On top of one of the hills facing South East at Lostock Scout Camp, there’s a row of 5 trees that really stand out. I always wanted to make them more of a focus of something photographic. I used them in my Raining Stars at Lostock image from IISAC2008, but it was a much wider field.
On Friday night, 16th October at IISAC2009, I wanted to try again with a longer focal length. I setup my Canon 20D and 24-105mm L lens on a tripod, and programmed it to take 30 seconds exposures on repeat.
I combined the result into a movie – showing both timelapse and star trails. There’s also a single star trails image with all of the frames combined.
It’s been a long time since I’ve had any images to post – fortunately that’s changing now.
We had some great skies up at Lostock at IISAC2009, and I was able to capture some widefield images and some experimental stuff. This image is the first I’ve had a chance to process since coming back, and it’s my first attempt at “light painting“.
It’s called “Milky Way For Sale” and was taken on Saturday night at IISAC2009. Click the image for a larger version.
Milky Way For Sale. Click image for 1200px wide version.
The Milky Way Galaxy was positioned beautifully above the mountain, and Andrew Catsaitis (RB) and I had a great idea for a novelty shot. Continue reading to find out how this shot was done.
On Thursday I head to IISAC2009 – the IceInSpace AstroCamp for 2009. I’ve been busy with the final stages of organising the event, and I’ll be glad when it’s over for another year.
IISAC2009
I’ve bought the soft drinks, water, ice blocks and other consumables and cleaning stuff (and 120 rolls of toilet paper). All the shirts have the name tags on them, calendars have name tags on them, the trailer is starting to get packed. The marquee is ready, the AV gear is ready, the Gresford RFB are ready, the lucky door prizes are organised.
The weather is not organised. The forecasts for Thu/Fri/Sat look mixed – unfortunately it looks like we may be in for a cloudy night or two. I just hope we get at least one clear night. After 3 cloudy nights last year, it will be a real letdown if it’s cloudy again this year. It’s just the hobby we choose – we’re reliant on the weather for our entertainment and there’s just nothing we can do about it. It doesn’t matter what time of year you hold it in – it could be cloudy at any time of the year.
My name is Mike Salway and I'm an amateur astronomer and photographer. I'm the co-founder of IceInSpace, and this is my personal blog site and image gallery. Read more about me.
My name is Mike Salway and I'm an amateur astronomer and photographer. I'm the co-founder of 
