Sky at Night

Lunar montage 2012. I started this shoot with phases of the moon in April 2012. It has taken 6 months awaiting the right weather conditions to achieve. It culminates with the August end blue moon, so called because it was the second full moon in one calendar month - a rare event and hence the name. Blue moons occur every 2-3 yrs. All lunar phases were captured with the Olympus E5 & 90-250mm lens with the addition of a x2 TC. This yields a max focal length of 500mm (35mm equivalent of 1000mm due to the four thirds sensor x2).

August 20th 2012. 2117 hrs flyby. Stunning super bright ISS pass. Captured flying out of the setting sun and across the twilight skies. Trickier exposure due to ambient light so reduced exposure down to 5s and ISO 400. Captured with Oly E5, 8mm fish. Numerous 15s exposures, F3.5 and composite stacked with StarStax software.

August 15th 2012. 2223 hrs flyby. Lucky clear sky window following a torrid days weather. Post frontal clear skies rule :-) This reservoir was almost empty in the Spring, now its bursting. It makes for a great foreground subject. This image shows the point at which the ISS enters Earths shadow (far left) as the trail fades. Captured with Oly E5, 8mm fish. Numerous 15s exposures, F3.5 and composite stacked with StarStax software.