ZapperZ's Great Outdoors Photo Contest

[Borek]

Out of this world for me.

 

[fuzzyfelt]

Me too!

 

[Astronuc]

Some views of Earth and mountains.

 

[Andy Resnick]

I was able to return to the spot where I took this:

[PLAIN]http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/8832/dsc7814u.jpg

I got the horizon line level (or close to it), but the railroad tracks are not parallel to the horizon line. If I had moved to my left a few feet while rotating to keep the Rock Hall and Browns Stadium in the frame, I would have rotated the tracks into alignment.

And tried to follow my own advice. This is the result:

[PLAIN]http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/2014/dsc8232l.jpg

I think it looks much better, even though I couldn't move far enough to get all three buildings in the frame. The horizontal lines now contribute to the overall composition, rather than distract from it.

 

[Andy Resnick]

Good seeing conditions tonight: 1:1 image section featuring the terminus

[PLAIN]http://img809.imageshack.us/img809/3051/topab.jpg
[PLAIN]http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/1130/bottomvt.jpg

 

[ViewsofMars]

The moon looks lovely tonight. Such a peaceful place. Calm and serine. No cares in the world. Andy, can you get a closeup shot of the Mare Nubium region?

 

[sourlemon]

Andy, both are such great picture. I agree with your comment, the second one looks better, much more aligned. I have to pay more attention to those things

 

[Andy Resnick]

The moon looks lovely tonight. Such a peaceful place. Calm and serine. No cares in the world. Andy, can you get a closeup shot of the Mare Nubium region?

Andy, both are such great picture. I agree with your comment, the second one looks better, much more aligned. I have to pay more attention to those things

Thanks! I'm still learning to navigate around with http://www.google.com/moon/- I think that region comes into view shortly; I'll post any decent shot.

 

[Andy Resnick]

Here's a shot I took last night , zooming into (I believe) Mare Nubium (I do take requests! : first, a shot of the whole moon:

[PLAIN]http://img846.imageshack.us/img846/3267/dsc83481.jpg

Then a 1:1 crop of the region:

[PLAIN]http://img811.imageshack.us/img811/3553/dsc83482.jpg

Last, a 2x zoom with some processing for sharpness:

[PLAIN]http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/9743/dsc83483.jpg

It was a little hazy, but this was the best shot of the night. Enjoy!

 

[Andre]

So today I visited the biotope of the beautiful demoiselle again (see photography thread), it certainly qualifies as outdoors:

However as seen in the back the banks of the creek were covered with 7 ft tall weeds, where it hid. No way to approach it secretly.

Luckily the banded demoiselle is less bound to the water and this female was happy to play model in a meadow close by.

Several other bugs cooperated. I wonder why this butterfly has hair on its eyes?

 

[Andy Resnick]

Several other bugs cooperated. I wonder why this butterfly has hair on its eyes?

Many insects have those features (setae):

http://ourbugscope.wikispaces.com/Worker+Honey+Bee

It appears to be a mechanosensor, but the name also refers to a number of (superficially) similar structures:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seta

It's not clear how much genetic work has been done to differentiate the various structures and their functions.(nice pics, btw!)

 

[Andy Resnick]

Another excellent night:

[PLAIN]http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/244/dsc83822.jpg

and a 1:1 crop:

[PLAIN]http://img856.imageshack.us/img856/2663/dsc8382.jpg

The image is so sharp, I can actually enlarge the image further by taking advantage of the difference between a professional-quality print at 200 dpi and typical display resolutions of 72-80 dpi. I enlarged the images 3x using interpolation (smoothing), and then applied a sharpen filter to get this:

[PLAIN]http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/9544/dsc83821.jpg

 

[ViewsofMars]

Spectacular! I've fallen in love with the moon! Incrediable images thanks
to you, Andy. I'd like to know what equipment you are using. Also, you might like
to send off to the "BBC Pictures of the Day" some of your images.
I'm getting my easal from the attic and grabbing a canvas so I can paint that moon.
I wish there was a section in Cosmology where you and other people could post this stuff.

Both great links to explore and learn more about the moon:
Regarding the Mare Nubium:
Mare Nubium "Sea of Clouds"
Lat 21.3S
Long 16.6W
Dia 715.0
http://lunar.ksc.nasa.gov/science/geography_items/mare.html

Geography from The Major Lunar Mare no. 5 shows the exact location of the Mare Nubium.
http://lunar.ksc.nasa.gov/science/geography_items/maria/maria.html

My new desktop is now . . .
[URL]http://www.lpi.usra.edu/nlsi/gallery/wallpaper/as11_44_6548.jpg[/URL]

My next request is an image of Saturn. I can't recall exactly, but I thought
I read there was a ring of fire that's been raging on there. (lol)

 

[Andy Resnick]

Spectacular! I've fallen in love with the moon! Incrediable images thanks
to you, Andy. I'd like to know what equipment you are using. <snip>

My next request is an image of Saturn. I can't recall exactly, but I thought
I read there was a ring of fire that's been raging on there. (lol)

Thanks- for the praise and the links!

Equipment: Sony a850 camera, Nikon 400mm f/2.8 w/ 2x teleconverter. Image was acquired at full aperture (that is, 800mm f/5.6), 1/60 s exposure ISO 100.

As it happens, Saturn has been in the *perfect* location for the past few months, I'll post a montage of images shortly...

 

[Andy Resnick]

This is a collection of images taken over the past few months: all but two were taken at 800mm f/5.6

[PLAIN]http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/8157/montagepe.jpg

The large one is an (intentionally) overexposed image (1/10 s, ISO 6400) to see Titan (the small dot on the left), and the smaller version on the lower right is also intentionally overexposed (1 s exposure, ISO 6400) to pull out another moon from the background- not sure which one it is.

Going clockwise from upper left are three images of Saturn at 'good' exposures (1/100 s, ISO 100)) and show the shadow of the ring across the face. The final two were taken at 400mm f/2.8 of the Space Station as it passed overhead on 7/3/11 (1/100 s, ISO 100). There's motion blur on one, but in a 'good' direction (lucky!).

I'm patiently waiting for good viewing of Mars and Jupiter...

 

[Andy Resnick]

Managed to get this just as the clouds started rolling in:

[PLAIN]http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/4392/dsc8390.jpg

The contrast is much higher than usual: the lunar surface is nearly Lambertian, which is why it does not look like a round sphere but a flat disk. Put another way, the brightness is very 'flat', resulting in a low-contrast image. However, since during a full moon there's no terminus to worry about, I can stretch the contrast out a lot more than usual, and this image is the result.

This one's going in the portfolio...

 

[ViewsofMars]

Managed to get this just as the clouds started rolling in:

[PLAIN]http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/4392/dsc8390.jpg

The contrast is much higher than usual: the lunar surface is nearly Lambertian, which is why it does not look like a round sphere but a flat disk. Put another way, the brightness is very 'flat', resulting in a low-contrast image. However, since during a full moon there's no terminus to worry about, I can stretch the contrast out a lot more than usual, and this image is the result.

This one's going in the portfolio...

Andy, tears flow everytime I have looked at the image. It's as if I have escaped to gaze adrift
in a captured moment of time. I will sleep as a reflection in the shadow of this moon.

Thank you. So very kind of you to share it.

 

[Andy Resnick]

Andy, tears flow everytime I have looked at the image. It's as if I have escaped to gaze adrift
in a captured moment of time. I will sleep as a reflection in the shadow of this moon.

Thank you. So very kind of you to share it.

Those are very kind words- thank you.

 

[Andy Resnick]

Couldn't sleep last night- too hot.

Fortunately, even though there was light haze and clouds, I was still able to take a nice shot of the moon (at 3am...):

[PLAIN]http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/8360/48313414.jpg

A lot of cameras and image processing programs have 'sharpen' filters which are based on something called an 'unsharp mask'- basically, the image is slightly blurred, and then the blurred image is kinda-sorta subtracted from the original, which has the effect of amplifying regions of high contrast (edges, for example).

An alternate method of processing is 'deconvolution', which essentially divides the (blurry) image by the point spread function. Here's the results I got deconvolving the above image. I took a small region and blew it up 400% to more clearly see the improvement. Here's the original-

[PLAIN]http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/5696/22crop.jpg

And the same region after deconvolving:

[PLAIN]http://img835.imageshack.us/img835/3834/deconvoluted22crop.jpg

There's a clear increase in contrast, even through the two small craters on the upper left seem to be slightly more 'rounded'. That small isolated projection is about 5 miles across and 1 mile high (according to google's moon map), which also gives an idea of the angle of sunlight-I estimate 10 degrees, the sun is very low on the moon's horizon.

Edit: Here's the effect of 'sharpen'/unsharp mask

[PLAIN]http://img812.imageshack.us/img812/236/22sharpen.jpg

This looks awful- the jpg compression artifacts are amplified, resulting in a harsh, blocky image (IMO).

 

[Gokul43201]

Spent a few days backpacking and peakbagging in the beautiful Wind River Mountains of Wyoming. This is sunset from camp #2 by Island Lake:

 

[fuzzyfelt]

Beautiful!

 

[turbo]

I'd love to camp there! It might be hard to get me to leave.

 

[Andy Resnick]

This is the result after a full lunar cycle:

[PLAIN]http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/1682/topyp.jpg

There are still a few gaps, but I have to wait until the sun sets earlier and rises later in order to fill them in- hopefully October and November will have decent weather.

This image is about 50 MP, and the 5 x 5 and 6 x 6 montages (I haven't decided which will look better) will be 80+ MP, large enough for a 4' x 4' 300 dpi print.

http://www.largeformatposters.com/

Stay tuned...

 

[ViewsofMars]

Wow! I love it! Andy, I've got to buy a camera like you have.
Everytime I look at those moon images . . . I feel like I'm drifting in
space. There's a wave of "Ah, I'm at peace in the world" ~ something
like that. Perhaps it's the black and white that is calming with the
unfolding of the moon. This series of yours is spectacular! Thanks.

 

[Andy Resnick]

Thanks! As for the camera, the secret is the *lens*- there's lots of people here who can help you pick a lens that most suits your needs/desires.

One thing I've learned is that 80% of the cost of equipment is driven by the final 20% of performance. The converse is true as well- if you are willing to give up 20% of performance (for this lens it was autofocusing, very-high-order aberration correction, and some vignetting), you can save 80% of the cost.

To be sure, I personally didn't pay for my imaging equipment. I'm fortunate that this is part of my job, and I've been able to assemble a first-rate imaging lab primarily with startup funds, donated/scavenged components, and patience. Hopefully by the Spring everything will be in place for students to start working with these tools.

 

[Andre]

Alternately, you might want to explore what digiscoping is.

 

[ViewsofMars]

Thanks- for the praise and the links!
Equipment: Sony a850 camera, Nikon 400mm f/2.8 w/ 2x teleconverter. Image was acquired at full aperture (that is, 800mm f/5.6), 1/60 s exposure ISO 100.

and

Alternately, you might want to explore what digiscoping is.

Thanks Andy and Andre for a wealth of information.
I’m thinking about participating in
“The International Observe the Moon Night!”
The 2011 event is on October 8th.
http://observethemoonnight.org/

I often frequent a local observatory to take a peek at that old moon.

I thought I'd share this with you and other members:
Why the Moon is important for Solar System Science
Submitted to
The Inner Planets Panel, NRC Decadal Survey for the Planetary Sciences Division,
Science Mission Directorate, NASA.
http://lunarscience.arc.nasa.gov/pdf/WhytheMoon.pdf

 

[Borek]

Having a great time

 

[Andre]

Nice Borek, good to see you back. Croatia?

 

[Borek]

Yes, Croatia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vrboska) - but we are not back yet We should be in Warsaw around mid August. I may be able to post some pictures in a few days, on our way back we are spending three days in Budapest and we should have WiFi in the room.

 

[Andy Resnick]

Having a great time

Nice!

 

[fuzzyfelt]

Yes, Croatia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vrboska) - but we are not back yet We should be in Warsaw around mid August. I may be able to post some pictures in a few days, on our way back we are spending three days in Budapest and we should have WiFi in the room.

Lovely! Where St Mary's is? ( an old landmark)

I really like the lunar cycle and the building in the other thread, too, Andy.

 

[Andy Resnick]

I really like the lunar cycle and the building in the other thread, too, Andy.

Thanks! When the lunar cycle montage is complete, I'll make the full-size image available (somehow...)

 

[Andy Resnick]

[PLAIN]http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/3907/ocean1b.jpg

 

[Andy Resnick]

[PLAIN]http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/8480/dsc9246y.jpg