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[OM] Astrophotography (Afterthoughts)

Subject: [OM] Astrophotography (Afterthoughts)
From: "Chris O'Neill" <chris@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2001 08:40:37 -0600
Well, that was ALOT fun!

We went out last night to try our luck again at taking pictures of the 
stars.  We drove about 35 kilometres NE of Edmonton (Gawd knows 
where the heck we were!), and found a quiet little spot surrounded by 
trees.  Got there right at 'bout midnight, the sky was as clear as a bell, 
and the weather was pleasantly warm with no wind, so we figured we'd 
get a good "show."

Frankly, we didn't see many meteors.  I saw a couple, and Cori saw a 
half dozen, and what we saw wasn't all that spectacular (short streaks, 
nothing like the couple we saw last winter).  That doesn't mean we didn't 
have a great time, though!

As I said, the sky was as clear as a bell, so we took lots of shots of the 
stars.  At around 1 am, the moon started coming up and, miraculously, 
at just about the same time we were treated to a very lovely northern 
lights display.  The moon rose right through the northern lights, with me 
popping pictures all the while.

As if that wasn't enough, once the moon got over the trees, we were 
suddenly serenaded by cayotes!  They couldn't have been too far off, 
either...  maybe 100 yards at most?  So, we finished our rolls of film 
while listening to the cayotes howl, got in the car, and came home.  The 
film goes in for processing today, so we'll know in a couple of days if our 
efforts were rewarded.  Doesn't matter, though...  we had a *wonderful* 
time whether or not any of the pictures turned out!

For the benefit of all, here's some lessons I learned on our little jaunt 
last night:

1.  Always *double check* the camera bag before leaving home!  Sadly, 
I forgot to bring a 50/1.8 (no big deal) and the tripod mount attachment 
for my Velbon tripod (*very* big deal!), so all of my shots were taken 
with the 35-70/3.5-4.5 with the camera sitting on the roof of the van.  I 
was very careful in trying not to giggle the camera (OM-1N with mirror 
locked up) when triggering/releasing the shutter.  We'll have to see if I 
was successful, but I'm buying a spare tripod attachment for the camera 
bag today!

2.  If you're going to take star shots, DO take along a lounge chair or 
something to lay on!  After I go to the camera store, I'm going by 
Canadian Tire and buying a couple of lounge chairs.  My neck is *very* 
stiff this morning!

3.  Check the batteries in the flashlight before heading out, and take 
spares!  We managed to get through without a problem, but that 
flashlight was getting darned dim by the time we were done.

4.  If you howl at the cayotes, they're *not* gonna howl back!  Actually it 
shuts them right up!  (They were probably sitting in the trees saying to 
themselves, "What the *hell* is that?!?!?)  :-)

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot....  The most important tips of all....

5.  No matter which direction your camera is pointing, the meteors will 
appear over your shoulder!  :-)))

And, the corollary to that one...

6.  It doesn't matter whether it's a 10 second or 5 minute exposure, as 
soon as you close the shutter the meteor will show up!  :-)))

Anyway, like I said, it was a "howling" good time and we'll see if we got 
any decent pictures out of it.  Thanks, again, to everyone who offered 
suggestions and encouragement!

Regards,

Chris

---
I'm *not* a Zuikoholic....  I'm a Zuikohobbyist!
Chris O'Neill (chris@xxxxxxxxx)
http://www.joinco.ca

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