Skyscapes

Not strictly qualifying as "astronomy" photos, these are a set of photos that I shot while on a trip to the Grand Canyon over Thanksgiving 2007. It was a full moon night, so the canyon was lit up pretty brightly. In editing the photos, I found that there was a very fine line between bringing out all the detail that I could see by moonlight and yet ending up with a shot that didn't look like it was shot during daylight.	That's Mars rising over the eastern horizon in the background.	The first shot I took wasn't in great focus, but I picked up a lot of cool color in the canyon, so it stays.	In order to pick up deatils at night, I had to set the camera up for 30 second exposures (the longest I can take without extra equipment). It's impossible to hold still for that long. Kristi and Brett waiting patiently in the cold(!) for me to finish shooting.	The blown-out blob in the upper right-hand corner is the moon. Taurus rising over the canyon.	The most "astronomy-looking" photo of the bunch, this is shot with my back to the canyon (and to the rising moon).
A widefield shot of the Milky Way galaxy in the vicinity of Cygnus the Swan and Aquila the Eagle. Note the "Great Rift", an dust cloud that blots out most of the stars along the centerline of the photo. The lower right corner of the image is blotted out because this was one of the first shots from my new Nikon DSLR, and I had not yet learned how to apply dark frames for noise reduction to remove the amp glow in this corner (the camera was "upside down" while shooting this photo). Shot while up in Shingletown, CA during July 2005 and finally(!) processed and uploaded in August 2006...
A widefield shot towards the center of the Milky Way galaxy in the vicinity of Scorpius and Sagittarius. Note the "Dark Horse" Nebula, an extensive dust cloud that resembles a rearing horse. The upper left corner of the image is blotted out because this was one of the first shots from my new Nikon DSLR, and I had not yet learned how to apply dark frames for noise reduction to remove the amp glow in this corner. Shot while up in Shingletown, CA during July 2005 and finally(!) processed and uploaded in August 2006...