Tuesday, December 22, 2020

Jupiter and Saturn Conjunction 12/21/2020

 One of the biggest astrological events this year is the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn on December 21.....the Winter Solstice.
This event happens about every 800 years, but 400 years ago it occurred during daylight hours and thus was not visible.  
While many folks were calling tis a "Christmas Star," it was not. However, it may have been interpreted as one in years past. 
My initial thoughts were to try to photograph the conjunction from our property, but the horizon is not easily visible. This conjunction was low on the horizon, and only visible from just after sunset until Jupiter drops below the horizon at about 7:30pm. Prime time to photograph being about 6:30. 
In order to visualize the horizon, I decided to try a couple locations at Buck Creek State Park on 12/20/2020 when we had clear skies. I found that at all of my potential locations did not have clear views, and decided to photograph from Old Reid Park using the ponds as foreground. 
This landscape view, using the Olympus EM1 Mark3 and Leic 8-18mm lens, shows the location of the conjunction in perspective to the waning crescent moon.  


Using switched to the Olympus Zuiko 300mm lens. The Olympus Starry Sky autofocus mode allowed me to lock focus quickly and accurately on Jupiter and Saturn. 


We returned the following night at about the same time on 12/21/2020....the Winter Solstice. 
Skies weren't friendly, with almost complete cloud cover. We decided to stay for a bit, and about 6:30, the clouds broke for about 15 minutes. 


Sunday, November 22, 2020

Moon-Saturn Jupiter Conjuncture

 A conjuncture of the Moon, Saturn and Jupiter took place last week....November 18-21. 
I planned this shoot in Photo Pills....I wanted to capture the conjuncture with the CJ Brown Dam in the foreground. 
I'm pleased with the image. It's a double exposure....exposure one was a 4 second exposure to capture detail in the lake and foreground. The second exposure was a 1/20 second exposure which was spot metered on the moon. This was to be able to capture some details in the moon's surface as well as to get the earthshine of the dark aspect of the moon. 




Screech Owl at Buck Creek

Our familiar friend has returned again to Buck Creek State Park.
Actually, he is likely there year 'round, but in the winter months we see him roosted in a tree. This is the 4th year we've seen him (maybe her) in this location. Always a treat!!





Saturday, November 14, 2020

Buck Creek State Park

 A little afternoon drive at Buck Creek yielded some nice encounters.....







Thursday, October 22, 2020

October Camping at Hocking Hills State Park

 We camped at Hocking Hills State Park for a few nights to enjoys the fall colors. 
I wanted to visit the John Glenn Astrology Park, which is only a few miles from the state park, but the weather did not cooperate, and we didn't have clear night skies until our last night. Rather than drive, we stayed in the campgrounds and shot some night images. 
The crescent moon was showing some earthshine, and Jupiter was visible as well. 
This shot is a double exposure using the Olympus EM1 Mark3 and the Panasonic/Leica 8-18mm lens in Starry Sky mode. 





Hocking Hills Birds

A few Hocking Hills State Park birds.
 








Sunday, October 11, 2020

Water Sports on a Windy Day

I stopped by the beach area at CJ Brown this windy afternoon looking for migratory birds.
Instead, I found some different birds....and airborn they were!
The beach waters were being used by some kite-boarders to fly high and fast across the water. I was amazed and in awe of their skills! Here are a few images, and the full gallery is here (if you guys see these, you can open the gallery and download any you want).