Tag Archives: Canon EOS 450D

Electric Blue

I was playing about with the spark plugs on my cooker, and my Tamron 90mm macro lens. I’m quite pleased with the results. Unfortunately the sparks themselves are slightly out of focus. They looked OK on the camera’s screen and it wasn’t until I viewed them on the computer that I realised. Oh well, nextContinue reading “Electric Blue”

Solar System

A friend on Facebook pointed out that it was very clear outside tonight. I looked out of the window, and it was indeed – so I grabbed my telescope and decided to try harder at astrophotography (rather than plain old astronomy). In the past, stuff that has looked great through the eyepiece have been disappointingContinue reading “Solar System”

Flash in a chimney

I realised recently that I hardly use any flash in my photography. I’d like to improve my skills with artificial lighting and the only way is by practice. Trouble is, I’m not really interested in portraiture, which is the most common use for strobes. Today I was inspired after seeing some pictures of night landscapesContinue reading “Flash in a chimney”

On Troopers Hill at night

Tonight found me on top of Troopers Hill, which overlooks the city of Bristol. It’s about three miles from the centre, so it affords pretty spectacular views. Click this image below for a somewhat larger version, or inspect the really huge version. I also took this long-exposure shot of the chimney on the top ofContinue reading “On Troopers Hill at night”

Polaris, the pole star

I’ve taken star trail photos before, but this time I made a special effort to include Polaris, also known as the pole star or the North star. It is very close to the celestial North pole, meaning all the other stars appear to rotate around it. At first I was annoyed that two or threeContinue reading “Polaris, the pole star”

Jupiter II

Well after last night’s astrophotography session with a 400mm f/5.6 lens, and 3× teleconverter, I decided to try again with an even longer optical system. I rummaged a 700mm f/11 telescope and used the same 3× teleconverter, for an effective focal length of 2.1m. This provided almost twice the magnification of last night’s setup, albeitContinue reading “Jupiter II”

Jupiter

Last night the sky was clear and I noticed that Jupiter was shining brightly. I decided to try and take a photo of it. Being so far away, and not having a proper telescope, this is the best I could manage. It’s blurry but it’s clearly recognisable as everyone’s second-favourite red planet 😉 If youContinue reading “Jupiter”

The Tour of Britain 2011 – Exeter to Exmouth

For those that don’t know, I’m a cycling fan. Today, Stage 5 of the Tour of Britain set off from Exeter and meandered around Devon for 180km, before ending up at Exmouth. It was a roughly circular route, so we managed to see the race start at Exeter, pass by at Crediton, and finish atContinue reading “The Tour of Britain 2011 – Exeter to Exmouth”