These were all made just after sunset. With the help of a strong neutral-density filter, I made loooooong exposures (3-8 seconds) that rendered the moving lights, without blowing-out the sky.
Long Exposures of the Rides At McIntire Park
Posted in 5DMII, Long exposures on April 13, 2013 by budbranchMoonset/Moonrise
Posted in 5DMII, Available Light, sky on March 30, 2013 by budbranchNice Moon compositions are possible at dawn or dusk – other times it is just too bright (it’s like trying to image a headlight at night). The first one of these is an exception: it was rising in the east an hour after sunset, but there were clouds that dimmed it and provided a light, even background. All these were all shot at 200mm off a tripod. I took a lot of care with focus and took measures to eliminate camera-shake. The images were all cropped-in severely to achieve the “big Moon” composition (see the last frame). And note that I made over 70 frames in order to collect a few “keepers”. -BB
Pan-STARRS 3-12-13
Posted in 5DMII, Astrophotography on March 12, 2013 by budbranch
This comet is impossible to see with naked eyes!! And this Moon was just a sliver, so a half-hour after sunset I was still searching, searching… I never did see the comet directly – only by reviewing images on the back of my camera did I finally see where it was and started composing these images. It was cold. And windy. The last frame was a 3-second exposure – notice the wild gyrations of the passing aircraft (that was my camera shaking in the wind!).
00 Steel Wool Burning
Posted in 5DMII, Long exposures on March 2, 2013 by budbranchMany sparks, close together. 30 second exposure, started a little fire. Steel wool is surprisingly combustible!
Chihuly Exhibit
Posted in Canon S95 on February 2, 2013 by budbranchWe took in the Chihuly exhibit at the Va Museum of Fine Art today. I checked my camera/tripod and made these frames with my pocket camera…
Integrated Circuit Macro
Posted in 5DMII, Macro on January 27, 2013 by budbranchThe cold weather has me shooting inside: I broke open a CPU from a cast-off PC (used a bench vise and a hammer…), and made this image off a tripod using a 100mm f/2.8 macro + extension tubes. That’s the head of a straight-pin for scale.
Bud Branch 