Posts Tagged ‘Venus’

Shot with my 200mm fast lens early this morning from the back deck of our house:

Venus and Moon in Morning Sky

A brilliant half-Moon was out under clear skies, so I mounted the Bigma lens on the Olympus E-620, set up my tripod on the back deck and aimed at the sky.

I had more luck using the Bigma lens when it was set between 400-450mm, but I did manage a few shots at 500mm where things were sharp. Here’s the best of the lot:

Half-Moon Shot Using the Bigma Lens

Jupiter and Venus were also out in the early morning sky, relatively low in the eastern skies. None of my shots of Jupiter came out, and all of the ones I shot of Venus ended up being slightly over-exposed or showing signs of chromatic aberration. Still, this one shot shows that there’s some promise:

Crescent Venus

I had read in SkyNews that the Moon was going to be in the sky along with the planet Venus in this morning, and when I stepped out the front door, instead of heading straight to work I went down to the beach with my camera and took these shots.

The first shot, with the trees and the jogger in just the right place is my favourite of the bunch, and I pretty much knew it would be my picture of the day when I took it, but I kept walking closer to Beach, and the progression towards the water is what you see here.

Crescent Moon and Venus at Sunrise by The Beach with Jogger and Trees

Crescent Moon and Venus at Sunrise by The Beach with Trees

Crescent Moon and Venus at Sunrise by The Beach

Woke up very early this morning, and while making my usual morning tea I looked out the porch door at the back and saw a very bright “star” in the low east. I figured it must be a planet, likely Venus. I confirmed this when I went to check Stellarium on my computer. So I dug out my camera tripod and the telephoto lens and thought I’d try to see if I could catch the planet in one of its phases. The picture below was the best of the bunch I shot.

The planet Venus

Stellarium also pointed out that Jupiter and the moon were prominent in the western sky, so I set up my tripod on the front porch and took some more pictures. The pic below shows Jupiter either flanked by some of its moons, or is a form of lens aberration.

Jupiter and Moons(?)

I’ll have to try and take another set of pics of Jupiter to see whether or not I get the same effect.

I don’t have much to show really, and I can’t help but think that the next stage up in telephoto lenses would be desirable for taking better, more detailed astrophotography pics. Still much to learn!

Shot this on a cold, cold night just outside our front door. Had the camera on a tripod, used a long-ish exposure, and after a couple dozen shots, this was the one I was happiest with.

Crescent Moon and Venus