Archive for the ‘Misc Photos’ Category

Photographing the Moon

Posted on July 20, 2009 at 1:17 am

On this day, 40 years ago, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first human beings to set foot on the surface of the moon. To celebrate the anniversary of this incredible achievement, we have decided to post a few of our favourite lunar photographs.

Eiffel Tower

The moon can often add an additional dimension to an otherwise normal photograph. Recently I was visiting the Eiffel Tower in Paris when I noticed the moon rising above the city. I moved into a position where I could photograph the Eiffel Tower with the moon behind. I took a bracketed sequence of shots and then combined them as an HDR image so that I could balance out the illuminated tower with the moonlit clouds and the streetlights below.

Lunar Eclipse

On 3rd/4th March 2007, we were lucky to be in the right place at the right time; watching a total lunar eclipse under a clear night sky. We set up our 400mm f/2.8 lens and stacked a 1.4x and a 2x teleconverter to give us a focal length of 1,120mm! Camera shake was amplified at this huge focal length, so to minimise vibrations we used a shutter release cord and set the camera to “mirror lock-up” mode. Mirror lock-up raises the mirror in the camera early and therefore reduces vibrations when the shot is taken (putting your camera into “live view” mode would also achieve this). At this focal length the moon travelled surprisingly fast across the viewfinder so we need a shutter speed of at least 0.6s to get the moon sharp (note that serious astro-photographers would have used a tracking mount to move the camera at the same rate as the Earth’s rotation).

During the height of the eclipse, the moon goes red as the only light reaching it has to travel through the Earth’s atmosphere. The moon also becomes much dimmer so we had to push the camera all the way up to ISO 1600 to capture the phenomenon. You can see the full gallery showing the progression of the lunar eclipse here.

Moon Beam

This is an experimental photograph that we took last year in Botswana. There was a lot of dust in the air so the moon was not very bright. This allowed us to take a long exposure of the moon as it ascended without the shot completely blowing out. The resulting image looks like something out of Independence Day – a beam of light coming from an alien spacecraft!

Behind the shot: Celestial Storks

Posted on April 3, 2009 at 12:31 pm

Matthew and I took this photograph last year in the Pantanal, Brazil. It shows two Jabiru Storks sleeping in their nest while the stars rotate overhead. The camera was positioned so that the southern celestial pole was behind the nest and an exposure time of 40 minutes was used to capture the star trails. The tree was illuminated by a single lamp placed about 100m away.

The southern celestial pole can be located by identifying the Southern Cross constellation and following it down about four and a half cross-lengths. In the Northern Hemisphere, you can find the north celestial pole by pointing your camera at the North Star. You can find out more about locating the celestial poles here.

This is photograph is one of our all-time favourites – it looks fantastic when printed large. If you are interested in buying a print then please get in touch.

Snow in London

Posted on February 2, 2009 at 4:23 pm

Wow… I woke up this morning to find London snowier than I have seen it in years. I couldn’t resist the opportunity to pop out during my lunch break and take a few photos.

I wasn’t expecting to be taking photos any time soon so the only camera gear I have up in London with me is my old 1D Mark II and a 45mm tilt-shift lens… an unusual choice of lens but it did the trick!

Here are just a few pictures to give you an idea of what London looks like at the moment.

Top Ten Photographs of 2008

Posted on January 11, 2009 at 10:56 pm

2008 was a fantastic year for us… we visited some amazing places and were lucky enough to photograph a number of beautiful and elusive creatures in their natural habitats. Some of the most unforgettable moments of 2008 include following Meerkats through the Kalahari Desert, spotting Jaguars in the wetlands of Brazil and wading through swamps at night to photograph Caimans. This year we were also successful in a number of competitions including Nature’s Best Photography Awards, European Wildlife Photographer of the Year, Garden Photographer of the Year and the RSPCA Youth Photographer Awards. The task of selecting our 10 favourite shots of 2008 has not been easy!

#10 Zebra Sunset

#9 Snake River

#8 Cave Beam

#7 Fox in the Garden

#6 Caiman Swamp

#5 Praying Mantis

#4 Kalahari Meerkat

#3 Wading Jaguar

#2 Leopard Cub

#1 Caiman under the Stars

Please visit Jim Goldstein’s blog to see other photographers’ top ten shots of 2008. You can see some more of our photos from 2008 at WillBL.com and MattBL.com.