circadianreflections

Waning Crescent Moon and Saturn over Vasona Lake

January 16, 2015Posted in Astro Conjunctions, Astro Imaging, Astrophotograhpy, Los Gatos CA, Moon, Northern California, Planets, Reflections, Vasona LakeTagged Antares, Astro Conjunctions, Astro-imaging, Dawn, Los Gatos CA, Moon, Northern California, Reflections, Saturn, Vasona Lake6 Comments

I usually check out the sky first thing when I wake up so, this morning when I raised my blinds and saw the Moon with Saturn shining in the cloudy sky I realized they would be lining up high over the lake, and footbridge.
So, I got dressed, grabbed a quick cup of tea, and slice of toast and headed to the lake.

It was still dark when I arrived. The Geese weren’t even up yet! I kept my eye on the sky and clouds. It didn’t look too good when I got down to the lake. The Moon was completely blocked by the clouds, but I hoped for pockets, and breaks and just after dawn the clouds cleared enough.

I used a wide angle lens to be able to capture this whole scene so the Moon, Saturn that little white dot to the right of the Moon, and the fainter Antares below the Moon to the right are really teenie.

I was thrilled there was color this morning too.

This is a single frame processed in Photoshop CS6.

More to come…

P52 3/52 Caramel Macarons

January 13, 2015January 13, 2015Posted in Desserts, Food Photography, Macro Photography, Project 52 MacroTagged Dessert, Food Photography, Macarons, Macro photography, Project 52 Macro, Tout Sweet Patisserie San Fancisco8 Comments

Nikon Df| AF-D Nikkor 28-105@ 105mm + 36mm Kenko Extension Tube| SB910 camera left slightly in front of Hero at 1/2 pwr bounced off ceiling| Hand-Held| Hoodman STEEL Ultra High Speed Digital Film

More to come…

A Good Day Birding PtII

January 11, 2015January 11, 2015Posted in American Robin, Bird Photography, birding, Birds in the Wild, Birds of Northern America, Brown Pelican, Great Egret, Mockingbirds, Sea Gull, Shorebirds, Snowy Egret, Thrush FamilyTagged American Robin, Bird Photography, Birding, Birds of North America, Brown Pelican, Great Egret, Mockingbird, Northern Mockingbird, Sea Gulls, Shorebirds, Snowy Egret, Thrush Family of Birds7 Comments

There were quite a few opportunities to capture birds in flight while I was out birding this week.
A couple of times there were feeding frenzies right in front of me which allowed me to capture a few neat “flight shots” and a whole lot of near misses.

Here’s the American Robin just as it took flight.

Snowy Egret

Brown Pelican hunting for fish

Sea Gull

Great Egret

Northern Mockingbird just after take off

Brown Pelican diving- two images; I wish I had timed it so I got the tip of his bill going in the water. Sigh. Timing is everything!

Nikon D700| AF-S Nikkor 300mm f4 + AF-S Nikkor 14eII TC =420mm| Hand-held| Lexar Professional Digital Film

More to come…

Dawn-Vasona Lake Los Gatos, CA

January 10, 2015Posted in Landscape Photography, Los Gatos CA, Nature Photography, Sunrises, Vasona Lake ParkTagged Landscape Photography, Los Gatos CA, Nature Photography, Photography, Sunrise, Vasona Lake Park14 Comments

When I woke up this morning at O’Dark Thirty (4:30am) I peeked outside to check out the sky. The clouds that moved in two days ago had some breaks and pockets with a few stars poking through here and there so, I thought it might be worth getting dressed and going out for the sunrise.

It’s been sometime since I have shot a sunrise by the water so I headed to one of my “go to” spots; Vasona Lake which isn’t too far from me. While walking over to my shooting location on the lake I could hear that the geese were already up making a fuss about something, and soon they had the mallards, and coots up, and it wasn’t too long afterwords that I spied the first morning runners and walkers out for their morning’s exercise. Then the sun started making its way up and over the mountains bringing with it some wonderful yellow and pink hues.

All and all a wonderful sunrise!

Nikon Df| AF-D Nikkor 24mm f/2.8@ f/14| Tripod

More to come…

A Good Day Birding

January 8, 2015Posted in Bird Photogaphy, Birds in the Wild, Birds of Northern America, Pacific Flyway, ShorebirdsTagged American Robin, Bird Photography, Birding, Birds in the Wild, Black-necked Stilt, Eared Grebe, Greater Scaup, Horned Grebe, North America Shorebirds, Pacific-Flyway, Pied-billed Grebe, Winter Migration8 Comments

I was able to get out to do a little birding this week, and it started out on a great note. When I stepped out my front door

this American Robin was in the uppermost branches of the Ginko Tree in my front yard. I took that as a good omen!

Once at the pond I had a good walk-about, and found a couple types of Grebes, and many other wintering birds along with the regulars. Here are several I observed. I have many more I’ll be sharing in the coming days.

Pied-billed Grebe Adult Winter

Eared Grebe Winter

Hooded Grebe Adult Winter? I’m not positive what type of Grebe this is. Can anyone ID it for me?

Black-necked Stilt

Greater Scaup

Nikon D700| AF-S Nikkor 300mm f4| Tripod & Hand-held| Lexar Professional Digital Film

More to come…

P52 2/52 The Wonders of Rust

January 7, 2015Posted in Macro Photography, Project 52(2015), Rust, Week 2 Project 52Tagged 2/52, Macro photography, Project 52 (2015), Rust4 Comments

Nikon Df| AF-D Nikkor 28-105mm micro| Hand-Held| Hoodman STEEL Ultra High Speed Digital Film

January Morning Sun

January 5, 2015Posted in Astro Imaging, Astrophotograhpy, Solar, Sun, SunspotsTagged Astro-imaging, Astrophotography, Solar, Solar Flares, Sun, Sunspots5 Comments

My first Sun image of the year!

There’s a large active sunspot AR2253 in the center of the sun. NOAA says there’s a 50% chance of M-Class Flare today Jan. 5, 2015 from this Sunspot region.

Solar flares are classified by their x-ray brightness in wavelength range 1-8 Angstroms.
” There are 3 categories: X-Class flares are big; these can trigger radio blackouts around the planet and long lasting radiation storms. M-Class flares are medium sized; they can cause brief radio blackouts that effect Earth’s Polar regions. Minor radiation storms sometimes follow M-Class flares. Compared to X-Class and M-Class Flare events, C-Class flares are small with few noticeable consequences here on Earth.”~ Spaceweater.com

Nikon D700| AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/4| AF-S Nikkor 14eII TC| Orion Solar Filter|Tripod

More to come…

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