No, I am Southwest of there, in the orange zone but just slightly North of the yellow zone around Belleplain State Forest.
The Geminids are coming....
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Belleplain SF is a dark sky observing site, one of 3 in NJ. Checkout the info at the link.
http://www.observingsites.com/ds_nj.htm#Woodbine
Went out at about 10:00 and then again around midnight tonight, was out for awhile. I didn't see a single meteor. Another beautiful clear and COLD night. Tried the fast 50mm lens; it really reveals a lot of stars that I can't see with the naked eye. Here's a full frame and also a 100% crop from the middle. f1.4 / 8 sec / ISO 800
Nice!
Fast fifties never disappoint when it comes to low light performance. I revisited the road through Great Bay again this evening and made a slight improvement with my settings with the wide prime. The setting was F4 3200 30sec +2EV and with the standard 3 second delay after lock up. It was definitely colder tonight!
The road to Orion.
Even with an exposure time of 30 seconds the points of light are still sharp.
Fast fifties never disappoint when it comes to low light performance. I revisited the road through Great Bay again this evening and made a slight improvement with my settings with the wide prime. The setting was F4 3200 30sec +2EV and with the standard 3 second delay after lock up. It was definitely colder tonight!The road to Orion.
Even with an exposure time of 30 seconds the points of light are still sharp.
I like that shot - reminds me of a scene from "Close Encounters".
It's odd that we didn't see more meteors though, I have read reports that they were very vivid in some places. On another site I read a post from somebody in Wisconsin who said they were distracting him so much while he drove that he just pulled over and watched them.
To me, those 30 sec close-up stars look a bit like short lines going from SW to NE though and not point sources. Not too bad though and you would never notice unless viewed full size. I tried some 30 sec exposures myself and decided against it. Here's a full size crop with the 14mm lens f2.8 / 30 sec / ISO 400. I think the streaks may be less obvious in your image because it has less contrast and a little softer focus.
It's odd that we didn't see more meteors though, I have read reports that they were very vivid in some places. On another site I read a post from somebody in Wisconsin who said they were distracting him so much while he drove that he just pulled over and watched them.
To me, those 30 sec close-up stars look a bit like short lines going from SW to NE though and not point sources. Not too bad though and you would never notice unless viewed full size. I tried some 30 sec exposures myself and decided against it. Here's a full size crop with the 14mm lens f2.8 / 30 sec / ISO 400. I think the streaks may be less obvious in your image because it has less contrast and a little softer focus.
Boyd, I agree with you that thirty seconds is to long of an exposure and image blur will be the result. Your eight second exposure produced a pin point of light. This morning it is very obvious to my not so tired eyes. Tonight I will take a range of shots backing down from the thirty second exposure by five second increments to see where the sweet spot is for the 15mm lens. I have a faster 40mm pancake lens that I want to try. The sensitivity shouldn't be an issue, the F stop will remain the same. This time though, I will bring the my laptop with me to get a better idea to what the shorter exposures look like. The tiny LCD screen on the camera doesn't help at all with larger details.
I don't think I will return to the shore this evening, a quick trip to the Sourlands ridge means less windshield time.
I want to retake the road shot in the summer with the bright summer Milky Way intersecting the end of the road. Somehow I have to work around the ever changing traffic light at that location. I don't know if it will be as dark. Sandy knocked out the two marinas along this road which are normally bathed with orange and white security lights. Another issue is how to deal with the flying biting insects. If you know this strip of road, it is vicious and blood letting.
BTW- I appreciate bouncing ideas around with you. It has helped me to move away from the box I was comfortable in.
I don't think I will return to the shore this evening, a quick trip to the Sourlands ridge means less windshield time.I want to retake the road shot in the summer with the bright summer Milky Way intersecting the end of the road. Somehow I have to work around the ever changing traffic light at that location. I don't know if it will be as dark. Sandy knocked out the two marinas along this road which are normally bathed with orange and white security lights. Another issue is how to deal with the flying biting insects. If you know this strip of road, it is vicious and blood letting.
BTW- I appreciate bouncing ideas around with you. It has helped me to move away from the box I was comfortable in.
Please don't take my comments as criticism or advice.... you need to find your own style, and the little streaks that can only be seen with a magnifying glass don't take anything away from the nice composition and overall feeling of that beautiful shot. My "curse" is that I spent a lifetime working as an artist/designer and tend to fixate on little details.
But I also enjoy these kinds of discussions, and you got me thinking enough to go back out and try some 30 sec exposures myself.
But I also enjoy these kinds of discussions, and you got me thinking enough to go back out and try some 30 sec exposures myself.
Boyd, we are just having a friendly discussion. I wasn't critical of your honesty, you were affable, but I will be applying some points you have raised to further develop my technique and style. Every learning curve has its plateaus and listening to what others have to say is always beneficial to getting off the flat and onto the next incline. After all, isn't that what it is all about - evolving.
Just one more... After I returned my faulty Canon, I went with the Pentax because I became fascinated with pancake lenses. The 40mm Limited I have is an incredibly sharp example. Sometimes there is almost a 3D effect from it. I should use it more at night.
This photo is of the board walk leading up to the Rutgers building. Slightly overexposed but I wanted the flare of the lights in the mist. F2.8 4Secs ISO200 40mm
This photo is of the board walk leading up to the Rutgers building. Slightly overexposed but I wanted the flare of the lights in the mist. F2.8 4Secs ISO200 40mm
There has been some discussion on the forum to where the darker areas of the state are and how the night sky is polluted with vast amounts of light. It is a difficult task to find a dark and secluded location in New Jersey that allows a photographer or stargazer to view the clearest of the celestial real estate. Here is an image of the Northeast, from the ISS, that clearly shows why. I labeled the larger cities.
