Total Solar Eclipse from Pormpuraaw (Images & website added!)

[geoffsims]

EDIT: I have added a bunch of photos here. See all with descriptions/exposure details at my website:

TSE2012 from Pormpuraaw (http://www.users.on.net/~simsg/astro/tse2012.htm)

ORIGINAL MESSAGE:

We experienced perfect weather and a 1m 53.8s duration Total Eclipse from Pormpuraaw on the western side of Cape York. Although clear skies were likely inland, we had the escape flight already booked, and Pormpuraaw offered equally as good prospects with the added advantage of open and scenic viewing locations.

Here is just a sample image - more to come later. A fully autonomous "hands-free" imaging program was run, using a combination of Eclipse Orchestrator, intervalometers and CHDK, and consisted of:

Canon 5D Mark II: wide field (20mm) landscape sequences [attached]
Canon 400D: mid-range (70mm) shots
Canon 400D: telephoto diamond rings & corona images (500mm)
Canon IXUX 220: wide angle HD video
Canon Powershot S100: RAW timelapse, interval approx 3-4 secs
GoPro Hero 2: Timelapse with 1 second interval

cheers
Geoff

[gregbradley]

A very interesting shot. I look forward to more of your captures.

Greg.

[Paul Haese]

Nice shot Geoff.

[Mick]

Beautiful work.

[marc4darkskies]

Love this image! Well done Geoff.

Cheers, Marcus

[rogerg]

Very interesting shot, showing the shadow like that :) I think the horizon needs to be levelled slightly different, it's subtle non-flatness is distracting my eye :)

[Matt Wastell]

Fantastic wide field pic! Great event!

[geoffsims]

Greg, Paul, Mick, Marcus, Roger, Matt: Many thanks for your kind words! More to come later! :-)

[naskies]

Fantastic composition there - well done! Can't wait to see your full collection.

[iceman]

Beautiful, love seeing the shadow of the moon like that.

Can't wait to see more of your pics.

[Phil Hart]

Great widefield view Geoff.. looks like you were in the right spot!

Look forward to the rest..

Phil

[Larryp]

Very nice!

[ChrisM]

Nice composition Geoff. Looking forward to more pics from your photographic assault!
Chris

[RickS]

Very nice, Geoff! Glad to see you got clear skies over there.

[multiweb]

That's a great widefield. You can really see the light cone. Awesome! :thumbsup:

[DavidTrap]

Certainly no problems hills or trees getting in the way there!

Glad it was worth taking the flight west.

DT

[geoffsims]

Again, thanks all for the comments.

The shadow cone was indeed the highlight, reminding me of the last Aussie TSE in 2002.

[StephenM]

Excellent widefield Geoff! Well done.

Cheers,
Stephen

[geoffsims]

Have added a bunch of photos to my website, as well as the original post here. Please see:

TSE2012 from Pormpuraaw (http://www.users.on.net/~simsg/astro/tse2012.htm)

[h0ughy]

brilliant collection - some real pearlers there - a lifetime of memories

[jjjnettie]

Totally amazing Geoff. I'm glad we ran into you.....Mossman Gorge wasn't it? The days have all run into each other. LOLOL

[SkyViking]

Those are awesome! Great composition and that shadow cone is stunning. You managed to get a lot of different views of the entire event from start to finish, well done. I'm looking forward to the timelapses :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[geoffsims]

Correct, and yes - it was great to meet you!

Glad you liked the pics.

[naskies]

Phenomenal - especially #1! Thanks for sharing your exposure settings too.

[gregbradley]

I think so far you've gotten the best captures of anyone.

Fantastic work and your attention to detail and careful planning has paid off.

Greg.

[sheeny]

Awesome collection Geoff! Thanks for sharing!

Al.

[AstroJunk]

Stunning wide field composition, it's my image of the year and one (if not the) best eclipse sequences I have ever seen. A real celebration of outback Qld, and something to be very proud of.

'Onya Geoff :thumbsup:

[geoffsims]

Dave, Greg, Al - thanks so much!

Jonathan - I am seriously humbled by your comments and glad you enjoyed them... t h a n k y o u !!!

[Liz]

Wow, fabulous images Geoff!! :thumbsup:

[Moon]

Geoff - that's an awesome collection and a great looking location!
James

[AstroTourist]

Just what I would say Geoff.
You really have done justice to this fabuilous eclipse.
Your work is truly stunning.
Keep up the good work.
Rgds,
Terry

[Dennis]

A truly fantastic series – I really enjoyed the breathtaking diversity and drama of these – thanks for the views!

Cheers

Dennis

[colinmlegg]

Great collection, Geoff. Your eclipse chasing experience and passion really shows in the images. Well done mate!

[CapturingTheNight]

You already know how much I love these shots through FB, but I will say it again. Fantastic collection Geoff :thumbsup: All gorgeous captures that you should be very proud of.

[geoffsims]

Liz, James, Dennis - many many thanks!



Terry - this means a lot. We have corresponded about wide field eclipse imaging for a number of years, and indeed your shots have been a massive inspiration! I am sorry I missed you up there, I should have tried to track you down...



Thanks Colin! Was great we were able to catch up. I look forward to picking your brain more on how to best enhance my time lapse sequences!



Indeed! Thanks again for your support Greg!

[alexch]

Incredible set of images - you have covered the eclipse from every possible angle!
The moon shadow series is my favourite - the best so far.

Cheers,
Alex

[johnnyt123]

Hi Geoff

Just wondering how pic 5 is possible.

I don't believe it is possible to see prominences on both the superior aspect (at 3rd contact) and inferior aspect (at 2nd contact) without some heavy duty photo editing........

Nice pic overall though.....

[geoffsims]

Thanks Alex, I love the shadow sequence too! Every possible angle? I'm still missing the all-sky fisheye and SLR-timelapse, but I'm hoping between Colin & yourself you'll have at least the latter covered :-)



Johnny, I explained it on the website. You are correct though, it is a composite of two exposures: one taken 5 seconds after C2, and one 5 seconds before C3. I spliced the Sun/Moon in half and just blended them. It was not deliberately meant to be deceiving :-)

[johnnyt123]

Wow Geoff.

Just went through the images on your web page and I have to say they are very impressive!

You have great knowledge of photography and image processing.
Please excuse my earlier comment. I was just skimming through the 100's of pics posted on this website.

I liked your pics so much I bookmarked your webpage!

Just sad that the composition of the pic showing totality and the corona is cropped ......

But absolutely amazing photos.....

Thanks for sharing....

[colinmlegg]

Pity you didn't submit the 1st one to APOD sooner. imho, yours is better than the similar one that got selected. I was thinking of doing something similar to your shadow sequence with all my shadow footage. Will make a massive poster :lol:

btw, I have a 1/2 sky 180 fisheye shot. I prefer flat horizon.

[Phil Hart]

yikes! now that the full scale of your endeavours is apparent i am awe struck. that page is a goldmine for eclipse photography planning. if i could have my two minutes again i'd be doing a lot more of what you and colin managed to do so well. awesome images :thumbsup:

Phil

[multiweb]

:eyepop: So cool Geoff! You've certainly made the most of your time. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[iceman]

Incredible images, Geoff. You have set the bar very very high!

[geoffsims]

Johnny - no problem, you did well to point that out! Regarding the cut off corona: at all eclipses since my first one, and of all my cameras, the telephoto (500 mm) shots are always my lowest priority. Lots of people take these much better than I do (better optics, tracking, etc.) so I don't spend too much time perfecting these. Unfortunately in this instance, mine worked exceptionally well, but I mis-judged how much the Sun would drift (I was not using a tracking mount), and so parts of the corona were off the frame. I am very thankful the lunar silhouette remained inside the frame!

Colin - well I'm glad you think so! In my limited experience (or lack thereof, as it turns out!) of APOD is that for events like this, you really need you need to have your pics submitted within an hour of the event (ok, slight exaggeration) or you are much less likely to be selected. Not taking anything away the recent APODs by IIS members (which were awesome and very much worthy), nor Ben's sequence (I actually saw it on FB before I had started processing my pics, and almost fell off my chair it was so good!!!). Ben's no slouch when it comes to eclipse imaging, and he has a number of awesome wide field sequences from previous eclipses.

Marc, Mike - thanks!

Phil - thanks, and hopefully you & others may find it useful for future eclipses. I will post my EO scripts too. I'm not sure how obvious it is, but my setup was for the most part, exceedingly simple. Not to say it didn't require a lot of thought and planning, but once you learn what you need, you do not actually need to take 1000 shots during totality. My scripts were well spaced out, and I used one camera per laptop to avoid conflict. The other cameras basically ran by themselves. I used flimsy tripods, and not one tracking mount. Add to that a scenic location, and a bit of post-processing experience, and it all falls into place.

[Peter Ward]

Just superb Geoff!! I really enjoyed looking at the web page images.

Technically well handled with great composition.

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[geoffsims]

Thanks a lot, Peter!

[gary]

Hi Geoff,

Fabulous stuff!

The first one in particular is an absolute cracker!

I gather you flew in on the SkyTrans CNS -> EDR?

[geoffsims]

Correct Gary... And thanks for your comments.

[Shark Bait]

Thank you for sharing your photos. I could not make it to FNQ for the eclipse but your images give a sense of what it must have been like to be there in person. Superb!

[ChrisM]

Geoff, I've just caught up with the additional images that you posted, plus your website descriptions. The pics are stunning, and I especially like the wide angle sequence composition.

Thanks for sharing your work and the camera setting & processing details.

Chris

[KISA]

Beautiful/awesome shots, the first is my favorite. Well done.

[Paul Haese]

Now that you have added to the original shot I have to say I think the second to last shot (the compilation just after second contact and just before third contact is my favourite. Followed very closely by the first shot. I have definitely re-evaluated my next eclipse imaging wants after obtaining an extended corona shot. I think I am pretty interested in getting the moons shadow as you have and perhaps an animation. Very nice work.