Monday, September 15, 2008

Creative Photography, Exosolar Planet


Imagine with me if you will, you are looking out of an entrance of a cave , onto the surface of a moon orbiting a Saturn type exosolar planet in a galaxy far far away, hey at least that's what I do. My Creative Photography contest image above was taken with my Celestron LCD Microscope while looking for micrometeorites, the black sphere in the middle of the image, I pasted an image of Saturn I took a year ago onto the microlandscape to complete the image.

The very cool thing about this microlandscape, besides the fact it has a micrometeorite in it, is I had just collected this sample from the down spout of my eaves and it was wet, so this microlandscape comes complete with it's own ecosystem so to speak, see the reflections from the surroundings, like the cave has water in it.


It's that time of year again, time for my favorite Full Moon. The image above is the September Full Harvest Moon. I took the image yesterday with my Canon 40D attached to my Meade telescope, I also added a touch of saturation to bring out the colors of the various minerals of the Moon, the blue for instance in the Sea of Tranquility indicates it is rich in Titanium.

I'd like to leave you now with a microlandscape animation.

63 comments:

virtualjourney said...

Nice shot of the full moon. Saw it here with an eerie film of mist.

Just passing,
Guess you're familiar with the Cambridge Research labs World Wide Telescope?
http://research.microsoft.com/research/downloads/default.aspx

I've just downloaded their auto-collage programme and am experimenting with it.

p said...

i like the moon too
good job!

Vinny "Bond" Marini said...

Very interesting subject matters I find here...

Good Luck

Ruth said...

Next stop - a sci fi novel!?

The cosmos is huge, even in micro.

That moon is GORGEOUS! We had rain for days and days, so last night we didn't see the full moon. Glad you did.

Patti said...

I daresay this is over my head. Get it?
Haha.
Cool subject matter. Good luck in Roger's contest.

You've inspired me to try to photograph the moon today.

Anonymous said...

Saturn is my favorite planet and it blends nicely with your image. I think space scientists really need to think out of the box to come up with new ideas :) (but who doesn't)

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks VV, yes I posted about the WWT, it is awesome.

About the Moon shot, we had a fine mist as well, hard to shoot the Moon with any kind of mist.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Paula, glad you liked it.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks bond, it is an odd pic we'll see what happens.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Lol Ruth, it shows hey, the fact I live on sci fi books and movies,lol.

Was lucky to get the Moon, had a bit of a mist hanging around though.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Lol Patti, thanks and good luck with the Moon.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Hey priyank thanks, actually there are lots of think outside the box scientists, we never hear about them, they keep them hidden away,lol.

As you can tell from my contest image, I live outside the box,lol.\m/\m/

S-V-H said...

Hi Bob,

interesting photo and great post!

Thank you for your feedback about the calendar. I'm so glad that the printing is fine and my customer happy! :-)

RW said...

Bob very creative man! Nice moon too, I shot some moon photos last night I finally got the settings for my Nikon so they don't turn out like a glowing blob lol. But still with a 55mm I have to do a lot of cropping.

Thanks for your Creative Photography submit!

Nature Nut /JJ Loch said...

Very cool post with super images, Bob!!! Exosolar is a new term for me but very fitting.

Thanks for reminding me about the Harvest Moon. I can't believe I could have missed that huge orange globe. IT'S TONIGHT!!! Time to dance in the moonlight. With Jeff, of course. :D

Hugs, JJ

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Susanne, the Calendar is great.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Roger, good to hear about your imaging of the Moon, I have a 300mm, even then it is kind of small, that's why I like to use the telescope.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks JJ, you guys have a great time tonight under the Moon.:)\m/\m/

Anonymous said...

Very cool picture especially of the moon.

Swubird said...

Bob:

That is such a great image you created - micrometeorite and all. I am just flabberghasted!

The Harvest Moon is with us again - Yep, teh Queen and I went out to see it this evening. What a wonderful sight.

What a great post. In the year that I have been viewing your site, I can honestly say that every one of your posts have been fabulous!

Happy trails my friend.

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks napaboaniya.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks for the kind words swubird, there is just something about the Harvest Moon over the other full Moons, a great friend to the farmers here as well.\m/\m/

Anonymous said...

belle composition

myonlyphoto said...

Bob, wow these are cool photos! You rock. So you joined Rogers's contest, and I am still thinking, it should get easier soon with all the stuff I have to do, lol. Love your moon photo as always, boy I miss it so much, and I was thinking to sneak out at night, as moon ray hit my bed at some point, lol, but I was just too too lazy, lol, and today got clouds. Glad I can get all the updates from you....Anna :) PS love your gif again.

Anonymous said...

very cool and interesting image!

Marvin said...

Its own little ecosystem - remember the end of "Men In Black," when we look inside the little amulet they were chasing the whole movie, and it's an entire universe inside the amulet? You're doing the same thing with your micro photos. ;-)

I love the full moon. I love looking at the moon. I've always wanted to go there. I've read studies that indicate that life on this planet could not exist as it does, without the tidal forces and the light provided by the moon. And yet there are oral histories from indigenous peoples (like Native Americans) which say there was a time when there was no moon, and then suddenly it arrived in the sky. Interesting.

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks babylonezoo.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Anna, good to see you again, I remember the first time I saw your Moon shots, they were awesome. Hope everything is going good with the new baby Matthew.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks gmacomics.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks marvin and I do remember that scene, the whole microworld is very cool and does look like something from a sci fi movie.

Very interesting about the Moon, they had only adopted the current theory about it being created by a collision with another Mars type planet back in the mid eighties, I didn't know about the Native Americans saying that at one time there was no Moon, I'll have to look into that now, thanks.\m/

Texas Travelers said...

Harvest moon has always been a favorite. I always enjoy the saturated shots to see the minerals distribution.

Great shot.

Thanks for the visit,
Troy

Sherer said...

Bob,

Amazing pictures

I find the field of extrasolar planets one of the most exciting in astronomy! I imagine it could look something like the image you took. I just went to space.com the other day and saw what is possibly the first image of an extra solar planet! it was amazing i highly recommend you check it out.

Also the harvest moon was very beautiful. I layed out in my grass in the backyard and took it in. It was so bright I could barely see the constelations. Great picture - really brought out the detail.

Will you be featuring anything on the moon acultation with the pleiades?

Jesse

Genie said...

I love your moon shot, I stared at it for a long while exploring the moon's geography through your lens. It's awe-inspiring.

Anonymous said...

the mood from your photographs are just simply stunning!

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Troy, glad you like my Moon shot.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Jesse, I will be posting about the exosolar planet, the hubble repair mission and the pleiades conjunction/occultation Thursday night.

I believe the occulatation will be happening in the eastern part of North America Friday at Moonrise, regardless if you miss the occultation you will get the conjuction, which in the case of the Moon and pleiades, I like better.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Hey genie glad you liked the Moon shot.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks roentarre, glad they have the same effect on you as they do me,cool.\m/\m/

Don said...

excellent photos as usual. I especially enjoyed peering out of the cave and seeing saturn.

Nicely written!

Anonymous said...

Wow, I love these pictures, they are amazing! The animated ones are really cool. You have outdone yourself again. I am so impressed!

Love and Blessings,
AngelBaby

Peter said...

Hi! I must be getting senile in my old age. That first image resembled some sort of creature. I'm sure it was looking straight at me with its dark eye and large ears.

Perhaps it's a hangup from looking at too many ink spots.

Take Care,
Peter

Gattina said...

Wow, that looks very professional !

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Don for the comment, glad you liked the shots and my writing style.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks AngelBaby, welcome to my virtual exosolar planet animation world,lol.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Welcome and thanks gattina!.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Lol it kind of does Peter, thanks for bringing that up, that is the cool thing about art, it can be interpited so many ways.\m/\m/

Tod said...

Hi Bob, thanks for visiting my new blog. I'm doing my best to stretch my brain around yours. ERRRRrrrr *ow . . . my head hurts. Very engaging photos. Paula keeps telling me to come over here. Good stuff. I'm going to poke around some more. Hope I don't get sucked into a black hole if I poke stuff too hard.

Bob Johnson said...

Lol, thanks for dropping by Tod.\m/\m/

Ralph said...

I didn't ever think about the metals on the moon. I used to purchase lots of jet engine parts machined from titanium.

The moon is so full. Oddly, sometimes I almost see the face of Ralph Kramden on the moon, just like on TV...

Beautiful pictures of the heavens!

Lynda Lehmann said...

Bob, the idea of making a micro-landscape GIF is super! I'll have to try it!

I always wanted to do photo-microscopy, and even have a "REAL" microscope from my childhood. I've never crossed that bridge though, between the camera and the truly fascinating micro world. Maybe some day...

A great post!

Lynda Lehmann said...

PS- that's a gorgeous photo of the moon!

Bob Johnson said...

Lol, thanks Ralph, interesting about your purchasing of jet parts.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Hey thanks Lynda, you should give microlandscaping a try I'm sure you'd do well at it, and glad you like my Moon shot.\m/\m/

Anonymous said...

Interesting conceptualization Bob. I like the uniqueness of your idea combining your microshots and your astroshots. Well done my friend. And...another beautiful shot of the moon.
Take care.
~JD

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks JD, hey they give me a whole new look at stuff, love them.\m/\m/

Dianne said...

Wow! Talk about new and wonderful ways to look at the world

Stuff like this just exists inside my imagination. I love folks who can make them real.

Great stuff

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Dianne, you and me both, glad you like the shots.\m/\m/

kml said...

Bob - that is excellent! Love what you did with it, and it does indeed look like a sci-fi landscape!

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Kathy, glad you like the combo, it is different, wasn't sure how it would be received, hey it is a creative photography contest,lol.\m/\m/

Max Coutinho said...

Hey Bob!

I visited Nasa's site: can you imagine if Aliens (not only alien planets) are discovered as well? Wow...

Humanity are in for a ride; I'm telling you!

Superb full moon: *clap clap clap*!

Cheers

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks max, finding even microbial life would be the ultimate, one day we will.\m/\m/

Raven said...

Very cool and creative post.... wish I knew how to animate things. Way cool.

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks a lot raven!\m/\m/