Jonathan

Church of St Mary and St Peter, Winford

After excitedly writing about my new project, the Somerset Towers, I got off to a few weekends ago by visiting five churches. I chose some of the easiest ones to begin with, and started near Bristol. One of my first visits was the Church of St Mary and St Peter, Winford. I was lucky enoughContinue reading “Church of St Mary and St Peter, Winford”

Full spectrum camera conversion

This article is about exploring the world of light our eyes cannot see, using a modified digital SLR camera. I have a physics degree but I’m still finding my way with the practical applications of infrared and ultraviolet, so this article is mostly written from a theoretical point of view. Take everything I say withContinue reading “Full spectrum camera conversion”

More deep-sky astrophotography

After a successful first attempt with my new telescope, I decided to book a day off work, spent all night in Somerset and all day sleeping it off. I had lots of fun and I learnt an enormous amount – even if it did get quite chilly by 2am. I was paying more attention toContinue reading “More deep-sky astrophotography”

Chew Stoke

Last weekend, while I was out and about in Somerset photographing churches for my project, I saw this arched bridge over a ford in Chew Stoke. No further explanation necessary; it’s a pretty scene! Horseman 980 camera with 65mm f/5.6 lens. Exposure 1/15 at f/11 on Ilford FP4+ with orange filter.

First light part 2

This morning I published a picture of the Andromeda galaxy, with some notes about my method a vow to improve my technique. I pondered the image processing and decided to have another go this afternoon. This is the same dataset, but different processing. It’s a colour image and unfortunately shows some light pollution, although IContinue reading “First light part 2”

First light: GSO imaging Newtonian telescope

Hot on the heels of my recent post about telescopes for imaging, in this post I’d like to share with you the very first image taken with my new GSO 6″ f/5 imaging Newtonian – which was funded by selling my two previous telescopes and a couple of camera lenses. Tonight was the first clearContinue reading “First light: GSO imaging Newtonian telescope”

Finding the perfect astro imaging setup

Well, “perfect” is a strong word. No matter what you’ve got, there’s always something better. This article is about my hunt for some suitable equipment for deep-space astro-imaging, inspired by the recent purchase of a new telescope for imaging. Ideally I’d be out using it right now, but it’s forecast to be cloudy until furtherContinue reading “Finding the perfect astro imaging setup”

Longleat Safari Park VIP Tour

For the second part of our honeymoon, Hannah and I went to Longleat Safari Park, where we had booked a VIP Tour. We’ve been to the safari park before, for the traditional bus tour but this time we wanted to get up close with the animals in a 4×4 and have a private guide toContinue reading “Longleat Safari Park VIP Tour”

A comparison of focal lengths

I know everyone who has several lenses for their camera does a comparison, but that isn’t going to stop me from having a go too. Here is the same view, seen through every compatible lens in my collection. I decided to use my Canon FD manual focus gear as I have most lenses for that,Continue reading “A comparison of focal lengths”

Somerset Towers project

I’ve always enjoyed photographing old churches, especially rural ones that I’ve stumbled across in Somerset (St Etheldreda in West Quantoxhead is my favourite so far). For a little while I’ve been meaning to get round to seeking out more churches and having a series of outings. A couple of weeks ago I happened to learn aboutContinue reading “Somerset Towers project”