Submitter's name:	Matt BenDaniel
Title:	New Mexico Skies
Gear used:	OM-1 + Zuiko 8/2.8 + Losmandy GM-8
Diaphragm:	f/8
Shutter speed:	90 minutes
Film used:	Gas-hypersensitized Kodak PPF 400
Technical information:	The fisheye lens was aimed straight up at 1:00 am near Mayhill, New Mexico. That site is very dark, which is required for this kind of shot. The Losmandy telescope mount slowly turned the camera to compensate for the motion of the Earth, making the stars appear to stand still for the duration of the exposure. It is especially important to have accurate polar alignment for such a long shot. The f/8 aperture was used because the lens vignettes excessively at wider positions. Before use, the standard pro film was treated in a vacuum chamber and infused with hydrogen gas, which reduces reciprocity failure. After standard C-41 development, the negative was scanned on a Polaroid SprintScan 4000 and processed in Photoshop 5.5. I think this image is mediocre, and I plan to do a better job on it next Summer.
Subject information:	The Summer Milky Way is shown, along with more elusive sights, including the zodiacal band, gegenschein, M42, Barnard's Loop, California Nebula, and North America Nebula. The colors in this image are natural. The dark irregular outside edge of the circle is the horizon 360 degrees around, including a few nearby trees.
Here you can leave some comments about this picture. Please fill out all the fields before submitting the form. Once you're done filling out the form, click the "Leave comments" button, after which you can see your comments down below.
Your name:
Your e-mail:
Comments:

Comment left by: Olaf Greve (no e-mail specified)

Nice, nice! You may not be 100% satisfied with the results, but I think it is a great picture.

Comment left by: Ian Nichols (iann@argonet.co.uk)

You like fisheyes, don't you Matt? - 2 TOPE entries out of 4. Nice work though - I wish we had skies that stayed cloudless for 90 min and weren't full of sodium light reflections.

Comment left by: Mariusz Kalukin (kalukin@poczta.onet.pl)

Beauty-fisheye!!!! I am in love!!

[Previous]

[Return to index]

[Next]