28 replies to this topic

[Robert Arn]

Greetings,

I was going to wait until I had processed all my images from the past few days, but after spending 11 hours in front of the computer yesterday and another 6 hours today I am taking a bit of a break.

On Thursday night, I headed out to the Keota Star Party site to capture the meteor shower. Here are links to the galleries that contain new images from that night (as well as one from Friday night):

http://barn.zenfolio.com/p1068266116
http://barn.zenfolio.com/p700542958

Or alternatively, here are the links to the new images directly:

A combination all the meteors I could record from the Double Cluster is Perseus to the tail of Cygnus during the night of the 12/13th.
http://barn.zenfolio...h91be76#h91be76

A standard star trail shot, with a 30" Dobsonian scope in the foreground.
http://barn.zenfolio...d6650f#h9d6650f

The lightning storm in the north east was impressive in the eyes of the camera. As luck would have it a bright meteor shot across the sky directly to the right of the center of the image.
http://barn.zenfolio...6650f#h1c9a92f4

Here is another image of the storm, this time it was the storm in the south east. The Perseid that streamed across the sky this time was much brighter and had a longer trail. This image is also the AAPOD for August 15th.
http://astronomy.fm/...seid-Storm.html
http://barn.zenfolio...d6650f#h3e4cb2d

The next two image are a probably fairly common sight, but was the first time that I have had a fully clear horizon to attempt. Here is Earth's Shadow. The first image was taken on the night of the 13th at Keota and the second was taken in the morning of the 14th on CO-83 (as a was driving back to town):
http://barn.zenfolio...6650f#h191e8061
http://barn.zenfolio...6650f#h15d41e1b

Last, but not least, just a shot of the setup for the night of the meteor shower, taken an hour or so after sunset.
http://barn.zenfolio...d6650f#h860dd46

I hope to get the rest of the images processed and posted sometime this week.

Thanks for looking!

[David Pavlich]

Robert...that is some terrific work! Just really neat pictures.

David

[cdndob]

Very nice Robert, really enjoying your photos.

I think your work here shows that you don't need a elaborate setup to produce some great images.

Steve

[Rankinstudio]

Those are some fantastic shots! Great work

[Robert Arn]

Thank you very much David, Steve, and David Rankin.

One of these days I will move up and get some of the fancy equipment that a lot of people use, but I am having a blast with just a camera, lens, and a basic tracker.

[Spitfire]

Holy cow man! Unbelievable work, and all on a simple rig. You should be incredibly proud!!!!

[Robert Arn]

Thank you Spitfire!

[JSeay86]

Awesome shots! really like the lightning shot with perseid.

[Nils_Lars]

All outstanding shots but that Perseid storm shot that is a AAPOD is the best and shows your style of the nightscape the best.

[crazyqban]

Good work Robert. what kind of post processing do you apply to your images? They have a really unique look to them.

[gezak22]

These are really nice.

[Jerry Lodriguss]

Hi Robert,

That meteor and lightning pic is spectacular!

Jerry

[Tonk]

I recon you are one of the best at this sort of work. Keep it up!

[Heine DK]

Hi Robert.

Very cool pictures. Thanks for sharing.
Good inspiration.

[waassaabee]

Once again Robert, incredible images!! The lightning/meteor shot is most excellent. You must be living right to catch a meteor and lightning in an image...

[luigis]

Your photos are just fantastic.

This one is terrific:
http://barn.zenfolio...d6650f#h3e4cb2d
The lightning and meteor combined are just fan-tas-tic.
Minor nit: a little noise,I'd try some light noise-reduction.

Planetary Vista
http://barn.zenfolio...6650f#h2a1bf4a5
Fantastic shot! Minor stitching problems near the right side and on the top. Hugin or PtGUI would probably do a better job than PS, this panorama is worth the try!

Planets at Keota:
http://barn.zenfolio...6650f#h1a80ace9
Gorgeous! The color is fantastic and the stars/planets are perfect!

Sun Singer and the Zodiac at Night
http://barn.zenfolio...d6650f#hf824fd3
Brilliant!

Earthshined moon with the Sisters
http://barn.zenfolio...1be76#h37ee5e8a
Another beautiful composition and brilliant execution

May I ask you which theme you are using at Zenfolio? It seems much better than mine for a dark background!

And sorry for the long comment!

Luis

[Robert Arn]

Thank you Jared and Erik!

Sergio - for my nightscape images, I take the files in RAW form into PS and work with them in this program only (the exception is a few of the panos that I stitch together using PtGUI). But most of the work that I do in PS is in Layers, Black and White, Shadows and Highlight, and Curves. On occasion I will use PSCS5's new HDR feature. The main "trick" I use is through Layers. By carefully selecting parts of the image, I am able to work independently with any section. Once I am about done, I will have 2-20 layers, each with a different piece of the image. Thanks for the kind words.

gezak22 and Jerry, your words are greatly appreciated!

Tonk - Thank you very much for the incredibly high praise.

Thanks Heine DK!

Gary - thank you very much. The catch had a lot to do with good fortunate. I got into this hobby 4 years ago, and since then every time there was a good meteor shower with no or little moon, the skies have always been overcast. I got luck by just having partially cloudly/raining/lightning skies.

And thank you once again Luis. I will answer your question here as well. The theme of my Zenfolio account is "Cosmic".

[JSeay86]

Sorry to drum up an old thread, but congrats on the APOD! A truly great picture.

[neutronman]

Lovely work, Robert! Though I shoot a lot with telecopes/ccd, I really enjoy a simple DSLR and a tripod, too. In fact, some of my favorite shots are done this way. Often times I will start out intending to do the telescope thing, but when clouds move in I will switch to the DSLR/tripod (clouds, usually the bane of astrophotography, actually add a lot to those WIDE night landscape shots).

And just to be redundant -- yes, your lightning/Perseid image is GREAT!

[Scott Mitchell]

Congrats on the APOD!!!

[Robert Arn]

Thank you Jared!

John - I agree, I love working with clouds when I am doing nightscape imaging. Also the moon in a position that is behind or to the side of the direction you are shooting can add some really cool lighting effect. And thank you for you kind words.

Thanks Scott!

[Nils_Lars]

Yes congrats on a well deserved APOD.

[Robert Arn]

Thank you Erik!

[Yoda]

Great work Robert. I live in FtC as well and been to crow valley, never been past there though.

[Dave M]

All the shots are Great! Robert, the Lightning and Perseid shot is Awesome..Congrats!! on APOD