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Star Trails Above a Forgotten Time

After a very warm and clear spring day I decided to head to a location I spotted a few weeks back for a Star Trail photograph.

It was a very dark location and I setup using my (very bright) Mountain Bike lights. Set the camera’s built-in Intervalometer and then sat and waited for an hour (listening to the sounds of Wild Boar and Tawny Owls) whilst the camera took multiple exposures. One of the exposures I briefly shone the lights on the Well.

The shots have then been merged together. This was originally just a test shoot but the final result is worth sharing with you. Looking closely at the trails, there are small gaps which suggests the Intervalomter was missing a shot which is strange as I’ve not had this issue before and a count of the final number of images doesn’t match the number I expected for an hour-long shoot. Anyway, here is the final image and I look forward to returning for another session.

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Star Trails Above A Forgotten Time
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New Location For A Star Trail Shot Found

This morning I (and Wally!) stumbled across an old and abandoned Well with many of the workings still intact. A quick look on the PhotoPills App confirmed my thoughts that the angle below is exactly north facing.

This means that Polaris (AKA The North Star) is directly above the well. I love to try to include local features in my shots and therefore, I will return for a Star Trail Shot the next time we have a perfectly clear night sky. The only concern is the area also has a lot of evidence of Javali foraging!


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Moon Halo Over The Algarve

Tonight there is a Moon Halo or to give it the correct name a 22 Degree Halo which is used to describe the amount of light that is bending to create the effect.

It is caused by the light being diffracted twice by entering and exiting ice crystals high up in the atmosphere.

I have seen one before, but not as bright as this one, it is certainly a stunning view.

Here are a couple of photos I shot.

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22 Degree Moon Halo
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More Geminids!

It was a last-minute decision to set the camera up tonight (or should I actually say this morning!) and only because I saw quite a few bright slow-moving Meteors streaming across the skies.

As I didn’t have any plans, I decided to just stand in front of the camera for one of the shots. This photo is made up of a selection of photos from the camera taking a 15 sec exposure every 17 seconds for 45 minutes. As you can see, there were plenty of “Shooting Stars” coming across the skies tonight!

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Geminids 2018
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Geminid Meteor Show To Peak Tonight & Tomorrow Night

Every year in December we are treated to the Geminid Meteor Shower which is debris left over by the Asteroid 3200 Phaethon. The peak here in the GMT Timezone (Portugal, UK & Ireland) is over the next 2 nights (December 13th and 14th) although will be visible for a few nights later.  The best viewing starts after midnight and will last until dawn, but can be seen as soon as it goes dark. For a more detailed look at the times in your own timezone, take a look at Time and Date’s Web Page. Of course, any cloudy skies may hamper the viewing.

The Geminids take their name from the constellation Gemini where they originate, however, can be seen anywhere in the sky. Obviously the darker the sky the more chance of spotting them. They are very slow-moving and can shine multiple colours. It has been known to witness up to 160 an hour! After sunset if watch between North and East you can’t go wrong.

Here are some photos I took in 2017 with some photography tips following below

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Geminids 2017
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Full Moon Rising

It’s a Full Moon tonight and I was ready to capture it rising above a ridge here in the hills of the Algarve.

To enable both the Moon and ridge to be exposed correctly, I took 2 shots, one with an exposure to stop the Moon “blowing out”, in other words to avoid it being too bright and not seeing the detail. The 2nd shot was a longer exposure to capture the silhouette of the hills. These have then been blended in Photoshop to create one final image.

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Full Moon Rise In The Algarve Serra
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