Sunday 3rd March.. second night of comet hunting.. so much fun!
I avoided the complexity of imaging near the Cape Schanck lighthouse this time and parked along Boneo Rd looking over a farm I'd scoped out on Streetview (damn handy!) just a few hundred metres before the lighthouse road.
This is pretty much the image I was hoping to get.. I love it when a plan comes together .
Its very hard to see the image through tears. the pain of viewing such a fantastic shot is near killing me.... we will never get to see this. Brilliant effort Phil
That's a great capture. Has there been any processing done? I've only had a chance to get a couple of images and I struggle to get much of the comet and tail visible due to the comet setting in twilight.
Its very hard to see the image through tears. the pain of viewing such a fantastic shot is near killing me.... we will never get to see this. Brilliant effort Phil
I'm feeling for you! A trip to ~Bathurst tonight should give anyone in Sydney a reasonable chance but a bit harder from Newcastle
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrB
Very nice Phil, love the cow on the hill
The trees I had planned.. the cows were a bonus.. quite cooperative!
Quote:
Originally Posted by swannies1983
That's a great capture. Has there been any processing done? I've only had a chance to get a couple of images and I struggle to get much of the comet and tail visible due to the comet setting in twilight.
Shooting with a 300mm lens gets a lot more detail than a wider lens. A bit of contrast in Lightroom but nothing extreme. Tail detail looks similar on camera.
You're getting some nice colour in the Vic skies. What time was this taken?
I'd been noticing the difference in our twilight colours too. This was 9:08pm, about 70 mins after local sunset. Skies were about as clear as they get for summer here and this is from the southern edge of Mornington Peninsula. Of course the effect of using a telephoto lens makes the zone of colour seem much larger.
What white balance settings do you use on yours (eg for 'two comets in the west')? This one was with temp of 3850 and tint of +5 in lightroom?
Thanks for answering my question Phil. However, I do note that several others are getting some nice detail even at much shorter focal lengths.
Also, I notice my twilight sky tends to be "grey" more than the nice blue you and others are getting. Maybe my white balance isn't quite right? I will need to look over it when I get home.
Do you shoot in RAW mode or jpg? I don't do much wide field imaging (mostly deep sky) so it's all a bit new to me.
I'd been noticing the difference in our twilight colours too. This was 9:08pm, about 70 mins after local sunset. Skies were about as clear as they get for summer here and this is from the southern edge of Mornington Peninsula. Of course the effect of using a telephoto lens makes the zone of colour seem much larger.
What white balance settings do you use on yours (eg for 'two comets in the west')? This one was with temp of 3850 and tint of +5 in lightroom?
Phil
Similar white balance, Phil. My blues are all over the shop, though. Your colours are certainly more saturated... in a nice way. I might send you a message to compare processing. Love the shot, btw.
Amazing panorama for such a long FL!
Were you on a tracking mount?
Beautiful work!
Thanks Mike. I had two mounts setup further along the road but they just captured the comet alone. This one was just on a tripod.. had to be mobile to move to just the right spot. I had debated trying to do the panorama on a tracking mount but figured that was trying to do too much.
EDIT - should add that the images taken any later than this one became too much of a compromise.. star trails or very noisy. will be processed some day in the future..
Similar white balance, Phil. My blues are all over the shop, though. Your colours are certainly more saturated... in a nice way. I might send you a message to compare processing. Love the shot, btw.
Your images have a distinctive feel (not just the comet ones). Send me a RAW file and I'd love to see how it looks with my approach.
I've pulled brightness of the sky down a bit and increased contrast which has the effect of increasing saturation. I haven't actually touched the vibrance/saturation sliders on this one.
Thanks for answering my question Phil. However, I do note that several others are getting some nice detail even at much shorter focal lengths.
Also, I notice my twilight sky tends to be "grey" more than the nice blue you and others are getting. Maybe my white balance isn't quite right? I will need to look over it when I get home.
Do you shoot in RAW mode or jpg? I don't do much wide field imaging (mostly deep sky) so it's all a bit new to me.
Maybe it's about timing.. catching it a bit later when sky background is darker? Pulling down sky brightness and increasing contrast a bit should help?
Its very hard to see the image through tears. the pain of viewing such a fantastic shot is near killing me.... we will never get to see this. Brilliant effort Phil
Yup, no chance for me now.
I saw this image on my phone on the way home and was very impressed. Now that I see it on my monitor - just gorgeous!
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