Friday, July 17, 2020

NEOWISE at the CJ Brown Marina



One of my planned shooting sessions for NEOWISE was to feature the CJ Brown Marina in the foreground. Using the Photo Pills App and Stellarium, I was able to determine the best point of view for the image I wanted. 
We arrived at the marina a bit before sundown, and watched as some boat returned to dock. 



Once the sun set, we began to see stars. The comet was fainter than the previous week, but I was able to find it by doing a wide angle shot and zooming in on the camera's LCD screen. Once found, we could actually see it with our naked eyes. I used my Olympus Zuiko 300F4 to get some tele pics. I used the Olympus Live Time mode to watch my image develop on the screen and I stopped the exposure when I reached the exposure I wanted. 


Using the Olympus EM1 Mark3 and the Panasonic 8-18mm lens, I did two Live Time images....one exposing for the comet, and the other exposing for the marina. The two were combined in PSCC by adding the comet layer to the marina layer in layer mode "lighten."
Overall, I was pleased with the final image....



Monday, July 13, 2020

Comet NEOWISE Over CJ Brown Reservoir


Comet NEOWISE can be seen this month in the northeast sky from about 3:30am until sunrise.
I planned to shoot it over CJ Brown Reservoir, hoping to catch the lake's glow and the marina lights.
We arrived about 03:40, and this shot was taken at 03:53. 
I used the Olympus EM1 Mark3 in Starry Sky mode for both shots. The first was taken using the Panasonic 8-18mm lens at F. 2.8. Exposure was 3.2 seconds at iso 2000. The wide angle allowed me to capture some of the rocky shoreline in the foreground. 


This shot was taken with the Zuiko 300mm lens at F4, and again at iso 2000 for a 3.2 second exposure.