Tag: chris wormwell

Day 290 – More Star Stuff

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After yesterday’s astonishing star size facts, here are some more astonishing stars from the chilly Isle of Man, courtesy of FOTB Chris Wormwell (you may remember him from such posts as CJ Wormwell still making lovely photographs and Chris’ PoA sky & lighthouse p0rn).

This one is a timelapse of the Milky Way, taken from The Phurt, down in the North of the Isle of Man.

Lovely stuff, and almost difficult to remember (because of the tholtan and the bush remaining static), that’s it’s actually us that is spinning and the galaxy that’s standing still.

You can see the rest of Chris’ Youtube channel here (he recently got a drone) and his Flickr is here.

Cooling off

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A picture is worth a thousand words, they say. In my humble opinion, it’s going to have to be a pretty detailed photo for someone to wax lyrical for 1000 words about it though.

Still, sometimes words aren’t the only way that a photograph’s worth can be measured. How about feelings? Not emotions: I don’t believe in them, since I’m a tough, macho Yorkshireman.
I’m talking about my interaction with my immediate environment.

And this photograph from FOTB Chris Wormwell:

I’m currently sitting in an office which is slightly hotter than the Sahara, because the person I’m sharing it with appears to be cold-blooded like some sort of reptile, but all I need to do to feel a little cooler is look at Chris’ Glen Mooar image above.

It’s only a temporary fix though, and we’re going to have to reach some sort of compromise over the aircon soon – especially with summer right around the corner now. It’s not likely to be cooler anytime soon and I have to wear these clothes for two days because of the water shortages.

And I am MELTING! 

[looks at photograph above again]
Ah! That’s better.

Galactic editing

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After I posted a photo I took over the weekend, long-suffering reader and all-round top ‘tog Chris J Wormwell (you may remember him from such posts as Chris’ PoA sky & lighthouse p0rn and The photo that I wanted to share yesterday but couldn’t because the dog ate the internet) got in touch with some sage advice:

This was a huge help and step forward for me recently: https://www.lonelyspeck.com/how-to-process-milky-way-astrophotography-in-adobe-lightroom/

I clicked through, and was rewarded with a step-by-step guide to making this photo:

look better:

And it only took me ten minutes or so.

Some points from my experience:
I think the photo looks much better.
Note that all that stuff was there in the original – you just couldn’t see it.
If I can do it, so can you.
The guide was really helpful.
I now know that I will need to take a better photo next time if I want to make it even better.
But also, I now know how to do that.
There are loads of other ideas for night photography on that site that I haven’t had chance to look at yet.

A(nother) new door has been opened. Thanks, Chris.

Plunge (x2)

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So, I took the plunge and I bought myself an Adobe Lightroom subscription. I’ve actually been using their free trial version to sort out the Shamwari photos, and I think it’s been going ok (and I’ve actually had some nice comments), so it seems to be worth it.

I took advice from (amongst others) this guy, who clearly knows what he is doing in the ‘togging game, and whose input is therefore to be acted upon.
UPDATE: Apparently that Flickr link will only work if you have a Flickr account.

Earlier, he dropped this little number*:

… which he took from his living room!

Yeah. Not many places you can do that from, so either he lives near the sea (he does) or he lives in Shropshire (the UK equivalent of the Free State) and just has some really good lenses.

Anyway, you might be wondering why I’m rambling on this way, even more annoyingly and pointlessly than usual, and it’s because when you buy Lightroom, you need to re-download it. No upgrading or simple activating of the free trial version here.

And have you seen how fast SA internet isn’t?

There’s time to fill before I can play with my new purchase…

 

* which is the second plunge, see? 

Chris’ PoA sky & lighthouse p0rn

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You know me, dear reader.
I like lighthouses.
And pretty skies.
And the Isle of Man.
And other people’s photos.

If only someone could combine all of those thi… OMG! – Chris Wormwell has only gone and done it!

And I’m unapologetically leaving it large.

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That’s the Point of Ayre Lighthouse (you may remember it from posts such as this) right at the very Northern tip of the Isle of Man. But look at that light, look at that sky, look at those colours, check out the composition.
Absolutely stunning.

My goodness.

One day, I will be able to take photographs like this.
Until then, I will continue to borrow the ones that Chris takes.

Here it is – big and on black – on Chris’ Flickr stream.