Comet A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) was seen a few weeks ago. The last visit was 80,000 years ago in the era of the Neanderthals. The shot was taken after sunset on October 17, 2024. The Hunter’s Full Moon illuminates the scene.
I arrived in Stonehenge early, before sunset. As I set up my equipment to shoot star trails, I overheard people saying that a severe solar storm heading towards us could cause the elusive Northern lights to appear. I had no clue about it! Only by coincidence, I was there. I had never seen the Northern Lights. Experiencing nature’s most spectacular light show was always a dream of mine. I was excited thinking that even a faint and distant capture of the… Read More »Tinkering Story #18 – Severe solar storm causes spectacular Northern Lights in England
On top of Mount Parnitha, several wooden sculptures exist near an abandoned tuberculosis sanatorium. Greek sculptor Spyridon Dassiotis created art from the tree trunk remains of a devastating fire in 2007.The Park of Souls is a testament to the devastation from the terrible disease and fire that burnt the Parnitha forest.The park was created in 2012. Nowadays only a few artworks remain. Nature, and perhaps human intervention claimed most of the sculptures. All photos were shot on the same day April… Read More »Tinkering Story #17 – Park of Souls in infrared. Acharnes, Greece
The Temple of Poseidon in Sounio, a revisit to a nearby small deserted church, Thoriko ancient theatre in Lavrio and a cat! All were shot on the same day April 06, 2024. I used a Full Spectrum Modified Canon EOS M and a custom-made IR 720nm filter. Something is appealing in black and white, Infrared photography—the simplicity and calmness from the lack of colour distractions. Unlike traditional photography where the golden hour provides the best results, Infrared needs a lot… Read More »Tinkering Story #16 – Infrared Sounio Greece
June 18, 2007. Nearly at the beginning of my astrophotography journey, I witnessed a breathtaking phenomenon. Planet Venus disappeared for a while behind our closest celestial neighbour. During the lunar occultation of Venus, the Moon passes in front of the planet, obstructing it from view. It is a rare, infrequent phenomenon. Not as rare as a solar eclipse but still you may need to wait for several years until the next one. Today, on November 11, 2023, after the usual… Read More »Tinkering Story #15 – Lunar occultation
I always had a fascination with the sky. Mesmerising clouds, colourful rainbows, the night sky and of course lightning! The safest way to enjoy them is from behind a closed window inside your home or from inside your car (assuming that there are no metallic surfaces in your car’s interior). If you MUST go outside and capture them, these are a few pieces of advice: This is a timelapse video showcasing most of my lightning photos and a few of… Read More »Tinkering Story #14 – Lightning photography
Photographing constellations is a great introduction to astrophotography and a fun way to start learning the night sky. All you need is a camera, a lens and a tripod to start with. Constellation photography in its simplest form, only requires placing the camera on a tripod, setting the camera on Manual mode and taking the picture using the camera timer or a remote control to avoid camera shake. Don’t forget to always shoot in RAW format (Nikon: NEF). Hover over… Read More »Tinkering Story #13 – Constellation photography
Flaming star nebula wide field. Date: 09/01/2024. Place taken: Marlborough UK, Bortle 4. After a whole month of cloudy skies, a clear night. There was a lot of airflow. All my wide-field photos from the night are vivid green!SpaceTinkerer Full Spectrum modified Canon 6D + Samyang 135mm.Stacking with Sequator. Default values.Photoshop.RcAstro GradientXterminator and StarXterminator plugins. Rosette nebulae wide field. SpaceTinkerer Full Spectrum modified Canon 6D + Samyang 135mm.Place taken: Marlborough UK, Bortle 4. It was a real battle with windy… Read More »Tinkering Story #12 – Deep Sky Astrophotography at 135mm
I always had a fascination with the smallest creatures. The smaller, the better! I remember watching a groundbreaking film called Microcosmos, years ago wondering what kind of equipment was required to capture the inhabitants of the invisible world. I have tried macro photography before. Initially with a Canon 100mm macro lens and more recently with an extension tube and a 50mm reversed lens. A few of my macro photos are available on my greeksky and spacetinkerer pages. This time I… Read More »Tinkering Story #11 – Extreme Macro Photography
What is Infrared (IR) Photography? Have you seen these ghostly, out-of-this-world images where the trees and grass appear white or pink instead of green? Well, that’s it! All you need is a filter that only allows infrared light to pass, blocking all the other light wavelengths. Different IR filters and/or different post-process techniques achieve interesting variations. An IR photo can be colourful or high-contrast black and white. Any camera is capable of capturing IR photos but there is a hack… Read More »Tinkering Story #10 – Comparing IR Canon clip filters. Hoya R72 720nm vs Green.L 720nm