>Crystal</strong><br />One of my favorite photos is one that I took early on when I just got my 50mm F/1.8 lens last year. I can’t wait for summer to get here again.

Crystal
One of my favorite photos is one that I took early on when I just got my 50mm F/1.8 lens last year. I can’t wait for summer to get here again.

<strong>Vijesh</strong><br /> This is a hard, but still I need to pick one. This would be my favorite. I had never seen her so beautiful like that before, an its the memorable vacation I had with the people that mattered most to me. Shot at Karwar, India.

Vijesh
This is a hard, but still I need to pick one. This would be my favorite. I had never seen her so beautiful like that before, an its the memorable vacation I had with the people that mattered most to me. Shot at Karwar, India.

<strong>Fee Easton</strong><br />I have 2 favourites but i will go with this one as being my fav

Fee Easton
I have 2 favourites but i will go with this one as being my fav

<strong>Jessica</strong><br />It’s hard for me to pick, but this is what I chose on my blog. I like the mood and contrast of old world and modern. It was one of those moments when I just happened to have my camera, was out with a friend doing something else, and just saw something that made me start snapping away. I love it when that happens! Starting my photoblog about Rome a few months ago has really been a fantastic experience for me and I’m looking forward to continuing to use it to expose my adopted city to others and explore it even more myself.

Jessica
It’s hard for me to pick, but this is what I chose on my blog. I like the mood and contrast of old world and modern. It was one of those moments when I just happened to have my camera, was out with a friend doing something else, and just saw something that made me start snapping away. I love it when that happens! Starting my photoblog about Rome a few months ago has really been a fantastic experience for me and I’m looking forward to continuing to use it to expose my adopted city to others and explore it even more myself.

<strong>Ariston Collander</strong><br />My favorite was of model Laura Shodire from ModelMayhem. This photo IS safe for work. Capturing her hair and face as she threw her head back, along with the lighting and general warmth of the image made it look fantastic.

Ariston Collander
My favorite was of model Laura Shodire from ModelMayhem. This photo IS safe for work. Capturing her hair and face as she threw her head back, along with the lighting and general warmth of the image made it look fantastic.

<strong>Tony</strong><br />2008 was not a great year for my photos it seems :) But here is one of my favorites.

Tony
2008 was not a great year for my photos it seems :) But here is one of my favorites.

<strong>Jason</strong><br />This photo was taken at the Terracotta Army historic site in Xi’an China. It was overcrowded and people were snapping photos on all sides of a statue in a glass display case. I saw this boy looking up at the statue with a wonder-filled expression and pulled the trigger just in time to capture this image.

Jason
This photo was taken at the Terracotta Army historic site in Xi’an China. It was overcrowded and people were snapping photos on all sides of a statue in a glass display case. I saw this boy looking up at the statue with a wonder-filled expression and pulled the trigger just in time to capture this image.

<strong>Leif</strong><br />My photo was taken at the Werribee Zoo, of a female rhino whilst on the special close-up tour on the back of a ute.

Leif
My photo was taken at the Werribee Zoo, of a female rhino whilst on the special close-up tour on the back of a ute.

<strong>Sinisa</strong><br />No dilemma. While driving tired late in the evening on Iceland, practically stumbled upon glacial lagoon under full moon. Surreal.

Sinisa
No dilemma. While driving tired late in the evening on Iceland, practically stumbled upon glacial lagoon under full moon. Surreal.

<strong>Brian Auer</strong><br />My favorite is this photo of my Wife and Daughter. It was shot on a 1956 TLR on b/w film and printed in my darkroom.

Brian Auer
My favorite is this photo of my Wife and Daughter. It was shot on a 1956 TLR on b/w film and printed in my darkroom.

<strong>Lisa Newton</strong><br />I just got my new camera, a Nikon D40, so I’ve been taking a lot of pictures, just to get used to it. In fact, I just started a blog where I can talk, get to know people, and post my pictures. I’m so excited. On the first day I had it, I went to the beach, my favorite place to be, and took this shot.

Lisa Newton
I just got my new camera, a Nikon D40, so I’ve been taking a lot of pictures, just to get used to it. In fact, I just started a blog where I can talk, get to know people, and post my pictures. I’m so excited. On the first day I had it, I went to the beach, my favorite place to be, and took this shot.

<strong>Cody Redmon</strong><br />This image is my favorite of the year because it captures everything I like about my geography in a rather dramatic minimalist image. Thanks for including your readers! :-)

Cody Redmon
This image is my favorite of the year because it captures everything I like about my geography in a rather dramatic minimalist image. Thanks for including your readers! :-)

<strong>Martin Waters</strong><br />A fifty foot spider attacking a city proved memorable and out of all the shots I took in 2008 this remains my favourite, simply because it captures the whole “war of the worlds” feel the organisers were aiming for.

Martin Waters
A fifty foot spider attacking a city proved memorable and out of all the shots I took in 2008 this remains my favourite, simply because it captures the whole “war of the worlds” feel the organisers were aiming for.

<strong>Neal Eiserman</strong><br /> I have a lot of favourites from last year, but I think I’ll go with this one as my overall fav. I like it because it captures a wonderful moment from a wonderful day. I also like the composition, the lighting and the depth of field.

Neal Eiserman
I have a lot of favourites from last year, but I think I’ll go with this one as my overall fav. I like it because it captures a wonderful moment from a wonderful day. I also like the composition, the lighting and the depth of field.

<strong>Arpad</strong><br />I would choose the photo posted first: this picture is special because it was done for my first architectural project. I was amazed and excited at the ease and peace the dog had even though I was setting up my equipment and lights. It helped me to feel more at ease and confident.

Arpad
I would choose the photo posted first: this picture is special because it was done for my first architectural project. I was amazed and excited at the ease and peace the dog had even though I was setting up my equipment and lights. It helped me to feel more at ease and confident.

<strong>Chris Prout</strong><br />Here’s one of my favorite photos of 2008. It was taken at the Detroit Red Bull Air Race.

Chris Sprout
Here’s one of my favorite photos of 2008. It was taken at the Detroit Red Bull Air Race.

<strong>Antoine Khater</strong><br />Really hard to pick up only one Neil I hope you understand :)

Antoine Khater
Really hard to pick up only one Neil I hope you understand :)

<strong>Anthea</strong><br />My favourite photo would have to be the one that makes me happy just by looking at it. It is of my favourite flower - a tulip.

Anthea
My favourite photo would have to be the one that makes me happy just by looking at it. It is of my favourite flower - a tulip.

Which is your favourite photo? What do you like about these photos? Do you have a favourite photo taken last year? If so, please leave a link to it in the comments below.

I look forward to doing this again next year!

Rough as guts panorama of my desk

Tuesday, while at Mike’s place admiring his beautiful aquarium, I saw this cool photo collage he had on his wall, of a pretty seaside building made with many overlapping photos. I thought it was a very cool idea. Kind of like a rough panorama. Then yesterday browsing through one of the blogs I follow, I saw this post which reminded me I’d seen this kind of stuff online before.

Laurie linked to some of Heather Champ’s photos on Flickr as her inspiration, and these were so cool, that I just had to have a go myself.

It was late, the light was terrible, but I didn’t mind. I figured the rough, rushed look was part of what made these composites cool. So I grabbed my camera, stuck on the 50mm lens, set to f1.8 at 1/50th and ISO1600, and quickly and deliberately roughly took a couple dozen photos of my desk to stick together.

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I couldn’t help myself but use the panorama stitching software to join them together. It made the alignment pretty simple, but it warped the photos to fit, as well as colour corrected and blended the photos. Normally you want this for a panorama, but the appeal of these photos is their inaccuracies.

Overall I’m happy with the result, but next time I’ll leave the camera on auto everything, including focus, and I’ll put them all together in photoshop, for that hand-made collage look.

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