Topic: POW 110 - Skyscapes

Having been granted the honour of starting the next POW, I thought I'd go for something that has always captivated me more than anything else I've ever pointed a lens at. Ever changing, never-ending, and always brightest when it's feeling blue; the sky!

Hopefully, this isn't a bland choice. I'm still a bit of a kid when it comes to the sky, and I'm sure I'm not the only one here who has spent more time staring at that than paying attention to where I place my feet... *crash*

Let's not be overly strict; it doesn't all have to be burning fields of blue with shades of grey. Wherever you are, there's an awful lot more than vapour between you and the heavens (especially when looking to the horizon) so you've plenty of scope.

If you haven't already, check the FAQ for guidelines/rules/info:

POW (Photo of the Week}

I'll post one or two of my own grainy efforts when I get back from work this evening.

I don't know if I have anything for this fine skyscape theme.

(Edited by cyoung on 05-27-2007 01:51)

Wow. Incredible photos!

I'll see if I can dig up a few of my own... nothing like those, though. Dang.

Sorry that I'm so late getting back to this - a lesson has been learned; don't expect to be able to use your machine too soon after deciding to play around with a new operating system... but I'm back now, and while I haven't much to match CYoung's piccies (nice, they are), I don't think they're too bad for a 2MP mobile phone cam.

Thanks guys. I'm flattered. White Hawk, I'd say those look pretty good for a 2mp phone cam. My RAZR can't hang with that.

Great photos guys....
Don't have much myself ...hope this one is ok:
http://www.sleepingwolves.com/portfolio/albums/userpics/10001/DSC_0074.jpg

Great photos White Hawk - hope you don't mind but I've nicked one to use as my desktop!

I'm honoured that you would do so. Most of the originals are 1600x1200 with fewer compression artifacts; let me know the image names, and I'd be happy to send you a couple.

I really would like to buy myself a nice-but-compact digital camera. My budget is small, however, and I fear that spending too little on a camera would lead to frustration. When I do get around to buying one, I guarantee that I'll be carrying it with me everywhere; my theory is that if I take hundreds of pictures every week, and only a fraction turn out to be worth keeping, then I should have quite a few nice photos to keep.

It's a quantity-for-the-sake-of-quality thing.

EDIT: I thought I'd add this here rather than hog the thread with another post - most of my pics were taken with a Sony Ericsson W700. I paid £50 for the phone (on contract) a while back, and got a free PSP with it! What's nice is that I can swap the memory card over to the PSP for instantly viewing photos. Mega-bargain, it was, considering PSPs were still about £200 at the time.

Cool moon photo, Tao!

(Edited by White Hawk on 05-29-2007 14:36)

I think I'm stretching the brief here but when I pointed the camera skyward this was heavenly body I saw and captured.
Great photos cyoung I have yet to try my hand at photographing lightning I can imagine it is a bit fiddly, tripod, "B" setting (or the equivalent), and of course the weather. Not seen or heard a a storm like that for quite a while.
That's a great collection too White Hawk especially for a 2mb mobile phone camera. My Sony Ericsson couldn't match that quality, but I do get to listen to tunes

Here are some of my favourites

On my way to catch a train, I saw this:

I'd put a week's wages on it; that's some poor fellow's personal rain-cloud, that is. I bet it followed him all the way home. o.O

Two more snaps around the same time demonstrate the eccentric variability of results with the phone-cam; possibly because I keep snagging the phone's thumbpad (white balance control) but also, perhaps, good reason not to keep pointing my phone at the sun. *sheepish*

Thanks Tao. Tripod for sure, but I rarely use the bulb setting (ymmv). I have a cable release/ timer that allows me to dial in any exposure length I want and usually I'm trying to avoid problems with light pollution that appear with terribly long exposures.. not to mention noise issues with digital or movement of foreground elements like leaves and branches or whatever. The biggest trick with lightning is choosing the right aperture. It kinda sets its own exposure. If it's really bright and close f5.6-ish is usually a good place to start. Then once you find a nice aperture for your shots you can play around trying to expose the foreground and stuff with the length of the exposure. If memory serves I think the longest exposure I posted above was 4 minutes.. the one with the rocks and the lake behind "know". Luck is a factor. So is wind and rain, and safety. I often shoot out of my car with a window rolled down and towels everywhere. I have a raincoat for my cam and a big, heavy ashwood tripod that doesn't get all funky from getting water everywhere.

I'm lovin this topic. It's a soft spot if you haven't guessed. Great stuff from everybody!

Oh, please don't pick me to choose the next one. I'm going to be going on a trip and won't be around while I'm gone.. just happy to play.

Thanks for the info, CYoung - a friend of mine was asking last night how you managed to take such exceptional shots. I was planning on asking you in turn, but gave him a preliminary "skill, patience and luck... and possibly a hot thermos".

I'm glad the topic appeals.

On a side note, I've been offered an extended loan of a Sony DSC-W55 (or similar), so while I'm a long way from being as well equipped as CYoung, I plan to contribute to future POWs with something better than my phone camera. Happy, me.
_____

Suho - have I picked a dull topic? Get in there!

Thanks for the info cyoung, I'm always interested in useful techniques photographers use to better acquire the shot they're after. I've had a cable release on order for the past month, I think I may venture on to E-Bay instead of waiting for my local suppliers to ship one in. I'm also after a coupling ring and a reversing ring or two so you can guess what direction my photographic interests are heading to
I've recently purchased a Canon EOS 400D and I've been spending a lot of time just getting used to the camera and the multiplicity of settings it offers. I'm starting to remember all the stuff I had learnt thirty years ago when I used a Canon AE1 film camera.
The "lightning" technique you describe sounds like it would be very useful for one of my next projects, which is photographing meteor showers. The next main one for me being the the Perseids in mid August.

I don't have much, but here they are. Not quite as impressive as what's been posted so far though, great shots White Hawk and cyoung. (If you look close, you can even see some sky in mine )

Wouldn't want ya ta think I forgot ya... just reeeeal busy

Here's a few oldies ta start... not all have thumbnails, sorry









Muddy Water

My submissions: http://in-dented.net/gallery/gallery.php?node=43

Wow! It's great to see such participation. Looks like you picked a winner, White Hawk.

Sorry for the delay on my part--it's the end of the semester (my last semester!) and I've been insanely busy here. But it looks like I'm not too late...

Normally I like to take new photos for POWs, but I live in a valley, so our sky is rather narrow and usually not too interesting. Here's a look at the sky outside my place.

Valley sky

But I do have some other photos I've taken over the years. Here are a few:

Lake George, NY
Same view at sunset (with a bit of zoom)
Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty (also available as a wallpaper--get it while supplies last! )
Sunset in Incheon
Sunrise over West Sea
Jeju Island
Mud flats

Not as nice as most of the pics above, but there you have it.

[Edit: You can click on those smaller photos for larger versions]

(Edited by Suho1004 on 06-02-2007 06:00)

Hey, everyone loves the sky! Cheekily, an easy topic to pick. The simple act of looking up, especially when you're feeling down, can be an oddly uplifting thing. No lava lamp provides the chaotic, chromatic, kaleidoscopic slideshow that the sky can. While what lies below it crawls through change a lifetime at a time, the sky is in a constant state of flux... who doesn't stare at the sky from time to time, even absently?

Fantastic photos all round, methinks. Thanks everyone, I've enjoyed this a lot.

It's about that time again, isn't it? I'll just pull this lever, and the robot will pick a card... *shuffle-shuffle-shuffle* ...and the next POW initiator, as picked by the Shufflenator is... *shuffle-shuffle* *flip* *ping!* *clang* *SHR-R-R-ED* *ERROR*

Ah, it seems this'll have to go a bit longer while I tinker with the Shufflenator here... carry on while I see if I can borrow a sonic screwdriver...

(Edited by White Hawk on 06-02-2007 15:24)

While ya thinkin' I'll slip another in

Took me two nights ta get this

And I broke the on-off switch on my camera fumbling in the dark

Awesome photo, Ian! Living where I am (in the valley), I don't get to see sights like that very often.

What a great photo to finish on!

Having recovered the card from the dismantled Shufflenator (and with no small amount of sticky-tape ingenuity) the name of the next POW topic starter can be revealed as Tao! A good excuse to play around with your new Canon, perhaps?

Thanks all for a great set of skyscapes.

^Tao... did you take your moon with your new Canon?

I gotta play more... my "brighter moons" were blown out... not really sure how to combat that... smidgen shorter exposure is all I can try, I guess

Ian: I've found that if you want decent detail in your moon shots, you need a very fast shutter speed--pretty much what you would consider a daytime shutter speed. The moon is just so bright that it will be blown out if you use a typical nighttime shutter speed.

I'm sure I have some moon pics lying around here somewhere... Ah, here we go. This is last year's harvest moon:



I took that with an aperture value of 4.9 and a shutter speed of 1/400. I experimented with a range of shutter speeds before getting this.

[Edit: One of these days, after I make my millions, I'm going to get a real camera with a monstrous telephoto lens and take some nice moon pics. ]

(Edited by Suho1004 on 06-04-2007 16:36)

C'mon Tao, quite slackin now!

Hmmm - no response to message, and no stirrings from Tao on the forums.

What's the protocol for non-starters? How long should one wait before re-appointing?

Tao! Tao! Wherefore art thou, Tao?

I think it should be mentioned that the Shufflenator has been re-assembled...

Whoops sorry I've been away longer than expected.
I'm on it