12th
January
2009
Last night was the largest full moon of 2009. The Moon is in an elliptical orbit around the Earth, and we say it’s at Perigee when it’s at its closest point to Earth, approx 356,000km away, versus approx 406,000 km when it’s at Apogee (the furthest point in its orbit).
That means the full moon was larger and brighter than usual, and it was the largest and brightest it will be in 2009.
Unfortunately it was raining last night, but it had cleared this morning so I went for a drive before heading off to work to capture the moon setting over Brisbane Water at Yattalunga Wharf.
Yattalunga Moonset
You can see how bright the moon is by the shadows cast on the wharf! It was a beautiful morning, and the view of the Moon from on the train, setting very low in the West was just amazing.
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posted in Astrophotography, Photography |
3rd
December
2008
On the night of the Smiley Face Conjunction, before the sun set and the conjunction was visible, I was able to capture some dramatic sunset scenes over Brisbane Water, from Yattalunga and Green Point on the Central Coast of NSW.
I captured and processed these using HDR techniques – a way of representing a greater dynamic range in a single photo by using multiple exposures of the same scene (under exposed, correct exposure, over exposed).
It’s a fairly new technique for me and not everyone is a fan of the type of images it can produce – sometimes producing unrealistic fairytale type images, or with halo artefacts, depending on the extent of the processing.
Please check out the rest of the photos and I’d love to hear what you think. I need more practise in both capturing and processing HDR images like these, so bare with me 
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posted in Photography |
1st
December
2008
I did some reconnaisance last night to find a location and do some practise for tonights Smiley Face Conjunction.
I ended up at Yattalunga, near Saratoga on the Central Coast of NSW – about 20-25 minutes drive from home on the edge of Brisbane Water. The location was pretty good, and suitable for tonight, just a bit limited with available compositions. If the tide was higher it would allow a bit more flexibility.
Not sure now if I want to go somewhere else – maybe back to the old favourite at Long Jetty or further north at the Entrance. I’m quite happy with how the shots turned out, but starting to feel like going somewhere different tonight.
All shots taken with the Canon 350D with Sigma 17-70mm lens on a tripod. Capture details between 1-5s exposures, f/10 at ISO100 and ISO400.
The weather is going to be fantastic for the conjunction tonight – couldn’t have asked for more! Good luck and clear skies in your part of the world!
I also took some shots of a barnicled boat while waiting for the sun to set – it has seen better days!
posted in Astrophotography, Photography |
My name is Mike Salway and I'm an amateur astronomer and photographer. I'm the co-founder of 
