Photography Showcase Thread!

[Barzon]

@XB-70A, would it be possible for you to put all your FH pics into an Imgur album?

[XB-70A]

31 minutes ago, Barzon Kerman said:

would it be possible for you to put all your FH pics into an Imgur album?

 

Sure, here they are 

https://imgur.com/a/yFz4WuP

I stopped using imgur for pictures about half a year ago, as one day it just messed up all my albums (and to be honest, I was too lazy to reorganize each one of them).

[Barzon]

Thank you so much !

[XB-70A]

Just a couple of pictures I've taken on the 10th and 11th while burning waiting in Port Canaveral.

 

 

(Playing boring 1998's movie emotional music in my head)

 

 

[Delay]

Took this two days ago.

^{There's a reason I'm not a photographer.}

[XB-70A]

I added a new member to the family yesterday, a (pretty used) Nikon P1000.

Here is the "beast" standing at Playalinda and hoping to catch a good shot of B1057 on the SLC-40:

 

Obviously, with its cell-phone sized photosensor, I was not expecting a lot from it. The sole and only reason why I bought it is its 3000 mm equivalent lens.  However, Friday was hot and windy around here, the visibility was not really good neither, and all shots taken were crappy at the best.

As a result, I went back home and tried to shot around my residence. We got alligators and snakes warning all around the place, but over here the wildlife is rather made of innocent turtles...

The following picture has been taken around 19:00 local time, at 6.3 and 1/160 with ISO limited to 400. Being a lazy guy, I took it in .jpeg (obviously).

Zoom given at 155 mm and way too dark...

Second shot incoming.

 

 

Now at 234 mm. Without changing any setting, we can easily notice a strong difference of "clarity" (way too much from my personal point of view).

Let's try from a bit further away.

 

At 66 mm and with f/5.6 the whole shot seems (obviously) clearer than the past two. Still, with its ridiculous 6.17*4.55 mm sensor I could not expect too much (without counting my clear lack of knowledge about the setting of this camera).

Back at a zoomed-in shot (216 mm), but this time with the shutter speed set at 1/215.

 

Less smooth (duh) but with an unexpected warmer tone than all the ones before.

Pretty curious about that I decided to take even more shots at a higher 1/500, at f/5.6 at first, then f/6.3.

(This is the Dark Side of photography, definitely...)

 

(Uh... not so awful now... let's get closer)

 

 

Ok, still too dark, but with f/7.1,  1/640,  432 mm equivalent,  and the ISO still locked at 400, I'm finding the result pretty descent.

I'm not a professional, and having this camera for 24 hours only, it will take me a long time before I start to know enough to enjoy it. However, if the attempt with the launchpad was disappointing, I must admit that those of the turtle surprised me. Of course, these photos are too dark and the sensor is ridiculous, but I still think that this machine, weighting almost 1.5 kg (!) is able to provide a closer look that I did not even think possible until then without having to invest in some equipment that would easily exceeds 50 000 USD.

To be honest, I'm a little mixed for now, but I feel that with time and practice it will be possible to get something nice from this monstrous machine.

---

Bonus shot of the Florida's Organic Submarine Fleet:

Just another of these weird looking Apalone ferox, a.k.a. the Florida softshell turtle.

[Delay]

1 hour ago, XB-70A said:

 

I'd like to be able to compete with that, but German wildlife is mediocre at best...

So instead, here's a picture of the Moon I took. On a tripod, even!

This is as far as I can zoom in with the crapcam I have. But it's good enough to make out some shadows.

 

Also, is there anything specific I need to keep in mind when trying to photograph (lots of) stars at night? I can get up to 8 minutes of exposure if I bother holding down a button for that long.
There are some places near me where there's little to no light, so I doubt light pollution is a concern.

[XB-70A]

1 hour ago, Delay said:

I'd like to be able to compete with that, but German wildlife is mediocre at best...

Hey, you have some pretty cattle in the countryside   (or at least that's what I'm remembering from my first travel through Germany in 2009)

 

1 hour ago, Delay said:

So instead, here's a picture of the Moon I took. On a tripod, even!

This is as far as I can zoom in with the crapcam I have. But it's good enough to make out some shadows.

 

Also, is there anything specific I need to keep in mind when trying to photograph (lots of) stars at night? I can get up to 8 minutes of exposure if I bother holding down a button for that long.
There are some places near me where there's little to no light, so I doubt light pollution is a concern.

 

This is a nice one, actually. Just for curiosity... which camera are you using?

About the exposure (and depending of your camera), have you tried to look at a remote control? Some of them are pretty cheap (around 15-20 euros) and their button can be locked so you don't have to stand there (without counting that it will greatly reduce the vibrations). If I'm remembering correctly, @Green Baron

 took some really good shot of the last Lunar eclipse in January. Maybe he could have some recommendation (?).

 

---

 

About the topic, I'm just coming back from the coast along Patricks AFB, and I got a couple of nice surprises here!

The place is usually crowded of C-130s, so having a C-17A was pretty surprising, even more when it belongs to the Alaska ANG and is standing in Florida (!).

 

And the best part (to me)

A Ghostrider! First time I ever saw an AC-130 in my life. It appears to be 12-5772, the first MC-130J which was converted to an AC-130J.

 

Better view of the 105 mm howitzer on port.

 

 

[Delay]

48 minutes ago, XB-70A said:

Hey, you have some pretty cattle in the countryside

This is what I mean by "mediocre wildlife":

[XB-70A]

Watch for your eyes, bad pictures incoming in 3... 2... 1...

 

 

 

 

 

Horrible shot of Stage I pulling away from Stage II.

 

 

Two shots of Stage I reentry burn.

 

OCISLY's shape is somewhat noticeable under the flame.

 

Last shot of B1056.1, hardly observable but standing about 19 km away from us.

 

---

 

P.S.: The Port's authority having recently decided to forbid spotting along the road 401 (  ), it became harder to obtain a clear view of the pads at night without ending much further away. Of course, the KSC Visitor Complex is also selling tickets for good spotting sites... only to cancel them later (because operating between 05:55 and 04:00 is normal, but 02:49 is not). 

If only the access to the VAB's roof was available to non-professionnals, it would be the best location possible   Clear and close sight, with almost no disturbance from heat waves.

[Stewcumber]

I didn't know about this thread, here are a few photos I've taken over the past couple of years.

Yorkshire Moors in 2017

Portsmouth, Hampshire 2015 or so.

Porsche 356A at a Steam fair in 2018

Random smokey picutre of my Dad's garage, 2017

Finnish cemetary, Christmas 2018

Estonian submarine museum in Tallinn, Christmas 2018

Estonian submarine museum in Tallinn, Christmas 2018. I like the shapes and patterns in the concrete.

Model of Helsinki in the 1950s

Trip to the zoo, 2018

Spot the meerkat, 2018

[XB-70A]

Just another day at at the KSC Visitor Complex. I met with nice people and had to serve as a "guide" for the third time (too bad I cannot apply to became an official one here )

There was some maintenance on the ET-SRB mock-up:

 

 

The RS-25 exposed next to Atlantis:

 

 

Closer look of this marvel:

 

 

Atlantis right OMS noozle:

 

 

Despite the numerous times I passed in this gallery, I only noticed recently that some of the mission insignia were signed by the crew:

Signed by Michael J. McCulley (pilot)

 

 

Signed by John E. Blaha (mission specialist)

 

 

Signed by Jean-Loup Chretien, Wendy B. Lawrence, and Scott E. Parazynski (all mission specialists)

 

Signed by Daniel C. Burbank (mission specialist)

 

 

Too bad this large picture of STS-95 crew was not for sale.

 

Then, we took the bus (once again). Passing next to the VAB and the Pad 39s:

The SLS launch tower, currently resting in the VAB.

 

 

 

No need to introduce this place 

 

 

However, the P1000 zoom gave me the opportunity to get a closer look than usual:

 

 

Still, it's pretty hard to catch while the vehicle is moving...

 

 

Passing next to Boeing's installations:

 

 

 

 

Inside the Saturn V Complex:

Must be the tenth, or even fifteenth time I'm seeing this projection, but I finally got to shot a picture of the 2 seconds with WVB on the screen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[XB-70A]

Let's hope Starlink has its maiden flight in the next few hours. Meanwhile, here is a picture of B1049.3 exhaling impatiently on pad 40.

 

 

[Gargamel]

Birds nest on my windowsill right by my computer.   The nest building really dirtied the window, so shots from inside don't come out well.  I was losing the light tonight, so I had to hurry and was left with a bad angle and poor light on the nest, but I got the very angry Mom and Pop squawking at me.  Should have started a pic a day series from the start of the nest till they left, but alas....  Not overly happy with the focus here, but I haven't touched my gear in about a year, and getting all the auto features to play nice together under the time crunch was.... frustrating.   Still used to the Eye tracking feature of my old pro level 35mm, this one doesn't have it, so I need to get used to the new buttons. 

 

[XB-70A]

Somewhat a bit sharper and slightly more comfortable to look at than previous night pictures  

Also,  ISO limited at 800 this time (duh).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Still a lot to do, but after a year and a half the pictures get slightly better:

Spoiler

 

ZUMA, January 2018

 

Hispasat 30W-6, March 2018

 

Dragon CRS-15, June 2018

 

Merah Putih (Telkom 4), August 2018

 

PSN 6/Beresheet, February 2019

 

Starlink 01-60, May 2019

 

 

 

 

Edited May 25, 2019 by XB-70A

[Gargamel]

Got some video of the birds today.  And figured out the focus.   But the light sucked and they're just birds, so no big loss.  

Slight warning though.   The Momma bird gets a little gross at the end of the flick, so if you're easily disgusted, don't watch.   And no that's not click bait, it's an honest warning (She cleans the nest of the chicks' waste).

 

[Stewcumber]

I took this on a walk in the New Forest today. This was using my phone! 

[tater]

Some sorta recent pics...

My doggo.

 

With the rain, stuff is flowering in the foothills:

Some landscapes from last week:

(thought the hikers above us (rare to see other people) were cool)

 

 

[Gargamel]

I get 4 of them in the nest, but I had been noticing that one of them in the back was trying to fly, so I go back in to grab the tripod.   By the time I got back outside, it had flown the coop! 

Or got eaten by a cat I saw running away at the same time. 

 

 

 

 

[XB-70A]

I woke up pretty early this morning, three meetings to attend, just a day like any other, except that... the final appointment was canceled at the last moment. I was not long to check the time and leave for Port Canaveral.

Excepted that a traffic jam due to some road work made me lose 30 minutes and miss the arrival of B1049.3 at the port.

However, happy to see a 1st stage back for the first time, I left after only five minutes. This is when I remembered that there was this observation tower in the harbor, but I had never been there before. The result was anything but disappointing.

 

 

 

42.5 m tall. It doesn't look so tall until we are seeing a human next to it for the scale. 

 

La Familia.

 

Then, time to grab the Falcon:

 

 

I left the tower to go even closer on the docks (I was not even aware if that area was open to the public)Much more in the spoiler:

Spoiler

 

 

 

Mr Steven and the new net.

 

Closer look of the burn marks...

And the grid fins.

 

An impression of the proximity you can have from this place.

 

What would be a shot from Florida without a palm tree?

 

Finally, a picture of some "curious" stuff standing next to OCISLY / Falcon 9, on the dock:

Almost looked like Dragon & Crew Dragon mockups. I wonder what lies beneath these tarpaulins.

 

 

(Sorry for literally invading this topic)

Edited May 28, 2019 by XB-70A

[Guest]

On 4/27/2019 at 6:05 PM, XB-70A said:

A Ghostrider! First time I ever saw an AC-130 in my life.

Missed opportunity to blast this, full volume

[Delay]

Tried some motion blur, I guess?

[Luch]

Just made some photos during a vacation. I went hiking in the mountains for a first time and I really like the view from 4600 ft height. No filters.

 

[StrandedonEarth]

9 hours ago, Delay said:

Tried some motion blur, I guess?

That looks suspiciously like the ride formerly known as the "Jaguar" (now known as "Music Express") at Playland  in Vancouver.... But I suppose there are many identical rides around the world

Edited June 1, 2019 by StrandedonEarth

[Delay]

On 6/1/2019 at 9:43 PM, StrandedonEarth said:

That looks suspiciously like the ride formerly known as the "Jaguar" (now known as "Music Express") at Playland  in Vancouver....

You're actually right with that. Not with the location, but with the ride.

Meanwhile, here are some clouds I don't think I've ever seen like this before...

Please educate me: What atmospheric conditions were at work here?