The Southern Cross

[ChrisJ]

I had the good fortune of being sent on a business trip to Hawaii. It's one of the few places (on land) where you can see the Southern Cross clearly from the northern hemisphere.

http://chrisandjoy.smugmug.com/photos/15884196-M.jpg

(Here's the Original (http://chrisandjoy.smugmug.com/photos/15884196-O.jpg)version, still testing this input editor out)

This was a 25 second exposure at ISO-200, F/5. The ISO-200 part was actually an accident. I still forget to set the ISO sometimes. I was trying to make the exposure short enough to cut out the star motion. Would have been much easier at 800 or 1600!

Here's one of the North Star with just a hint of rotation. Actually from 2 days before. The moon was close to full (and out), so the sky is a bit more saturated.

http://chrisandjoy.smugmug.com/photos/15883379-M.jpg

60 seconds at ISO-800, F/4.5. Again, the Original (http://chrisandjoy.smugmug.com/photos/15883379-O.jpg) will show much more detail. If you look really closely to the left and up from the North Star, you can see a meteor trail.

Though not normally a Photoshopper, I am interested in any tweaks to make Astral shots better. Or non-photoshop tweaks!

Coming from LA, I can't normally take decent sky shots. I love digital, because I can mess up and try and adjust immediately.

Chris

[gus]

Wow..i had no idea. I initially though it was one of the several faux S/Cross's having been shot from the NH ..i think there are 3 in all but hell that looks like the real mcCoy to me.

Well done.

A site i found...
http://www.geocities.com/ariane1au/Page205.htm



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[Steve Cavigliano]

Chris,

I'm sure the stars are much larger in the originals. :wink I've never tried long exposure night sky shots. Well, other than Moon shots. These are pretty kewl. Looks like I'll have to get away from the city lights and try some night sky shooting :thumb


Thanks for sharing these,
Steve

[ChrisJ]

Wow..i had no idea. I initially though it was one of the several faux S/Cross's having been shot from the NH ..i think there are 3 in all but hell that looks like the real mcCoy to me.

Well done.

A site i found...
http://www.geocities.com/ariane1au/Page205.htm

.
Yep, it's the real one. I spent a couple of months in the Southern Hemisphere in 2001, so I got to know it well. Nice web site! I'll have to read more about the base page. I don't know when I'll be south of the Equator again, but it's possible my work my take me to Chile in a couple of years.

[ChrisJ]

Chris,

I'm sure the stars are much larger in the originals. :wink I've never tried long exposure night sky shots. Well, other than Moon shots. These are pretty kewl. Looks like I'll have to get away from the city lights and try some night sky shooting :thumb


Thanks for sharing these,
Steve It's not as hard as I expected to get an image that looks okay. But it does take a lot of patience waiting for 30 second to multiple minute exposures to finish. It can also get very cold!