Large Dragonfly Over San Antonio

[Toby]

I wanted to try something a little different tonight. I attempted to image the International Space Station as it flew over San Antonio. I'm a little out of focus, and a little over exposed, but I think my results are a nice starting point for the future!

Shot with a Nikon D3 connected at prime focus to an 8" Meade F10 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope (2000mm) and hand guided during the entire pass.

I'm quite happy! Enjoy!

[photosbysergio]

I'm usually a fan of your creative ideas but this one takes quite a bit of imagination cause to me it looks like someone took a white soft brush in photoshop and painted some random strokes on a black background. :-)

[houtex01]

Bryan, if you could remove the jitter motion I could see the potential for some interesting pictures of the Space Station...I know that's easier said than done because I know how quickly the station flies across the horizon...and trying to capture it looking through a telescope...

Ron

[Patticake]

Wowzers!!! It's a start.........hehehe..........

Patti

[Toby]

Thanks All! Yeah it is a start! I will drop the shutter from 1/60 to somewhere like 1/500 and keep the iso high like 2000 where I shot these with.

Now waiting for another good pass in the evening which may be a few weeks. We have Endeavour launching next week, so that could pose possibilities as well! I posted these to try and inspire others to try it. If anyone wants to come out to my house during a session and shoot through a telescope, they are more than welcome. I have 10 to choose from. I live in North-Central San Antonio. Just drop a line.

I'll try and not Photoshop the next fake images I post Sergio to make it more believable! LOL!

Seriously though, thanks for commenting Serg!

[Toby]

Here's one from tonight with some refined settings that I adjusted for from what I learned on the previous shoot. I had a thin layer of cirrus clouds to contend with. I'm pleased with the results considering that it was more then 300 miles distant from me.