Three shot panorama, stitched by hand in Photoshop. It's my first manual stitch, and it came out surprisingly well even though the 10 second exposure times, along with 10 second self timer to avoid camera shake, as well as time spent reposition the camera, both the clouds and the moon had moved considerably inbetween shots.

Not quite obvious in this picture, but the moon is still partly eclipsed. The top of the moon's disc is just barely outside of the shadow.

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Images no. DSC_1593, DSC_1594 and DSC_1595

Two second exposure right after the previous image.

I would really like to be able to show more detail, but either the D40x is unable to capture the level of detail, or I need a bigger tele. The RAW images I took didn't turn out any better. Then again I haven't really had much practice with this yet.

Two young lads, around nine or so, and their dog stopped to see what I was doing.

After I explained what was happening to the Moon, I directed them towards the Big Dipper; they knew the shape but had only ever seen it in pictures, and they were able to tell Mizar and Alcor apart. They'd never noticed the Milky Way before, or the slanted W in the sky that is Cassiopeia. Jupiter shone like a little red dot west of the Moon, which was pretty cool. And a look at the moon, half covered by Earth's shadow, through the binoculars that I'd brought along, showed it like the sphere that it really is, rather than just a flat yellow chunk of cheese. I think they discovered that the sky is a cool thing even when it isn't on TV.

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Image no. DSC_1537

At 10:40 the same night, only a portion of the moon still remained in the half-shade. It didn't go all the way in; a sliver of moon arc stayed brilliantly lit compared to the shadow parts.

Crop from 200mm tele-zoom, 1/10 second at ISO 100, properly mounted on a tripod this time.

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Image no. DSC_1530

On the evening of August 16th, exactly two weeks after the solar eclipse in my previous post, and after hardly any mention at all in the media, I accidentally discovered that a considerable portion of the Moon had gone missing. Thanks to colleague Kim for pointing that out.

Almost precisely 10pm, the moon was already completely within the half-shade of the Earth, and had started its descent into the core shadow.

Crop from 200mm tele-zoom supported on windowsill at work just before heading home. 1/80 second at ISO 400 due to lack of tripod.

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Image no. DSC_1516

This one is fresh off the camera, taken at maximum at about 11:34am here a bit west of Oslo, Norway.

(Cropped down to 1200×800 from a full 10Mpix original)

Used a 200mm telezoom and a pair of solar eclipse protection eyeglasses in front of the lens, covering the gaps with my fingers. I noticed afterwards that I fudged up a bit and forgot about the ISO, which was at 400. At 1/320 sec shutter time I could at least have afforded 200, or perhaps even 100.

Anyway, this is as far as it went around here. Anyone who wanted to see totality would have to be at Kvitøya, Svalbard, at 11:47 today. If you weren't, then I'm afraid you're too late.

“Fly me to the moon”
Those with a few bobs extra to spend could book a seat on a plane that followed the shadow of totality as it swept across the Earth, increasing the time of totality by about 31 seconds.
Link (Norwegian text)

DSC_1400c.jpg

A bit more detail from the previous post.

Same photo on Flickr

My first ever photo of lightning!

Was driving home from work just after 10pm last night when I saw this huge thunderstorm building up and moving towards where I live. Lightning bolts went off at five second intervals, and I decided to try a shot or two.

Set up the tripod at the nearby school where I had a good view of it all, and set the shutter for 30 seconds. Once the shutter clicked and the pic was taken, buckets of water started to pour down and I had to choose between running for shelter or watching the camera drown.

Close-up of the lightning bolts here.

Same photo on Flickr

One of the seagulls hovering over the ferry from Horten to Moss, on our way to the Bay of Pigs (Svinesund in Sweden, not Cuba).

July 17th.

Same game as this one, but these are my moneys, not the bankses'. My preciousss!

And the gates doing their ding-ding thing.

Looks like it's almost standing still. I was hoping for vapour trails, but the shutter was too fast. Need practice.

I might say that I was riding into the sunset on my white horse the other day, but truth is that I was driving into it in my white car. Slightly less romantic in its presentation but, allowing for the fact that I'm nowhere near a prairie and I've never owned a horse, it doesn't change the fact that it was still a pretty darn nice looking sunset. Had to stop and take a picture.

The midnight sun is only available above the Arctic Circle, and we're nowhere near it. However, at almost 60°N the sun is still so close to the horizon that it never gets darker than this. And even on a clear night as you see here, it's so bright that there's not a star in sight.

Tonight is summer solstice, June 21st. From now on it gets a bit darker every night.

Arthur C. Clarke lived to be 90 years old, and died in Sri Lanka last Wednesday, March 19th, 2008.

Another one of my favourite authors gone to follow such names as Isaac Asimov, Douglas Adams and J. R. R. Tolkien.

Thank you for H.A.L., for the Monolith, for long journeys into the darkness of Space and the depths of the oceans, for making the beauty of fractals comprehensible, and for The Songs of Distant Earth.

Could you perhaps help us settle a minor dispute?

It's about these two pictures of NJ. The problem is that she hates them. And I mean she really hates them to bits. She thinks they're awful and that she looks horrible and ugly in them. She wants them deleted, burnt and buried, not necessarily in that order. And she hates me for taking them.

I'm of the opposite opinion. I think she looks great in them. In fact I think they're two of the best portraits I've taken, period. They're quite spontaneous, and by luck I captured one of her best angles, caught some really warm, soft facial light, and brought out her eyes quite the way I like. And I managed to catch her slightly off guard too, which is a good thing because she's one of those people who kind of freeze up when they're aware that there's a camera around, so you get those awkward and not at all flattering poses and expressions. If I ever make a portfolio of my best shots, those two are going to be in it.

Oh, and yes, she is probably going to kill me for posting them ;-)

So please, tell her what you think. Give your comments and your honest opinion. In short, help me out and tell her that she looks pretty. The life you save could be mine ;-)

Minor photoshopping for contrast, and for blurring the edges of the pictures.

Could you perhaps help us settle a minor dispute?

It's about these two pictures of NJ. The problem is that she hates them. And I mean she really hates them to bits. She thinks they're awful and that she looks horrible and ugly in them. She wants them deleted, burnt and buried, not necessarily in that order. And she hates me for taking them.

I'm of the opposite opinion. I think she looks great in them. In fact I think they're two of the best portraits I've taken, period. They're quite spontaneous, and by luck I captured one of her best angles, caught some really warm, soft facial light, and brought out her eyes quite the way I like. And I managed to catch her slightly off guard too, which is a good thing because she's one of those people who kind of freeze up when they're aware that there's a camera around, so you get those awkward and not at all flattering poses and expressions. If I ever make a portfolio of my best shots, those two are going to be in it.

Oh, and yes, she is probably going to kill me for posting them ;-)

So please, tell her what you think. Give your comments and your honest opinion. In short, help me out and tell her that she looks pretty. The life you save could be mine ;-)

Minor photoshopping for contrast, and for blurring the edges of the pictures.

The melting shows results. There's a patch of ground peeking through, the size of a small child's footprint. This could mean that spring is coming.

(Wednesday, February 27th)

Update: More and more land is showing through the masses of ice just in the last couple of days. Can't be long now before it's all cleared. And here I've gone and bought a set of snow chains just to make sure I don't get stuck. Typical! :-þ

A small creek running across the driveway. Melt-water needs somewhere to go.

(Wednesday, February 27th)

Due to popular demand – yes, Molly, I'm talking about you ;) – here's another few shots of my front yard in its glacial state.

One of the best ways to make grip on an icy driveway is to throw sand on it. Downside to that is that when the ice melts, the sand sinks into it and you're slipping again. However, when the ice melts enough it sort of catches up with the sand and you get grip again. Until it melts more so the sand sinks further, and you have a very interesting cycle of grip or slip. It's a good habit to check before you try to drive your car on it.

Or you can buy snow chains just to be on the safe side.

(Saturday, February 23rd)

A crack in the ice on the corner. The ice is as thick as six inches or 15cm in some places.

How many drinks would I be able to keep cool with all this ice? You do the maths.

(Tuesday, January 15th)

Let me add to this that I got out of and back into the garden quite safely, as did my car. A layer of sand and gravel works wonders even on the most slippery of slopes. Not recommended for those faint of heart or high on temper, though. One false move and you'll be picking your vehicle out of the bushes, or yourself from a wet and unpleasant landing.

The condition of the ice right in front of the car. Those are ripples on the water. Depth about 1/4 inch or 5mm, friction close to or actually below nil. Breaking action nonexistent, maneuverability on the far side of getting nowhere fast.

Let me put it like this: I'm quite prepared to take the bus to work on days like this one.

(Tuesday, January 15th)