Thanks Santa!

[Mickoid (Michael)]

Clear night Christmas Eve here in Melbourne decided to set the Nano Tracker up with the modded Canon 550d and 50-200mm Sigma lens to take a shot of the Carina Nebula. I didn't check all my subs and just did a quick process to find our mate Santa had hijacked one of them. Thanks Santa! Might have another go tomorrow, should be free of low flying traffic by then.

[Paulyman (Paul)]

Ha love it. I showed my niece a similar shot today on Facebook and she just looked at me shocked. She said “does Santa fly in space!?”.

[Mickoid (Michael)]

Thanks Paul, glad you got some enjoyment from it. Aren't kids great with their comments and observations, they see things for what they are and don't read too much into it. If only we could hold onto that innocence and acceptance as we grow older but in this changing world we have to learn not to believe all we hear and see. Kids make Christmas a happier time, great to have them around on the day. Merry Christmas to you and all our forum followers!

Now, I actually did shoot the Carina nebula on Christmas eve because the night was so clear without the moon and I increased the saturation to bring out the 'Christmas colours'. 15 x 90 second subs with the Nano Tracker on a Manfrotto tripod using a Sigma 50-200mm lens @ 200mm f 5.6, 800 iso, modded Canon 550d. Bortle 6 skies.

[Atmos (Colin)]

Geez, with 90s subs Santa must have been near motionless

[Mickoid (Michael)]

You're right Colin, good pick up. He obviously had just made a delivery and was climbing to top speed, I must have caught him before he'd reached cruising altitude. There's a lot of weight on board with all those presents!

[Outcast (Carlton)]

Love it...

[RyanJones]

Classic Michael. Love it. I look forward to showing this to my son tomorrow.

[Ant0nio (Tony)]

Haha, nicely done Mick. the second one is a cracker.
Cheers,
Tony

[Anth10 (Anthony M)]

Very creative Mick - shorter subs next time on Santa’s sleigh to sharpen it up a bit hehehe...

[Mickoid (Michael)]

Originally Posted by Anth10

Very creative Mick - shorter subs next time on Santa’s sleigh to sharpen it up a bit hehehe...

Come on Anthony, if I'd known he was going to fly past my field of view, of course I would have decreased the exposure. This was an exposure set for the Carina nebula not for a possible apparition of Santa!

Originally Posted by Ant0nio

Haha, nicely done Mick. the second one is a cracker.
Cheers,
Tony

Thanks Tony, the first one was lighter to make Santa stand out a bit more, just a bit of fun on the day to add to the Christmas cheer. Glad you liked it.

Originally Posted by RyanJones

Classic Michael. Love it. I look forward to showing this to my son tomorrow.

Good to know you enjoyed it Ryan, hope your son got a laugh out of it too.

Originally Posted by Outcast

Love it...

Pleased to get the thumbs up, thanks Carlton.