#camranger

Morning Sunlight Casting Shadows Across the Badlands at Panorama Point (Badlands National Park) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: An idea I got from another photographer while planing a trip to Badlands National Park and the nearby Dakotas area. For this image, I used a tripod to mount my Nikon SLR camera and then used a CamRanger so that I could meter and compose the image captured. I found that and then making manual adjustments to the shutter speed gave me better feedback for an image captured. I later used some CEP filters in Capture NX2 (Low Key, Polarization and Graduated Neutral Density) which seemed to best bring colors. shadows and tones even with the bright sunlight as I faced that morning at this overlook point.

M101_April2017_HomCavObservatory by homcavobservatory Via Flickr: M101 is a face-on, grand design spiral galaxy lying approximately 21 million light-years from Earth. Containing the equivilant of 1 trillion solar masses, it spans about 170,000 light-years from edge-to-edge. Fairly large, it appears over 28 arcminutes in diameter in our sky (i.e. approximately the size of the full moon), and can be found in the constellation of Ursa Major. Often referred to as the Pinwheel galaxy, it shares that moniker with the galaxy M33 in Triangulum. The attached image is via our wide-field imaging system and covers over 3 degrees (i.e. 6 full moons) in width, with North at left. Several other smaller and fainter galaxies can found near M101's; to it's lower right is the round galaxy NGC 5474, to it's upper left the edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 5422 and to it's lower left and just discernible in this image are NGC 5473, 5485 & 5486. Taken by Jay Edwards at the HomCav Observatory in Maine, NY while out shooting the most recent comets on the morning of April 19th using an Orion ED80T CF Triplet Apochromatic Refractor connected to a 0.8x Televue field flattener & focal reducer, CamRanger, IPad and Canon 700D DSLR; and guided by an Orion StarShoot autoguider connected to a Celestron 80MM short tube refractor; all riding on an Orion SkyView Pro goto mount guided by PHD, this image is nearly full frame and has been resized down here to HD resolution and the bit depth lowered from 16 to 8 bits per channel to reduce the file size.

Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus) and American Wigeon (Anas americana) by Dawn & Jim Via Flickr: Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus) and American Wigeon (Anas americana) at San Elijo Lagoon Ecological Reserve, Encinitas California USA Lucky 11, our 11th morning out during our family holiday in Southern California. And yes, we did get some pies ;-)

As I Sat Along a Shoreline, Where Do Waters Travel? by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: WIth this image I set up my Nikon SLR camera on tripod with a CamRanger hookup to my iPhone to compose and then meter a long exposed image and bring out more of a silky look to the flowing waters of Amicalola Creek. Having forgotten to put a variable ND in a butt pack I carry for hiking, I did the ol’ tried and true method and closed down on the aperture to allow me to use a longer shutter speed. For post-processing the image, I was able to work with control points and color control points in Capture NX2 to bring out the contrast, saturation and brightness I wanted. I then added a Polarization and Sunshine CEP filter to give that little bit extra for the final image.

We All Wanted to See the Famous Sculptured Faces of Mount Rushmore by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: While I won't deny that I did feel that rush to get to the main plaza overlook for Mount Rushmore, here I decided to just take my time and capture a few images as I approached the main promenade with the Avenue of Flags. It was the people walking about while heading to the main memorial overlook that I really wanted to capture or at least the atmosphere of being at Mount Rushmore National Memorial.

Lily Pads and Forest to Complete a Setting Around Kendall Lake (Cuyahoga Valley National Park) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A view along the shoreline of Kendall Lake looking to the north-northwest in Cuyahoga Valley National Park.