Log in

View Full Version here: : Comet Lovejoy 27/12/11


shelltree
27-12-2011, 02:19 PM
Got up at 11:15pm last night and headed to Somerset Dam area to get some shots of Comet Lovejoy. I had managed to see it from a couple of streets away from my house on Christmas day but it was extremely faint due to the city lights. It was amazing to see it all the same after a failed morning beforehand and dire weather conditions. I thought it would never clear up! Yesterday morning Jase and I headed to Currumbin Rocks to get some shots of Lovejoy over the ocean. It was a fairly clear morning but we really left too late and by the time we had set up, the comet was no longer visible :sadeyes:

So we decided to head to bed at 7pm last night :P slept for a few hours then headed out to Somerset. The skies were absolutely gorgeous but where we had stopped, in a picnic area 20 mins from Reedy Creek, there was a hill blocking the SE horizon and we could not yet see the comet. We decided to head to Reedy Creek and see if it would be any better. We got to Reedy Creek but decided against it as there was no where safe enough to stop off the road. We decided to return to the picnic area but as we started driving, the cloud started rolling in... :sadeyes: We began chanting and sat in the car eating Shapes and waiting and waiting...but it just kept getting thicker and thicker! Argh so frustrating!

Jeanette and I had been texting through the late evening and she texted me to tell me the clouds were dissipating in Kilcoy. So we headed to Kilcoy, the cloud chasing us from behind :P The sky got clearer and clearer the closer we got to Kilcoy and by the time we met up with Jeanette, there was only some light scudding cloud on the horizon. We continued to chant and chat and catch up :D all the while snapping a ton of shots of our beautiful Christmas comet, Comet Lovejoy :) It was really a beautiful morning! As the sky got lighter, we were gradually chased by rippling pink cloud and decided to call it a morning.

After that we headed to a beautiful spot on the dam and took photos of the sun rising and the reflections of the pink and orange sky lit up in the water.

What a morning! :) Lots of laughs and clewd chanting and the beautiful Comet Lovejoy, finally captured in photographs!

I hope you like them :D

Cheers,

Shelley

Edit: I just realised that one of the shots that I cropped, has in fact still got a white background that I missed when the image was cropped after I rotated it LOL. Never mind me, I am very very tired.

renormalised
27-12-2011, 02:29 PM
Nice shots, Shelley:)....well done:)

Quark
27-12-2011, 03:05 PM
Nice work Shelley, worth the effort for sure. With the rate that it is fading at we may not have it for much longer.

Regards
Trevor

Octane
27-12-2011, 03:11 PM
Well done, babez. Glad to see you get this beauty.

Also, I think you need to fix the crop (post-rotate) in the second image. The canvas is showing through in the bottom right. :)

H

mishku
27-12-2011, 03:16 PM
Just gorgeous.

I'm booking my plane ticket NOW :)

jjjnettie
27-12-2011, 03:29 PM
:) Lovely Shell. Wasn't it a great morning!!

leon
27-12-2011, 05:47 PM
Lovely shots Shelly, a bit of driving around but you got it, well done.

Leon

CometGuy
27-12-2011, 07:22 PM
Hope you enjoyed your first comet viewing, even though it was a few days past it's best!

Oh nice pic's btw, especially number 3

Terry

shelltree
27-12-2011, 08:57 PM
Thanks very much Carl, was worth the ridiculous sleeping patterns, for sure! :)



I agree Trevor, that's why I was so eager to get out while the clear skies lasted and before it got too dim. I was just unlucky that we had so much rain and cloud around and it only cleared up Xmas day onwards. The first outing I didn't take my camera equipment, doubt I would have got much anyway with the light pollution and the late time and missed out at Currumbin too, just left it too late. Was so stoked we beat the cloud in Kilcoy (mostly) and got to catch up with Jeanette as well :)



:lol: I posted an edit in my original post explaining this. I didn't even notice to begin with LOL, I am far too tired right now... Would really love to pull another all nighter but alas, work tomorrow :sadeyes:

Thanks kindly H, I always love hearing your feedback, as you know :D



Oh Mish, how I wish you were serious! :sadeyes: Thanks lovely :)



Thanks J, it was a gorgeous morning, so stoked! Thanks again :D



Thanks Leon, it certainly was a big drive and a very long night but well worth every minute! :)



Thanks Terry :) I'm just so glad that even though I did get to see it on Christmas morning, that I got to see it again under darker skies and got a chance to image this beauty as well! Wish it could have been when it was a lot brighter but definitely better than nothing!

astroron
27-12-2011, 09:11 PM
Nice pics Shelley :) Glad you managed to get some at last:D
Cheers :thumbsup:

naskies
27-12-2011, 10:04 PM
Good job! I really like #3, though I'm always partial to wide fields that include the LMC/SMC :)

shelltree
27-12-2011, 10:14 PM
Thanks Ron, so am I, it's about time we got a break! :D



Thanks very much Dave :) J gave me the idea and I had my wide angle and boy, I'm glad I used it, so worth it!

shelltree
27-12-2011, 10:38 PM
I now have a couple of timelapse videos up on my facebook photography page here:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150463547453049&set=vb.111010008949046&type=2&theater

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150463550698049&set=vb.111010008949046&type=2&theater

Click "HQ" for better resolution. Facebook kills it :(

The second vid has myself, Jeanette and Jase flitting in and out at Warp 3 as well :P