Stonehenge Strawberry Moon
With a 90% cloud cover and intense rain, I knew that I didn’t have much chance to capture the strawberry Moon rising in Wiltshire, England.
I tried it anyway, and my reward was a hazy, glowing moon above Stonehenge.
Nikon D600 camera, Sigma 400mm, APO, Macro lens, f/5, ISO 2000, 1/5 sec, 05/06/2020 – 21:25.
Ship wreck and stars
Startrails and an old ship wreck at Gythio, Greece.
Can you spot the photographer’s ‘ghost’?
Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XTi, 21/3/2010 21:36 – 23.50, Shutter Speed 90 sec x 90 shots, Aperture Value 4.0, ISO 800, Lens Canon EF 15mm f/2.8 , Focal Length 15.0 mm
Αστρικές ιχνογραμμές και ένα παλιό ναυάγιο λίγο έξω από το Γύθειο. Μπορείτε να δείτε το ‘φάντασμα’ του φωτογράφου?
Ancient theatre nightscape
Epidaurus ancient theatre under the stars.
Stone bridge startrails
Startrails at Mirisi bridge near Kipi village.
Canon EOS 550D, 2/8/2010 23:10 – 23:42, Shutter Speed 60 sec x 33 shots, Aperture Value 2.8, ISO 1600, Lens Canon EF 15mm f/2.8, Focal Length 15.0 mm
Αστρικές ιχνογραμμές πάνω από το γεφύρι στο Μύρισι λίγο έξω από το χωριό ‘Κήποι’.
Ancient startrails
Ancient theatre startrails at Thoriko, Lavrio, Greece.
Bodiam castle startrails
Bodiam castle startrails and meteor shower
How ‘real’ are astrophotos nowadays? The old days of one-shot film camera astrophotography are now gone forever and today is easier than ever to digitally combine shots taken from different cameras, focal lengths, locations… Have a look at this picture. All the individual components are real, actual photos that I took at August 12, 2016 at Bodiam Castle, England, but in order to produce the image, I had to do a number of things:
– Stack several images for the startrails. If some of the startrail shots had something annoying (like a plane trail) I could easily remove it. (I have done it many times!).
– Change the startrail layer to semi-transparent for the meteors to look better.
– The meteors showing here were taken during a 4 hour shooting whereas the trails are only 1 1/2 hour because the famous British clouds ruined the rest of it.
– I have moved the meteors from their original positions by rotating the entire field of view having Polaris at the centre and masking out all the stars using photoshop except those in one shot (the one with the big meteor behind the clouds). This is a technique to visualize all the meteors on a single frame, simulating the meteor shower radiant. It is not a clean and accurate process. After the rotation the distortion of a typical wide field lens will completely mess up the stars and the exact meteor positions will be a guesswork. Also some would find tempting to move a meteor on a better position, especially if after the field rotation it shows in front of a tree or building.
– Finally, I have used yet another layer for the castle to look better from the beginning of the shooting when the medieval building was nicely illuminated by the Moon. After spending hours behind a computer monitor to produce this result I have started to wonder where is this line that separates astrophotography from creative art?
I’m tempted, for the next meteor shower instead of having to worry about cameras, equipment, settings, post processing, to just go out, lay down on the grass and enjoy the sky!
Castle and Milky Way
Milky Way and Drakano castle at Ikaria island.
Canon EOS 550D, 11/6/2010 4:15 – 4:19, Shutter Speed 30 sec x 6 shots (panorama), Aperture Value 2.2, ISO 3200, Lens Canon EF28mm f/1.8 USM, Focal Length 28.0 mm
Startrails tower
Startrails and a Byzantine tower at Mytikas village in Euboea island.
Note the second tower at the lower right part of the image.
Camera Model Canon EOS 550D, Shooting Date/Time 19/08/2014 22:34 – 20/08/2014 02:29, Author Chris Kotsiopoulos, Tv( Shutter Speed) 90 sec x 156 shots, Aperture Value 5.6, ISO 400, Canon 15mm fisheye lens
Αστρικές ιχνογραμμές πάνω από πύργο στο χωριό Μύτικας στην κεντρική Εύβοια. Προσέξτε και τον δεύτερο πύργο στο βάθος δεξιά.
Medieval startrails
Medieval ‘Rice Castle’ in central Euvoia, Greece.
Camera Model Canon EOS 550D, Shooting Date/Time 26/07/2014 22:50 – 27/07/2014 02:30 , Author Chris Kotsiopoulos, Tv( Shutter Speed) 45 sec x 288 shots, Aperture Value 4, ISO 800, Canon 15mm fisheye lens
Αστρικές ιχνογραμμές πάνω από το ‘Ριζόκαστρο’ στην κεντρική Εύβοια.
Glastonbury Tor startrails.
Glastonbury Tor is a hill at Glastonbury in the English county of Somerset, topped by the St Michael’s Tower.
The Tor seems to have been called “The Isle of Avalon”. According to King Arthur’s mythology, Avalon is where his sword Excalibur was forged. This is a wide field photo from a full frame camera and a 14mm lens, showing the Polaris, the Northern Star to the upper left and the celestial equator to the right of the image. Selecting a combination of relatively low ISO, small aperture and long exposures I managed to illuminate the foreground using only the ambient light, retaining the star colours. The only side effect was that I had to withstand strong wind and temperatures below 0 °C for a considerable amount of time, completely still and lightly dressed until I get this nice pose. No, I didn’t stay there during the whole two-hour shooting, but just a few two-minute exposures where enough for never underestimate the British weather conditions again!
Camera Model Nikon D600, Shooting Date/Time 07/03/2016 03:07 – 04:27 (last 30 min exposures discarded due to clouds), Author Chris Kotsiopoulos, Tv( Shutter Speed) 110 seconds x 45 shots, Aperture Value 5.6, ISO 800, Lens Rokinon 14mm
Ghost and stars
A whirling sky of falling stars, a haunted house and a few ghosts?
Not really! Just a moonlit startrail image using a ‘falling stars effect’, a rather eccentric deserted house somewhere in southern England and myself in a white blanket, trying to get warm. The ‘ghost effect’ is achieved by stacking multiple shots. The non stationary objects are blended and look fussy just like my ‘ghosts’ in the picture. The pumpkin took me two hours to prepare but I enjoyed every minute of it! Happy Halloween! Camera Model Nikon D600, Shooting Date/Time 22/10/2015 22:05 – 22:30, Author Chris Kotsiopoulos, Tv( Shutter Speed) 25 seconds x 60 shots, Aperture Value 4.0, ISO 1250, Lens Rokinon 14mm
Nightscape dam
Derwent Reservoir nightscape panorama in Peak District national park, UK.