“A good snapshot keeps a moment from running away.” ― Eudora Welty
Even with all the light pollution I think this came out pretty well.
I was happy to see I still was able to get to my Internet server when I arrived home after midnight this morning. I hope this bodes well for my week. “)
Nikon D700| Nikkor 18mm AI-S| f3.5| 33 seconds| ISO 3200| Tripod
“He ain’t wrong, he’s just different but his pride won’t let him do things to make you think he’s right” ~Willie Nelson, originally uploaded by dmzajac2004-.
Via Flickr:
Copyright © 2012 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.
Quote from Willie Nelson’s song Mama don’t let your babies grow up to be Cowboys.
…but I’ve always liked cowboys.
This was taken on an impromptu stop at Columbia State park last year. This part of the state is rich with history and folklore. Cowboys being a big part of that folklore.
Columbia State Park was once a town that sprung up during the California gold rush. It was declared a National Park or Open Air Museum in 1946. About 30 buildings remain. Some of which are the Saloon, the Wells Fargo Express, the Pioneer Emporium, Black Smith, hotel, the bakery, and stable. You can take a Stage Coach ride and pan for gold here. The staff all dress in period costume. I’ve been here a half-dozen times and loved every visit.
From my Summer 2011 archive| Nikon D300s| Nikkor 17-35@ 35mm|f8| 1/60second| ISO 200| Hand-held
Copyright © 2012 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.
This Transit was a rare event. A once in a Lifetime event for those of us on the West Coast, USA. The next Transit of Venus happens in 2117. I doubt anyone alive today will see it. I didn’t want to miss this special day. I had work on Tues. the afternoon of the Transit. I knew I’d be missing First contact and the first 2.5 hours. No time-lapse for me since I wouldn’t be satisfied not having it from start to finish, but I wanted to see it and if the sky was clear get a photo or two.
The sky around my hometown was full of fluffy clouds all day. The forecast had called for clear skies, but kept changing as the weather kept proving them wrong each hour. Monday, a friend invited me to join him at NASA Ames. Tues. he emailed me updates about the sky condition. Just after 2PM he emailed, “the sky is “mostly clear”. I called my friend Dali and invited him to meet me at NASA Ames then quickly gathered my gear after work, and drove the 12+ miles to get there. I was thrilled to discover commute traffic was light heading north allowing me to drive 65mph the whole way up.
I met my friend Dali in the parking lot and together we found my friend John who stands 6’4″ a good head and shoulders above the rest of the crowd that gathered there to view the Transit.
I set up my tripod and camera/lens/solar filter and started taking photos of the Sun with Venus making its way across the Sun. On my photo above the large black spot is Venus, and the smaller black dots are Sunspots.
John and many other amateur astronomers had set up their telescopes and were allowing people to get a closer view of the Transit. He’s also a Nikon user like me. He kindly let me hook my camera up to his telescope to get a bigger photograph of Venus transiting the Sun. I’ll post that soon.
Thank you John for sharing your scope, and space with me yesterday it was fun, and send my thanks again to your daughter for the goodies. The coffee cake I sampled was delicious!
Dali’s photos of the Transit are here and here.
Nikon D300s| Nikkor 80-200mm @ 200mm + Tamron 1.4x extender= effective focal length 420mm| f11| 1/200s| ISO 400| Manual Priority| Tripod
Copyright © 2012 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.
“Rise quickly for I am numb with Winter’s morning chill.
My fingers ache for your warm embrace.”~
That’s my plea every sunrise shoot, and to be honest most nights too! My fingers are the first to go numb, and I’ve not found a hand-warmer or pair of gloves to keep me warm enough to thwart the chill.
This is a shot from Convict Lake taken the third morning of 2012. Seeing sunrises like the one my friends and I saw on this morning make the early rise, drive time, and standing in the cold worth it!
Nikon D700| Nikkor 17-35@17mm| f13| 10 seconds| ISO200| Manual Priority| Tripod
Copyright © Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.
Get all the information and download at the link!
Copyright © 2012 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.
Several friends and I went to the Nevada desert to view and photograph the Annular Solar Eclipse from the centerline.
After weeks of calculations to determine the best spot to be on the centerline, and be doable in a day we had a couple of choices and nailed down our final choice Sat. Thanks to Rico’s, Phil’s, and Andy’s awesome calculations we were spot on the centerline.
As the afternoon wore on more photographers, and Eclipse viewers gathered around us to view the celestial show. One guy hiked up with a huge telescope. Kids big and small liked looking though that.
Here’s where we were based. That guy down there with the hat is setting up his Spotting Scope. There were cameras, lenses, and telescopes of all sizes. Some folks came out just to view it.
Wearing the right eye gear!
It was work for me. I don’t own a motorized tracker so I had to manually track the sun, making adjustments every 1-2 minutes for the entire 2.5 hours of the Eclipse.
It was worth the effort. This is also the first time I’ve photographed an Eclipse from start to finish then process the phases in Photoshop. It may be a bit uneven…forgive me! I couldn’t get my guides to work in my workspace so I eyeballed it. I am pleased I was able to do this at all. I need to give a shout out to PJ for reminding that copy/paste works to do a step I needed too. Thank you!
Looking at my Poster are the phases of the Eclipse. Starting on the left is the beginning of the Eclipse with the “Ring of Fire” in the middle followed by the final pass of the Moon as it made its way across the sun. If you look close you can see the Sun Spots! It was the neatest thing to see from start to finish.
Our little group setting up and getting ready to shoot the Eclipse. I’m off to the right in the hat. Although that man behind me wasn’t part of our group. He was a spectator who said he’s traveled all over to view Eclipses. Thank you Rico for the Photo!
And to my traveling and planning companions THANK YOU, Anne, Dali, Phil, Steven, Andy, and Rico for a great day!
Nikon D300s| Nikkor 80-200mm + Tamron 1.4x TC| Manual Priority| Tripod| various shutter speeds, ISO 400| f11
more to come…
Copyright © 2012 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.
Still practicing for the upcoming Annular Solar Eclipse.
I’m working on getting the exposure right using Live View, and reading lots and lots of articles written by other photographers about how to go about photographing it.
This is a bit blurry you’ll notice. I think this is due to all the atmosphere between me and the sun;wind, dust, clouds, etc. This morning we have clouds in the sky.
Here’s an article I liked that has handy settings charts for a good starting base. Here’s my friend Steven’s advice on Solar Filters. Don’t try to watch or photograph this event without proper protection for your eyes and camera! I use this Solar Filter.
I’ll be driving with friends 4-5hours away from home to view this event. Will you be traveling to view the Annular Solar Eclipse?
Nikon D300s| Nikkor 80-200@200mm+ Tamron 1.4x TC=420mm|f11| 1/200s| ISO 200| Manual Priority| Tripod| Orion Solar Filter
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