peter_daalder

(Played hell with my sleep patterns!)

Good thing that it was never going to turn you into a lunatic. Nice work!

This is another superb capture, William. I used to be able to spot this one from my backyard in the north of The Netherlands, but today, living at a latitude of 41 degrees south, it is almost impossible. Especially with the low surface brightness of this galaxy.

Great astrophotography!

G'day William,

I see that you are a real AstroGuy.

I've never been much more than a wannabe...

Superb work here and certainly also in most of the rest of your astrophotography folder.

It might be worth mentioning that all the brightest members of this cluster, are blue giant stars. With Alcyone (just left of center) having a luminosity that is almost 1000 greater than that of our Sun.

Having been interested in the night sky since my earliest years, I find it still amazing today, that dedicated amateurs can obtain astronomical images that used be only in the league of the places such as the Hale Observatories.

An unusual weather event, caught at 40 degrees South...

An extraordinary confluence of elements, here. Converging lines, clouds of windswept billowing smoke, fair weather blue sky and that fully laden red semitrailer... The inclusion of that last one really makes the shot, for me.

This amazing collection of 'claws' coming out of the ground literally grabbed my attention and made me enlarge the thumbnail view.

I really like how they guide the eye towards the even tighter converging lines formed by the rows of white plastic (with the strawberries?), in the center of the image.

I'm pleased to have diverted from the NW forum to your portfolio, Sam.

I actually came by, looking for more great shots of that tractor in the water, from the farm equipment thread...

Heh, Keith... You're right...

I lodged a planning appeal with the Northern Midlands Council, in order to get this road diverted to the right, but you know how it is with the bureaucratic process... In the mean time, perhaps I can apply a liquify filter and fix it that way.

Jeff, yes this one was short listed for Tasmanian Tracks 2009, but got left out at the eleventh hour.

Thanks everyone else for your viewings and comments!

Early morning mist on Tasmania's west coast...

This is a very attractive scene, Daniel.

The detail and textures in the foreground form an important part of the image as a whole. I'm particularly pleased for the inclusion of the seagull, as it represents a vital element which balances the overall composition.

There is a distinct feel of an extended dynamic range here and I'm left wondering about the concentration of colour of the descending Sun, on the water. I possibly would have expected to see more of that intensity, mirrored in the sky.

Also, whilst concentrating on the bird, my attention gets drawn towards some "odd" artifacts in the water.

 

G'day Jim,

Having a strong affinity for just about anything rural, my eye immediately caught this recent upload of yours, in the Critique Forum.

I really like the potential here, especially with the Sun shining through the foliage of the tree in the foreground. However, I couldn't resist having a quick play around in PS with your original. Images attached should indicate how I would try to slightly "open up" the main window of interest, whilst eliminating the bright top left corner. Also, in the original, the perceived horizon, at the far end of the field, runs away from the viewer.

Hope you don't mind the tinkering...

Hi Pete!

It has been a few months, since I passed this place, once more (Feb. 2008).

However, as you can see, there is now next to nothing left of our Tassie barn...

BTW, thanks also for your recent post in the POW thread.

Michael, I got a tremendous amount of enjoyment from the link to Josh Walawender's site!

There was so much of interest going on in the Mauna Loa time-lapse, that moved me to download the 175 Mb high res. version...

Apart from all the action in the foreground, the moving cloud cover and the distant speeding traffic, I was most enthralled by the circumpolar motion of a few old familiar constellations - Cassiopeia and Perseus in particular.

Cheers,

Yes, Michael. About 8 minutes, through my 6" Newtonian.

The 28mm wide angle was always very forgiving. Polar alignment was more important than any (manual) tracking errors...

Nothing quite that dramatic, Doug.

Just a large traffic sign spanning four lanes on an arterial route in Holland - the A12.

Bill, had I known about your unused dome, I might have put a bid in for it some years ago.

As it turned out, I have always been making the best of portable equipment, though the 10" Meade SCT on its equatorial fork has always tested my lifting capabilities.

I would recommend a visit to Kitt Peak to anyone who happened to be around the southern parts of Arizona. Even if you're only vaguely interested in observational astronomy, this is still an awe inspiring place.

Michael, I appreciate where you're coming from and your example of Bill Bradfield has not gone lost on me. In fact, we only recently had another aussie amateur in the news - Trevor Barry.

Doug, I wish I was that good with Photoshop... ;-)

Thanks for your views and comments, Patricia, Bulent and Jeff.

This is one of those shots that came about by breaking through the barrier (literally).

I had to climb a fence which tells hikers to keep out and stay away from this restricted area on the mountain. Obviously, it was worth the trespass...

A close up view of Luna

This is the kind of result that could inspire others to have a go at stitching images.

It certainly will encourage me to try this in the near future.

Thanks, Patricia, for posting your thoughts on this oldie from 2002.

For me, it contained some elements of broken symmetry. Especially, with the difference between the trees/road on LH side and track/trees on the RH side...

An area sheltered from the winter sunlight, maintained the frost

throughout the day.

Thanks for the additional information, Bill.

It certainly is a fascinating area of study. I'm sure that you both relished the opportunity to inspect and record the rock art at this particular site.

We have a few of them around here, but they're not so easy to find/identify. On mainland Australia, there are numerous aboriginal rock art sites open to the public.

At the same time, I was wondering if you have stumbled across Mike Connealy's portfolio?

Click through to his personal website and discover the superb wealth of images and information on rock art in New Mexico.

I've enjoyed having a look through your extensive portfolio.

Amongst a series of other shots, this one really jumped out at me.

An obvious element of attraction, is the repetition of the twins featured in the foreground, with the "twins" in the background. However, it is also an image of stark contrast. The lush green of the grass makes one think about the lack of foliage on the trees. What time of the year could this be? (without looking at the image details).

Overall, I guess that the somewhat gloomy mood is appropriate for the month of February in the northern hemisphere. Yet, I felt like brightening things up a little...

Cheers Bob,

After a further (perhaps extreme) adjustment.

For demonstration purposes only...

One question. the `spotlight' around the scarecrow, is that PP?

B.J., yes indeed it is...

After the initial conclusion that we're just looking at a scarecrow, asleep on the job, I wanted the viewers to be able to 'escape' from the main highlighted area and explore the rest of the image. Either that, or you can simply exit this image near the horizon, at the top. I keep coming back down to the start, though.

Thanks also for the views and comments, Ahmet and Steve.