My Astro Year in Pictures 2017

[jfb]

I have been doing these for many years and it's been quite a while since I posted on the forum and I was partly inspired by SWAG72 amazing deep space shots.

As a personal challenge I try to get a different astro shot each month, some months are really easy and there are multiple contenders, others months the sky god is not quite so kind.

All images on my 1Dx shot mainly with a Tamron 15-30 f2.8, Canon 8-15mm fisheye, plus some of the deep space were with the 100-400ii

I was really lucky to get to Queensland in February & March and allowed some shots of the amazing Southern sky












Let me know if you like them as there were plenty more which did not make the cut

One final one, a couple of the Oz contenders...

 

[Kodiak Qc]

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I really enjoy your dedication and
looking outside the box, John!

 

[jfb]

Thank you, I have been doing this for far too long. The trick is to try to keep pushing the envelope and moving forward - I will see if I can add some of the other contenders....

This is a set I did at Minions on Bodmin Moor, the rock stacks are known as the Cheesewring, the red light comes from a 700 ft TV mast on a near hill. Always nice to get Andromeda in the shot, these are all single exposures...



These are different parts of the area...



A couple more, the one of the left was done for a presentation I gave to the Teignmouth and Dawlish Camera Club, the middle one was used by the Times newspaper and shows the ISS and a couple of meteors...

 

[billy nomates]

Impressive images, if you ever fancy some company up on the Moors message me as I'm up there freezing my you know whats off quite often.

 

[jfb]

Thanks Billy, I was up a couple of weeks back doing the Super Moon thingy. A kind offer, I keep being asked and have about 20 members of various camera clubs who want to join me - so never easy or simple.
I am based in Teignmouth so I may bump into your on the moors at some stage - here are a couple of the moon shots

This was a composite of 2 x images, shot on my 400 f4 DO, stitched into a panorama



This was a 3 x stitch, vertical orientation

 

[Steve B]

Hi John, long time no see.
Recognised your style as soon as I opened this post, a really fine selection of shots as I would have expected from you.
Surprised that you only included one of your circular fish eye shots, thought they were your trademark
Hopefully bump into each other again sometime, keep up the good work.

 

[jfb]

Hi Steve great to hear from you, I missed you on Flickr... I have not been on here for a while.

Re round shots, I tend not to use the 8-15 too much at f4 it's a bit too slow, but I do use it occasionally, this is still one of my favourites and regularly gets used in the national press...

Meteors over the Haldon Belvedere

 

[TGphoto]

These are impressive!

Out of interest, what would your top 5 tips be for great astro images?

 

[swag72]

A super collection over all John - I've seen these before I think on FB and enjoyed them immensely. Thanks for showing them, they are so interesting to look at and 'look around' (if that makes sense)

You have a great eye that's for sure and I can only dream of doing anything similar.

 

[jfb]

These are impressive!

Out of interest, what would your top 5 tips be for great astro images?

It’s not so much about kit, but what you do with it, so top 5
1. Planning - use the tools, there are great apps such as PhotoPills - for directions and timings, ClearOutside for weather, a new app I use is called Windy this is great for tide times, a bit of weather and of course wind.
2. Technique - understand the 500 rule, this dictates the longest exposure you can use for a lens length. So for a 50 mm lens divide by 500 = 10 seconds before things move. Ok some amend this and adapt to 400 but it’s a bit of trial & error.
3. Kit - ok this is not about whizzo top of the range cameras. Get a decent, solid tripod it will last years. Invest in a good head/plate system - there is a reason may they are expensive! Use a cable release or remote. Buy good Astro lenses, they are not expensive so fixed focal Samyang’s are amazing quality & good price - 24, 21, 14, etc - they are far better than most Canon/Nikon zooms - Faster is better
4. Don’t go out alone - dark places at night are dangerous, especially when you are hanging off the top of cliffs, etc.
5. Have fun, if it does not put a smile on your face you are doing it wrong....

Get it right and this is what you can get....

 

[jfb]

A super collection over all John - I've seen these before I think on FB and enjoyed them immensely. Thanks for showing them, they are so interesting to look at and 'look around' (if that makes sense)

You have a great eye that's for sure and I can only dream of doing anything similar.

Don’t sell yourself short, deep space is a complex, challenging & highly rewarding genre.

It’s good to push the envelope and try to do things differently - it’s far too boring to do the same stuff all the time.

Best wishes

Here you go trying to combine Astro & wirewool.

 

[Steve B]

Hi Steve great to hear from you, I missed you on Flickr... I have not been on here for a while.

Re round shots, I tend not to use the 8-15 too much at f4 it's a bit too slow, but I do use it occasionally, this is still one of my favourites and regularly gets used in the national press...

Meteors over the Haldon Belvedere

Thanks John, hope to be back soon.

Good to see the Belvedere shot again, always been a favourite of mine too, so not surprised the press use it.
Really like that one of the Ladram Stack with the Milky Way too. Will have to check out your photostream to see what else you have been upto lately.

 

[jfb]

Thanks John, hope to be back soon.
Good to see the Belvedere shot again, always been a favourite of mine too, so not surprised the press use it.
Really like that one of the Ladram Stack with the Milky Way too. Will have to check out your photostream to see what else you have been upto lately.

The Ladram shot was used quite widely, possibly the nicest use was by the Metro...



This set did well, I think it was a set on the Perseid Meteor shower



I was quite chuffed to have a selfie as the Telegraph picture of the day, even better as it was used during the Olympics, it was taken down at Burgh Island



The Langstone shot was used by the Times, I was trying to use the arch as a cave, see below



I was really trying to get a shot out of a caves, the caves were too small so I used the big arch and made it look like a cave. I was too lazy to drive to the Durdle Dor - for some bizarre reason it did really well in the US



That's most of the astro highlights, but plenty of shoots around the region

 

[Steve B]

The Ladram shot was used quite widely, possibly the nicest use was by the Metro...

View attachment 120353

This set did well, I think it was a set on the Perseid Meteor shower

View attachment 120355

I was quite chuffed to have a selfie as the Telegraph picture of the day, even better as it was used during the Olympics, it was taken down at Burgh Island

View attachment 120354

The Langstone shot was used by the Times, I was trying to use the arch as a cave, see below

View attachment 120356

I was really trying to get a shot out of a caves, the caves were too small so I used the big arch and made it look like a cave. I was too lazy to drive to the Durdle Dor - for some bizarre reason it did really well in the US

View attachment 120357

That's most of the astro highlights, but plenty of shoots around the region

Thats an impressive collection, thanks for sharing. If only Devon skies were that clear more often

 

[Nod]

@jfb !

I thought I recognised the Ladram Bay stack, although not the clear sky behind it.

I wish I had the patience to deal with images once I've taken them but it's hard enough staying focussed on a single long exposure let along loads of PP to get this sort of detail out of shots.

Probably see you in early May (12th/13th) - you're hard to miss!

 

[Sophie Sharpe]

I'm really struggling to take my photos at night do you Have any tips

 

[jfb]

@jfb !

I thought I recognised the Ladram Bay stack, although not the clear sky behind it.

I wish I had the patience to deal with images once I've taken them but it's hard enough staying focussed on a single long exposure let along loads of PP to get this sort of detail out of shots.

Probably see you in early May (12th/13th) - you're hard to miss!

Hi Nod, I am sure we will meet among the Bluebells

 

[jfb]

I'm really struggling to take my photos at night do you Have any tips

Hi Sophie a complex question, I am doing a couple of days shooting in Cornwall and will do you a proper response when back to my pC

 

[mattd85]

These are superb!