On my way home from teaching last night (I’m currently in the middle of my 5-week Digital SLR class at the Cass Career Center), I was very pleased to see clear skies and stars all around. I had been planning on photographing the peak of the Orionid meteor shower (last night), if the weather would cooperate with me. Living in a very rural area has both advantages and disadvantages. Catching splendid meteor showers is on the advantage side of the list! So, about 11:30 pm last night, set my tripod and camera up, on my back deck, which would be looking high into the sky where the Orionids should appear. Using a timer/controller, I set up to take photos all evening (actually, morning) long. After setting things up, I went back inside and made it to my warm bed (yes, some people say I “cheat”, setting the camera up and then abandoning it for my comfortable bed. But I say I’m using modern technology to it’s fullest!).
When I awoke the next morning, my first task was to retrieve the camera and check the CF card to see what I had caught. As things go, and true to Murphy’s Laws, not long after image capture began, clouds started streaming in. No meteors (at least from what I could see), but I did manage to capture a few interesting shots of clouds streaming through the area:
And the small “dashes” were the beginning of star trails. I always love setting up for astrophotography (shooting things in our heavens). You never know what you will capture, but it usually is not what you were looking for! :o)
Photo Equipment Used:
- Canon 1D Mark III body
- Canon 28mm – 135mm IS lens (IS turned “Off”), set at 135mm
- Bogen 3221 Tripod, with Kirk Ent. HD ballhead
- ISO 400
- Aperture f/5.6
- Shutter speed 118 seconds (programmed into the timer/controller, with a 3-minute pause between images so that all previous image data would be written to the CF card before the next exposure began)
By the way, I’m working on a quick, intense project for the next 2-3 days. I may have only limited time to blog, tweet or post on Facebook. So, if you miss me for a day or so, please know I am working hard at capturing some more interesting images to share!