Category Archives: Night Sky

Landscape, Night Sky, Travel

Camping under the stars and a full moon

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The last time I slept in a tent in a real camping situation, some wicked strong wind was blowing down our tent in the middle of the night causing my wife and I to scramble three kids from the tent to the car with buckets of rain falling from the sky and bolts of lightning making a flashlight obsolete. Maybe that’s why it’s been nearly four years since we took on the great outdoors in a tent. But this time, I had some ideas for a few photographs that I was hoping to capture while camping a single night at Jordanelle State Park near Heber, Utah.

My hope was to capture some star trail photos or even a shot of the Milky Way. The night sky was supposed to be cloud free, but a little thing known as the full moon, or in this case the Super Moon, put a damper on that idea, because before the light from the sun was fully extinguished, the moon was peaking over the mountains in the east. But once I got my kids to bed in our 3-4 person dome tent, I turned on a light for them and then set up the photo below.

Photo tent camping under stars full moon

Canon 60D | 18-135mm lens | 30″ | f/7.1 | ISO 400 | RAW

One of the hardest parts of the photo was to get the tent to glow, without over-exposing it, while capturing some of the stars in the night sky. I think if the moon wouldn’t have been lighting up the great outdoors, it would have been easier to capture the two elements I had in mind. But I still like the way the overall photo turned out. I did capture this photo in a horizontal and vertical layout, and I’m excited to try and do a few different things with this photo – maybe a iPhone 4/4s cover? Hmmmm.

~signed, Carltonaut

Travel, Night Sky, Landscape

Capturing the super moon with leaves in silhouette

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Making the best of an unexpected situation can sometimes be the only way to go. While camping at Jordanelle State Park on Friday night, I was expecting to capture some star trail photos. But knowing that it was a full moon, I had to lower some of my expectation. But when the super moon made its way above the mountain range to the east, I had to turn my camera on it and see what I could capture.

Rather than grabbing just another show of the moon, I was trying to get the silhouette of something else into the photo. Since there were a lot of trees in the distance, I decided to make that my additional subject in the photo and ended up with this capture.

Full Super moon with tree silhouette

Canon 60D | 55-200mm lens | 1/100 | f/10 | ISO 250 | RAW

While this isn’t the shot of the moon that I have in mind as my dream shot, it’s a move in the right direction. The challenge is finding the right setting, and then playing with how I get the ground as well as the moon to show up in the photo. Maybe some HDR action, or some other capture and editing techniques. So for the time being, hope you enjoy this shot and I’ll hope to capture and share my dream photo.

~signed, Carltonaut

Night Sky

Capturing the moon and unveiling the Carltonaut logo

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What better way to unveil my new logo for Carltonaut Photography than by pairing it with a photo I shot of the moon moments ago.

Waxing Gibbous Moon

I have no intention of including my logo on all my photos, because I like photos that can speak for themselves. But for this photo, I made an exception. I’ve spent the past little bit trying out different styles, colors, fonts, etc. to find a logo I felt would be fun and tie into my love of photography and space. As my blog’s tagline states, “Photos of (and out of) this world.”

Hope you enjoy the photo and the new logo, and will follow my Carltonaut blog to see what I capture. I’m always looking to see what others capture (either on WordPress, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, etc.), so maybe I’ll come across your work, too.

~signed, Carltonaut

Just for fun, Night Sky, Travel, Tutorials

Fun Photography: On the Way to the Harvest Moon

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Manned exploration to the moon ceased before I was born in 1980. Now in my 30s, I am fascinated with the history, grandeur and intrigue of the space program (yes, I stayed up till 2 am watching Curiosity land on Mars). I’ve also stayed up till 2 am taking photos of the moon or capturing star trails. I think it’s pretty obvious that when I can combine space and photography, it’s gonna be another late night.

Beyond just sharing the photos, I thought I would include information about how I set up and took the photo, so if someone else wants to re-create it, they have a good starting point. I am also including this How-To write to the DIY Photography’s How I Took It contest.

After a quick trip to Home Depot, I had all the supplies I needed, and it didn’t cost more than $15. The items included three 10′ PVC pipes and some connectors, along with the ever popular black Duct Tape. In my backyard, I hooked two of the pipes together using a straight connector. However, when I lifted it into the air, it would bend way too far. Using duct tape, I attached the third pipe across the joint of the first two. This provided the support I needed.

I didn’t want to have to fight with the objects spinning while I shot my photos, so before I attached the third pipe, I had cut three 8″ pieces and configured the setup seen in the photo to the left. Using thread, I hooked one end to the model and the other to the pipe (I cut a small notch in the pipe so the string wouldn’t slip off as easily). I then hoisted the contraption into the air and duct taped the bottom part to the trampoline leg, and used rope to hook the upper part of the pipes to the sturdy pole on the trampoline netting.

Now I just had to wait for the full moon (the Harvest Moon) to get out from behind the neighbor’s tree, and then position the model near the moon. I set the camera on the tripod and framed the shot I was looking for. I had to constantly keep adjusting the shot, because the moon kept moving across the sky. In manual mode, I set the aperture to f/25 so I had the largest depth of field possible (although it still wasn’t enough to have both elements – the moon and the model – in focus).

Using the wireless shutter-release function, I warmed up my Canon Speedlite 430EX II flash and put it in wireless mode. After I got into position on the step-stool (to help me get closer to the model with the flash in hand), I held the flash in position and triggered the shutter. Since only one of the two objects (the moon or the model) could be in focus at any one time (see sample on the left), I had to change the focal point for each photo, then combine the two photos in Photoshop later.

Here are the two final photos along with the specific camera settings for each photo, and any post-processing in Photoshop.

092912 On the way to the Moon

MOON Canon 60D | 55-200mm lens | 1/25 | f/25 | ISO 100 | Converted to BW
MODEL Canon 60D | 55-200mm lens | 1/25 | f/25 | ISO 100 | Canon Speedlite 430EX II | RAW – Adjusted exposure and levels, erased out-of-focus moon, cropped closer

092912 Saturn V toward the Moon

MOON Canon 60D | 55-200mm lens | 1/25 | f/25 | ISO 100 | Converted to BW
MODEL Canon 60D | 55-200mm lens | 1/25 | f/25 | ISO 100 | Canon Speedlite 430EX II | Adjusted levels, erased out-of-focus moon, cropped closer

I have another shot I am working to capture, but it will take a little more planning and play to get it to work the way I’m envisioning it. Stay tuned, and I hope you enjoy this little bit of trick photography.

~signed, Carltonaut

Black & White, Night Sky, Tutorials

How to Shoot the Moon – in Honor of Neil Armstrong

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If you can’t tell from the name of my blog, I am enthralled by all things space. I am amazed at the precision with which humans can launch a rocket from Earth and land Man or machine on distant moons or planets. I am humbled by the dedication each astronaut has for their “profession” and proud to know that I have shaken hands with Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, Charlie Duke, Gene Cernan, and countless other moonwalkers, astronauts, and mission control personnel.

When I heard of Neil Armstrong’s passing, I was saddended that I never had the chance to meet him. From everything I had heard about him, he was humble, and convinced that he was just doing his job when he took Man’s first steps on the moon. So this post is my way of honoring Neil Armstrong, and I invite others to share their moon photos this week in his honor.

I digress. This blog post isn’t just about my love of space. It’s about my experiences in photographing the moon, and sharing with others the simple things that will hopefully give them the confidence to DIY and shoot [for] the stars… or at least the moon!

Here are the 4 simple steps I used a few moments ago to capture this shot of the moon, with a clarity that even surprised me – though I wish I had a more powerful zoom lens. Or better yet, a Saturn V rocket to take me to the moon to snap a few photos in person!

082812 Honor Neil Armstrong r2

Canon 60D | 55-200mm lens | 1/100 | f/11 | ISO 100 | (Manual Mode)
And a setting that hopefully will make you LOL: Focal Length 238,900 Miles. :-)

STEP 1 – Camera Setup

  • Attach the lens with the longest zoom
  • Put your camera in Manual Mode
  • Start with ISO 100, f/11, and shutter speed of 1/100

STEP 2 – Location Setup

  • Choose a location that works for you. The photo above was shot from my back door. If you can, get away from ambient light.
  • Find the moon (if it’s overcast, go back inside and try for the moon another night).

STEP 3 – Getting Ready to Shoot

  • Use a tripod if you have one handy. If not, set down or lean against something to help keep the lens steady. (I did NOT use a tripod for the photo above)
  • Zoom your lens all the way in to get as close to the moon as you can.
  • You can auto focus on the moon, then switch to manual mode (which is what I did), or you can just refocus on the moon for each shot (which also works).
  • Hold it steady and snap a shot.

STEP 4 – See How It Looks, Adjust Accordingly

  • You can simply look at the LCD screen on your camera to get an initial look at the photo (unless you are using film).
  • If the moon looks dark, adjust one of two things – the aperture or shutter speed.
  • If you’re not using a tripod and the moon looks blurry, try again. You can try holding your breathe as you pust the shutter release button to reduce your movements.
  • Keep adjusting camera settings to snap a few shots. No harm in trying a few different settings to see how it changes the outcome.

Now that you have the photos, take the camera card over to your computer and adjust the exposure, temperature, etc. as you wish. You can even make it a black and white photograph to eliminate any odd colors of the moon (unless you want it to be a rare Blue Moon).

I hope this helps, and I invite you to give it a shot (literally) and then share your photo and camera settings with me in the comments. With the Blue Moon on Friday (Aug 31), it’s a great week to give the moon a shot… literally!

~signed, Carltonaut

Night Sky, Travel

Palm Trees, Ka’anapali Beach and Stargazing

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Last night I headed out to the beach with my camera to get a few shots on Ka’anapali beach. I spent an hour or so taking shots, and had to call it quits when my camera battery got too low. Here’s one of my favorites.

050512 Stars Beach Trees

Canon 60D | 18-135mm lens | 8″ | f/4.5 | ISO 400

I enjoy night photography. In fact, that is one of my all-time favorite things to shoot. And when I look at this photo, especially the colors of the sky contrasted against the trees, I am glad I invested the time on the beach in Hawaii to get a photo that looks like this.

I’m loving this vacation… and Hawaii is a beautiful place to photograph.

P.S. – I am pretty sure that Venus is the brightest light in the sky in this photo!

~signed, Carltonaut

Just for fun, Night Sky, Travel

Shooting the Super Moon in Hawaii

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Aloha! Yesterday was a long day – 28 hours in fact. That’s what happens when you hop on an airplane in Salt Lake City and head west, all the way to the Hawaiian island of Maui. When we arrived at our hotel, it was only 9:20 pm (Maui time). To us Utahns, it felt like 1:20 a.m. the following day. We were exhausted.

But with the Super Moon in the sky, the palm trees and foliage surrounding me, and my camera in hand, I put my wife to bed and headed out to grab some photos of the Super Moon.

050412 SuperMoon_Hawaii

Canon 60D | 18-135mm lens | 1/60 | f/22 | ISO 800 | Speedlite 430EX II Flash

The first few photos I snapped had too much glare and reflection in the lens itself, so I added my 67mm circular polarized filter to my lens before shooting any more. That helped immensely.

I didn’t want to bother with the tripod, so that created a few challenges as well. I was hoping to get some bracketed photos I could use for some HDR processing later, but I couldn’t hold the camera still enough, and the stark contrast between the brightness of the moon in the distance and the unlit foliage in the foreground, it just wasn’t happening. The palm trees were way too tall for my flash to light them up enough, so I found this other type of tree to use in the photo.

I did end up switching to manual mode for these photos, which offered me a lot more control of what I wanted to see in the photo. The details of the moon and the foliage. When I first shot this scene, my aperture was f/5.6, which made the tree really out of focus. While I liked that effect, I opted to use the one with the tree in focus instead. It just allowed more detail, without detracting from the Super Moon itself.

Regardless, it was a fun, though frustrating, image to capture, but I am pleased with the final results. I did end up doing a little Levels adjustments in Photoshop to help brighten up some of the areas that were a little dark, and I think shooting in RAW would have allowed me to produce a better photo, but again, I am pleased with how this one turned out.

Many more photos to come, I’m sure of it!

~signed, Carltonaut

Night Sky

Gazing at the moon through a leafing tree

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Having lost my NCAA bracket miserably, a colleague and I have challenged two others to a game of basketball, hoping to reclaim some basketball prowess by beating them miserably. However, I haven’t actually played basketball in a long time, so I thought I would practice in my driveway tonight while my kids rode their scooters.

However, when I saw the moon growing brighter in the sky as the sun set below the horizon, I couldn’t help but grab my Canon 60D and snap a few shots through a leafing tree on the side of my house. I tried a couple of different angles, but I found this angle to be the best.

040312 Moon through trees

Canon 60D | 55-200mm lens | 1/160 | f/18 | Exposure Compensation -1 1/3 | ISO 400

I needed to find a way to light up the tree leaves, so I mounted my Canon Speedlite 430EX II flash and shot a few more shots. I think my battery was low, because it took forever for my flash to recharge itself. I also had to adjust the exposure compensation a little lower so the colors looked more vibrant and less washed out.

So after lining up the moon a few more times in the center of this clearing in the tree, I was satisfied and headed inside to take a look at the spoils. That photo above is the result. What do you think?

I took another great photo of a blossoming tree at work earlier today, too. But you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to check out that one.

~signed, Carltonaut

Night Sky

Star trails in northern Utah

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The other day I came across a fellow blogger (DailySnaps2012) who had shared some nice star trail photos she had taken last week. Star trails and night photography are some of my all-time favorite shots to try and capture, so I thought I would share two that I took during a Father-Son campout last fall.

My favorite ones are of the North Star, because it is a constant in the night sky, but all the other stars rotate around it to create a sort of vortex look.

Circumpolar Star Trails

In order to get a cooler effect, leave the shutter open for a longer time – the longer, the better. The night I took these photos, there was a full moon, so I wasn’t sure how long I could keep the shutter open without over-exposing the whole thing. I think this was about 5-10 minutes, but again, I don’t remember. However, I do like how the moon lit up the tree, I just wish the stars showed up a little better.

I then pointed the camera south to get some longer star trails.

The night sky over Liberty, Utah

Not only did I like how the tall evergreen shoots up and out of the dark hill side and into the sky, the clouds moving through the sky added a nice look to the photo. Although the full moon was lighting up the sky, the city lights from around Pineview Reservoir polluted the lower portion of the photo, but gave a nice gradient effect to the night sky.

Getting up and into the mountains offer the best setting for photographing star trails – away from the light pollution of nearby cities. But getting up into the mountains isn’t something that I can do on a whim, but it is something that I would love to do more often. If I do get out and capture some interesting star trails, I will definitely share. Thanks again to Lisa from DailySnaps2012 for sharing her star trail photos.

~signed, Carltonaut

Night Sky, Travel

Under the Eiffel Tower

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I had the priviledge of living in southern France many years ago, but I didn’t get the chance to check out the sites of Paris until 2007 when my wife and I traveled there together. It was a great trip, with so many sites to photograph.

While visiting those sites, I found myself taking taking the same old photos that everyone who had traveled to the sites had probably taken. I decided to try looking at different perspectives of capturing these very reconizeable sites.

When we got to the Eiffel Tower, it looked fantastic; lit up against the night sky. I took the customary photos of the icon from a distance, but when I got closer, I found the perspective that would offer a unique approach.

Under the Eiffel Tower

After returning from France and reviewing the photos, I was proud of this particular shot. I entered it into the Utah State Fair and was awarded first place in the Amateur/ Architecture category. I even had it selected by Popular Photography as one of their Photos of the Day in 2011.

Finding different ways to look at things is one of the great things I enjoy about photography.

~signed, Carlonaut