Freak Hail Storm = Fun With Camera

The other night, we had a pretty cool freak hail storm. I don't remember seeing hail this bad before - of course my first reaction was to get my camera and go have some fun!


I'm sure the neighbors enjoyed watching me and my expensive-looking camera gear get pelted with chicklet-sized hailstones.


Here's how the storm rolled in - pretty awesome clouds.


And this was the aftermath.

Shot with Canon 40D, 70-200mm f/2.8 IS, 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5, 430EX

Fighting The River

View On Black

Another shot (previous) from the DCNR Lake Nockamixon dam release.

Twice a year, the DCNR opens up the dam at Lake Nockamixon for kayakers to enjoy. I shot about 700 photos in the two hours that we were there.

This was the first chance I had at putting my new 70-200mm f/2.8L IS to work outside. It sure didn't disappoint. The autofocusing was quick, the image stabilization was excellent, and the clarity is clearly top-notch. This was also the first time I tried the mode-2 image stabilization, designed for panning. It only stabilizes the vertical axis so I didn't have to fight it as the kayakers moved downstream past me.

Canon 40D, 70-200mm f/2.8L IS
ISO200, f/5.6, 1/1500, 200mm

Heavy Water

View On Black

One of the day's kayakers at one of the more turbulent sections of the creek that we could get to.

Twice a year, the DCNR opens up the dam at Lake Nockamixon for kayakers to enjoy. I shot about 700 photos in the two hours that we were there.

This was the first chance I had at putting my new 70-200mm f/2.8L IS to work outside. It sure didn't disappoint. The autofocusing was quick, the image stabilization was excellent, and the clarity is clearly top-notch. This was also the first time I tried the mode-2 image stabilization, designed for panning. It only stabilizes the vertical axis so I didn't have to fight it as the kayakers moved downstream past me.

Canon 40D, 70-200mm f/2.8L IS
ISO200, f/5.6, 1/1500, 200mm

You Wouldn't Believe Me If I Told You

I've been meaning to take a blurry silhouette/alien shot like this for some time. While waiting for our table at a local hibachi restaurant, I caught this trio setting at the backlit bar.

I'm really enjoying the Sigma 30mm f/1.4. There's so many more shots you can attempt when you can shoot in such low light.

Sigma 30mm f/1.4, ISO3200, f/1.8, 1/45

Lulin

Comet Lulin: 100mm, f/2.8, ISO3200, 6 seconds

I had planned on calling it quits with Comet Lulin after a few successful attempts (one, two, three), but knowing that in a couple of weeks that this thing will effectively gone forever and that it's just about at its brightest and highest in the sky for me... I had to get one more round of shooting in.

Finding this was no picnic. The goal was to shoot it at 100mm, so I first focused that lens as near to infinity as I could, picking a lit target about 1/4 mile away. I then carefully swapped the lens for my Sigma 30mm f/1.4, making sure to not adjust the 100mm's focus.

It took about 10 minutes of blind shooting to find and center the comet - it's very tiny at 30mm. I then carefully swapped lenses again, back to the 100mm. I needed to make a couple more adjustments to get it just right. Then, I attached my cable shutter release and sat inside behind my sliding glass door, shooting one 6-second shot after another, about 60 in all.

This shot here is a crop from one of those shots with a little bit of post-processing. I plan on spending some time in the next couple of days stacking the images (fully described here) to remove as much noise as possible. I'm optimistic with this set since the comet was much higher in the sky and further from the light pollution.

I'm already impressed with the length of the tail in this shot. More comet goodness should be on the way.

Canon 40D, Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro, Bogen 190XPROB Legs, 322RC2 Grip Action Ballhead

1950

You find the coolest stuff in forgotten places.

Please view on black.

Stargazing

Please view this large, on black

I went out driving last night, trying to escape the light pollution of my neighborhood so I could shoot more stacks of Comet Lulin. My last attempt (here and here).

What I found was basic:
1. You can't escape this much light pollution by driving 30 minutes
2. When you drive 30 minutes away from home, it takes roughly 30 minutes to get back.
3. The sky moves fast. Before ya know it, your front yard view is in your back yard.

There's no comet in this shot, but if you'd like to see how I shot the thing so far, check my blog post.

Shot with Canon 40D and the *very* fast Sigma 30mm f/1.4.