The sky was very clear the other night, perfect for star trails! Mars is the very bright streak on the right side of the above photo. I got really lucky with this first image! In the upper left corner you can barely see three faint streaks running perpendicular to the stars. (Right click to view a slightly larger image.) I am not sure exactly what they are but they took approximately 90 seconds to travel the recorded paths. (Maybe iridium flares from orbiting satellites?) Below you can see Polaris at the center of the star trails. It looks like a stationary point but it is not true celestial North so there is a little bit of wobble.
stk Astro-photo, Night Mars, Night Sky, Polaris, Shooting Stars, Star Trails
We were out on Wednesday night for a quickie shoot. My original plan was to explore the yacht harbor and moorings but my timing was off. I was a little late. This area is probably one of the most overly photo’d on the island of Oahu. BUT, it was still a beautiful sunset and moonrise – I never get tired of those. 
This image was made by doing a “vert-o-rama” with a Nikkor 28mm Perspective Control lens: my most favorite lens for serious landscape shooting.
stk Night, Panorama Ala Wai, Harbor, Moon, Night, Rise, Waikiki
I met up with cuzin: J.T. – on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday – for a photo walk around Kapiolani Community College and Waikiki. (“Sanpo kata gata” is a Japanese term for: “while taking a walk/stroll”. I know everyone uses “osanpo” or “osampo” but that is boring!) The weather was awesome and JT has been looking for some lens upgrades for her Nikon kit. I don’t need “an excuse” to toss some glass into my bag and run out the door – that was TWO! You can click on the photo above to view a gallery of photos from our photo walk, please do.
We swapped between three lenses that day: Nikkor 10.5mm DX Fisheye, Sigma 12-24mm DG HSM, and the Sigma 150mm DG Macro. I was shooting full frame and JT was on DX cropped sensor. Say what you like about “third party” lenses; I love those two Sigma’s! Did I mention that the Sigma 12-24 is a full frame lens? 
NO ONE else has anything to match – not even Nikon (at the moment). The Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 is a phenomenal lens but it is also bigger, heavier, twice as expensive, and it “sees less”: 114 degrees for the Nikon vs. 122 degrees for the Sigma. (These are aspherical super wide zooms. IE: in general, horizontal and vertical lines stay almost perfectly straight.) Although the corner light fall-off for the Sigma is much heavier. So, one could argue that the Nikkor has just as much “usable field of view”. Personally, I have grown to appreciate the in-camera vignette – saves me a step in post… hehe.
stk Galleries, Nature Afternoon, Cactus, Evening, Garden, KCC, Sanpo, Sunset, Waikiki
I hope everyone had a great holiday season! “Twenty ten”, that sounds nice. 
I enjoyed the movie. Let us hope that this reality will be just as good.
I’ve been playing catch up for the last 30, or so, days. I have way too many photos to sort through… (-3-) I am most excited to go through those from our last trip to Japan. That is my, “dangling carrot”. (I am working towards that.) Please be patient, there will be a bunch of galleries in the near future. In the mean time, check out Chad’s Flickr. He has his latest photo selections, from Japan, online. (I gotta lose weight!) (~3~;)
I wish everyone the best for 2010! Aloha!!
stk Random Musings Night Sky, Star Trails
Our last day in Tahoe was spent at leisure. As I mentioned in my previous post, we were supposed to drive back out to Reno-Stead but decided it was not worth the time/distance. I am very glad we decided to stay in Tahoe.
The night before we stopped on the Nevada side of the lake. The sky was pretty clear and light pollution was not too bad. It was better for the star gazing but the moon was not out. I’d definitely like to return and do more night time photo exploring with various phases of the moon. (I know it’s been done but i gotta see it with my own eyes — IRL, as it were.)
We had a little visitor in the night. I had seen some evidence on the floor, in the way of dust fallen from the rafters. I actually said out load, “I think we may have a squirrel or chipmunk…” Then, Chad said, “Oh, I think there is a moth. I heard it flapping around last night.” Immediately, I knew what it probably was and, LIKE CLOCK WORK, the tiny bat leaped into the air – from its hiding place above the fireplace – and proceeded to scare the crap out of J. then buzz Chad and I. Good times! After a few tense minutes “die fledermaus” was gently coaxed out the back door. (Honest, we did not hurt it.)
With excitement like that, who needs the air races? 
We spent the rest of the morning looking at Emerald Bay and walking up the trail to Cascade Falls. It was more like a trickle when we got there. But that was a good thing as it allowed us to actually walk where water would normally be flowing. (What volume? I have no idea.) The weather could not have been better. It was a very cool diversion before our 6 hour return trip to the South Bay. Good weekend! Please click on the image above to view the photo gallery.
stk California, Galleries Cascade Lake, Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe, Nevada, Night Sky
