Night skies updated

Cederberg Skies - Canon 40D, Tokina 11-16, 12x30sec, f/2.8, ISO 3200

I have tweaked some of my recent night sky pictures, here they are.

The above shot was taken during a weekend in the Cederberg region. It was taken during a half moon, which is nice for illuminating the landscape, but a little bright for the stars. The Magellanic Clouds are visible, but they're hiding among the terrestrial clouds low over the horizon.

Aus Workshop 2016

Tree and Dune - Fuji x100s, 1/100, f/8, ISO 200, Polarizer

The Aus Photography Workshop with Wicus Leeuwner and JJ van Heerden was a great success! It was an excellent learning experience for me, I had much fun and got some decent shots.

I suspect that my blog has in common with Playboy that most people come here for the pictures rather than the text. So I'll oblige with lots of pics below the fold (SFW, don't worry), along with some descriptions.

Come join me in Namibia!

God's Window - Canon 40D + Tokina 11-16, 0.6sec + 1/6 + 1/25, F/16, HDR

Here is the big news I alluded to last time: I'm going to the Aus Photography workshop, held at Klein Aus Vista in Southern Namibia, 5 - 11 June 2016. This time, I'll be going as an instructor, specifically to teach night photography under the leadership of Wicus Leeuwner and JJ van Heerden. Read on to see what you can expect at the workshop.

Do Not Go Gentle...

...into that good night

Rage, rage against the dying of the light - Canon 40D + Canon 70-200 F4 IS, 1/30, F/11, ISO 100

Don't worry, the light isn't really dying. I just have a new baby at home, and my time behind the lens and at the blogging keyboard is seriously curtailed at the moment. I have managed a few good shots in the past months, I think, which you'll find below the fold. I also have some very exciting news, which I will post in the next week or so.

Mystery in Stone

Mystery in Stone - Fuji x100s, 1/80, f/2, ISO 3200, Infrared filter

On a recent conference visit to Europe I traveled light, so I only took my little Fuji x100s with me and left the backpack full of DSLR gear at home. One of the places I got to visit was Stonehenge, which has always been on my bucket list. It was a hot, cloudless day. The light was bad, and there were throngs of tourists, so I wasn't expecting to get anything decent, but I took lots of pictures anyway. In particular, I took a few shots with my infrared filter, which works really well on the x100s, allowing me to take handheld exposures (I had forgotten my tripod).

I felt that the stones have a more "otherworldly" look in the infrared, which increased the mystery of the place. Dialing down the "clarity' slider in Lightroom did the rest. I'm quite happy with the result.

Spending time at the sea...

Another World - Canon 40D, Canon 17-55, 60s, f/9.5, ISO100, ND filter

I have just returned from a week at the sea with family, and for the first time in quite a while I have been able to spend some serious time photographing (see my previous post for the reason). It turns out that most of my keepers where made with a strong ND filter on my lens.