For a long time IÂ haven been interested in night photography. This has included night shots in cities, and then I branched into shots of night sky. IÂ have now taken the next step, trying to learn a few things about astrophotography. It is a whole new world and a steep learning curve. One of the amazing things about astrophotography is that IÂ am now taking photos of things that we cannot see with our naked eye. The nebula and galaxies are simply not visible, and it takes effort to bring the photos to life.
First, the equipment. I mainly use the William Optics Zenithstar 73mm telescope, connected to the ZWO ASI294mc Pro astrophotography camera. These are mounted on the Sky Watcher HEQ5 Pro mount. And I use a William Optics 50mm guide telescope with the ZWO ASI 120mm mini guide camera. And all of this runs the ASI Air pro, which works well to connect everything and to manage stuff via an app from my iPhone. Just the equipment is an amazing set up.Â
Next, there is the phase to learn how to take the photos, how many to take, how long the exposure should be, what kind of gain one should use, and how to track all of this as the earth rotates. The digital camera saves files in a "fit" format. So, then there is the phase to figure out how to process the photos. I use a program called SiriL, which fortunately works on a Macintosh computer and also reads fit files. There's another part of the learning curve: stretching, calibrating, and getting the photos ready for editing.
And that is the final phase, learning how to edit the photographs. I mainly use Adobe Lightroom, Camera Raw, and Photoshop. And each of these has a learning curve, with specific tricks and procedures that apply to astrophotography, and which are fairly new to me too.
So, here's a photo of M42, the Orion Nebula. I took these shots from near Burnet, Texas. This is a stacked result of 30 images, each of which were shot at 120 seconds and with a gain of 120.Â
M42 Orion Nebula from near Burnet, Texas, zwo 294, Zenithstar 73, 120sec, Gain 120, 30 stacked images.
I just returned from a 3 night stay at Africa on Foot Safari in Klaserie Game Preserve in South Africa. This is my second chance to be on a photo safari, and this time my wife Tonia was able to come with me too. Our guides Enoch and Mauritz were awesome, taking us on both vehicle drives and bush walks. It's one thing to see a rhinoceros from a vehicle, and it is a completely different sensation to see one out in the bush when you happen to stumble on to him during a walk.
Let me give you 4 brief examples of what made this experience so delightful. First, we ran across a pack of 9-10 wild dogs. They were circling a giraffe who had a young baby by her side. In the end they couldn't get to the baby, but by then they were pretty hyper, and they moved on to a nearby herd of impalas. It was great fun to see them spread out, move on in, and to then see the impalas react. The dogs focused on one who got separated from the rest, and as the impala darted in front of us, a dog was in right behind him. We didn't see a catch, but it was a pleasure to watch the chaos of predator and prey. Second, we saw a similar thing when later that evening we stumbled across a leopard who was stalking a different herd of impalas. Low to the grow, soft and slow, once again we were witnesses to the frantic chase.Â
The next morning we also met up with a pack of hyenas who were enjoying the spoils, once again an impala, most likely captured by a leopard, but taken over by the hyenas. Hearing the hyenas moan, bark, cry, scream, and who knows whatever word you attach to their bizarre sounds is one of the coolest sounds. The photo hear captures a few of these hyenas "sharing" bits and pieces of the impala. And not far from this feeding was a giraffe, whose baby was already dead. The hyenas were going to eat well today, impala for breakfast and giraffe for lunch. The mother giraffe still hadn't left the baby, but the hyenas were willing to wait things out, and in the meantime the number of vultures, eagles, and jackals kept increasing as well. Later that day we returned to the site and indeed the mother giraffe was gone, and the hyenas were again eating.
After three days we still hadn't seen any lions, but then at 3:00am our guide Enoch knocks on the door at the bottom of our tree house, "Orlando, come quick. The lions have arrived and they have just killed a zebra." We hopped in the vehicle, and two minutes later we were side by side with a pride of 10 lions, who all seemed pretty content to ignore us as the chomped down on zebra.
No doubt, anyone who has been on a photo safari will have their own version of their story to tell. However in this case, this story is 'my story.' And all of the emotion and thrill of experiencing the sightings is rolled up in the photo that doesn't just show the story, but causes me to feel it again. Gotta love what photography does, both to enhance the experience and to relive the moment.
PS Here are some words in Shangaan that IÂ learned from out guide Enoch:
inkomo - thank you
shinene -Â very much
abushene - good morning
kunjane? -how are you doing?
dikona - fine
ai fambe - let's go
ai ji - let's eat
langota - look
laya - there
la - here
ingala, tingala - lion, pride of lions
inyare, tinyare - elephant, herd of elephants
melembre - white rhino
masoloa - wild dogs
I remember calling the reception desk at Quinault Lodge, "Am I crazy to come to the rainforest in January?" The kind lady answered, "No sir, we'll be able to give you lots of personal attention because almost nobody else is here at that time." And of course my comment to her was, "Well maybe there is a reason why nobody else is crazy enough to go to the rainforest in January!" Turns out that there is something pretty spectacular to walking in the rain, in a rainforest, practically alone, catching sight of Roosevelt Elk and Bald Eagles. So the secret is out, get to Olympic National Forest and enjoy a whole new winter experience. Â
This photo was taken near Pony Bridge, a delightful hike from Graves Creek Rd along the Quinault River. I can almost guarantee that this one will leave you feeling inspired.
Nikon D5500, Tamron 18-55mm @ 18mm, 1.30sec, f/10, ISO 2500.
It's hard for me to believe that it was forty years ago, in 1977, I first went to Brazil as a Mormon missionary.  I do make it back to São Paulo now and again, and I have been to a number of other parts of Brazil over the years. Today, however, was my first trip back to São Paulo since adding photography to my list of hobbies.  For months I have anticipated taking night shots of São Paulo.  First night here, and as luck would have it, I am staying at a hotel near Avenida Paulista that has a 25th floor viewing area.
It's equally hard to describe the feeling and emotion that I have for São Paulo. It's a love/hate relationship where love wins out every time. It's easy to freak out about the size, the traffic, the chaos, and the threats of violence. But it is also a city with amazing hidden gems of green spaces, incredible restaurants with foods of every imaginable type, and pulse and pace that imitates the beautiful intonation of Brazilian Portuguese. Â
The photo was taken looking north from near Avenida Paulista, towards the old center and Sé.  Nikon D5500, Rokinon 24mm 2.5sec, f/5.6, ISO 200.  Normally I shoot night shots with Auto White Balance, and every so often I switch to Incandescent. For some reason I'm liking the bluer tones for the night shots in São Paulo.
I would assume that anyone who dabbles with photography looks forward to their first safari experience. Â Months of anticipation came true when I was able to spend three days and two nights at Quatermain's 1920's Safari at Amakhala Game Preserve in South Africa. Â Our guides Lunghi and Jenna took me on 4 separate drives, each one between 3 and 4 hours long. Â The Quatermain has three tents, and gives one an experience away from lights, internet, and all of the other things that distract. Â They also provide evening dinners and the "old-fashioned safari experience." Â For me it was the perfect way to experience a photo safari.
I tried something new and carried two cameras with me, my Nikon D5000 with a Sigma 150mm-600mm and my wife Tonia's Nikon D5300 with a Tamron 18mm-200mm. Â It made it easy to have both the zoom and wide angle option. Â Together I took hundreds of shots, and saw hundreds of animals. The shot that accompanies this blog post was of one of the White Rhinos that was in the preserve. Â I knew that I'd love seeing the elephants, giraffes, lions, buffalo and zebras. Â I was unprepared for the emotional excitement at seeing the Rhinos, it was thrilling. Perhaps the most exciting for me personally was to see cheetahs. Â On one drive we saw a mother cheetah with her four cubs and then in a subsequent drive we saw the male cheetah in the brush, what a fantastic sensation.
Additionally, I was able to take night shots of the milky way, under some of the darkest skies I have ever experienced in my life. Â The milky way from the southern hemisphere is sensational, just spectacular. Â It was riveting. Â On both evenings I spent time gazing up into the sky, enjoying the view of all of the less familiar stars of the southern hemisphere. Â I believe that the northern hemisphere has more constellations, but the southern hemisphere has more impressive milky way. Â
Anyone who knows me, as a linguist and foreign language educator, knows that I love the sounds of new languages. Â The safari was also my first experience to spend time with Xhosa speakers (bring on the clicks)! Â So, in addition to the photography, here are the Xhosa words that I learned on this trip (thanks Lunghi and Jenna).
Hello â molo
Goodbye â hamba garhle
Good night â lala garhle
Thank you â enkosi
Letâs XXX â mas XXX
How are you doing? â njani
I am fine. â dipilile
Hurry up - baleka
Sleep â lala
Go â hamba
Go home â hamba ikhaya
See â jonga
Stop â misa
Talk â thetha
Drink â puza, sela
Home â ikhaya
Onwabile â happy
Meat â inyama
Water â amanzi
Here â apha
Where â phi
Now â ngoku
There â phaya
A little bit â kannini
Lion â ingonyama
Elephant â indlovu
Rhino, white â umkhombe
Rhino, black - beijan
Buffalo â inyathi
Giraffe â indlulamthi
Hippo â imvubu
Zebra â iqwarha
Tortoise â ufudo
Cheetah (leopard) â ihlosi
Animal â ynamazan
Leopard â inwe
There are some shots that you wait for and anticipate for for a long time. Â That's how I felt about this shot of Manhattan, from Brooklyn. Â For months I knew that we'd be heading to Manhattan, and the whole time I'm thinking, "Oh, we've got to head over to Brooklyn at dusk and then get a night shot looking back over the harbor." Â It was January, it was pretty cold outside, but we arrived, braved the cold, enjoyed the sunset, and then started taking night shots. Â I love my Rokinon 24mm wide angle lens. Â I think of it as the poor-man's light soaker. I do have to admit, however, that the short distance over the harbor and the size of Manhattan made this a difficult shot. Â It would have been nicer to have a little wider angle. My wife Tonia was shooting at 18mm with the Tamron 18mm-200mm zoom. Â The Tamron doesn't soak in the light like the Rokinon does, but I did like the wider angle she was getting. I'm learning that night shots with auto white balance give me a natural looking color, with less of the blues that come out with incandescent settings. Â Still, I love how this shot still shows a blue color in the sky.
I also need to thank Tonia for being willing to brave the winter air. After we took this shot we actually walked together over the Brooklyn bridge, at night, with the cold. It was a beautiful walk with crisp vibrant colors all around us, gorgeous.
Nikon D5500 Rokinon 24mm, 1sec, f/4.5, ISO 400.
I lived in the Bay Area while going to school at Berkeley, this was from 1985-1989. Â I don't make it back all that often. Â Recently I was back in San Francisco, all by myself, and had time to spare. I walked all the way from Embarcadero to the Golden Gate Bridge, arriving a little before sunset. I have thought about taking a photo of the Golden Gate bridge at night for a long time, and it was exciting to see the clouds roll in, feel the mist in the air, watch the reflections of the lights, appreciate the colors, and dang it, hope that I could capture a little of it in a photograph.
Here's the result, and it felt good to see this one come to life.
Nikon D5300, Rokinon 24mm, 2sec, f/7.1, ISO 200