I got out my big tripod, got all bundled up, put on my 17-40mm super-wide angle lens, snapped a self portrait, and headed out into the sub-freezing temperatures to attempt to photograph the Quadrantids Meteor Shower last night starting at 9:30 pm, thinking I could get photos in the darkness before the moon came up at 11:00 pm. But when I got outside, I discovered there was a light cloud cover reflecting a lot of light off the city from the south, southeast. I followed the suggestions about how to photograph meteor showers on Spacedex.com’s Meteor Shower Guides, but it looks like I failed to capture anything but stars, planets and clouds. After an hour making exposures from different angles, I got pretty cold and went back inside. I woke up at 2:15 am, bundled up in the dark and went out the front door and tried some exposures from the front porch. The moon, at 65% full, was up to about 10 o’clock in the southeastern sky, so I made my exposures looking west and north. I got a nice shot of the Dig Dipper in the northern skies at 2:30 am, but again failed to get anything that looked like a meteors.
Looking straight up 9:45 pm
Looking straight up at 10:00 pm.
Looking East at 10:15 pm
Looking South at 10:30 pm.
Looking West at 2:25 am.
Looking North 2:30 am. The big dipper is in the center.
I’m sorry you did not get what you worked so hard to get, but I love the bundled up self portrait, and some beautiful night sky images.
Comment by sbgyn — January 4, 2013 @ 5:01 am
I didn’t really expect to get any meteors because NM is on the very edge of being able to see them, according to the website. The light clouds and moon did not help, either.
Comment by Timothy Price — January 4, 2013 @ 5:04 am
Wonderful star photos!!! And portrait is also excellent! )
Comment by randomiser144 — January 4, 2013 @ 9:17 am
Thanks!
Comment by Timothy Price — January 4, 2013 @ 4:55 pm
It is good to see you Timothy. I feel you are really yourself. I myself am not able to show a selfportrait because I am afraid to show myself. I think you are very brave.
Comment by wolfzorrito — January 4, 2013 @ 3:18 pm
I don’t care much for doing self portraits, but sometimes they serve a purpose.
Comment by Timothy Price — January 4, 2013 @ 4:56 pm
Wow, so many stars! And you look all warm and toasty all bundled up, lol.
Comment by fairytaleepidemic — January 4, 2013 @ 3:58 pm
Thanks! I still got cold. It was 15ºF at 10pm and near zero at 2:30am.
Comment by Timothy Price — January 4, 2013 @ 4:06 pm
Thanks for braving the cold to get night pictures–love the self-portrait!
Comment by A. Mogford — January 4, 2013 @ 7:43 pm