MY ASTRONOMY WEBSITE

Doug's astronomy

All photos were taken by me.YOU CAN VIEW A LARGER PHOTO IN THE SLIDE SHOW BY CLICKING IT.


Created with flickr slideshow.

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Monday, March 30, 2009

Taking photos of the moon

I use my telescope to take photos of the moon like the one I posted in my slide show. You must have a lot of Patience when using a telescope, especially one of a large aperture. The moon or any other object moves quickly even at a low magnification. It's best to use a tripod and you may have to pan a little as well.
The best kind of telescope to use in astrophotography is a self tracking telescope. A ccd camera will give you better pictures as well but you can use a normal point and shoot.
Here are a few websites on ccd cameras and telescopes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charge-coupled_device http://www.telescopes.com/telescopes/catadioptric-telescopes/celestron8inchcpcschmidtcassegrainwithstarbrightxltcoatings.cfm

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Why take long exposures?

Well long exposure photos can be very cool. A lot of times they are taken at night. You Don't have to take them at night as long as you use a filter. You will need a tripod to take long exposure shots.Taking long exposure shots will give you the sense of motion in your photos. You can get shots of star trails ;moving cars look really cool as well. It is a lot of fun to do and experiment with. Here are a few websites with photos of long exposures.http://digital-photography-school.com/long-exposure-photography http://www.fotosearch.com/photos-images/long-exposure.html

What I would do with my million dollar giveaway.

I would give $500,000 to a childrens hospital, to help kids with diseases. I would give $498,000 to stem cell research. And I would give the rest of it to my bank account to buy an SLR and some accessories.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Why I gave up on "Atlas Shrugged"

The phone book is more entertaining.

This book bored me to death. I read about half of it and had to put it down. I haven't picked it up since. I think I would rather read the phone book.

My trip from Bremen Indiana to Woodstock New York

My long trip to New York

My best friend and I took a trip to New York to visit his family. Not only was it him and I ,we also took his two children along. It took us about fourteen hours to get there.
We had such a great time once we got there and I never felt more relaxed in my life.

Photo ideas

Well if you've run out of things to shoot,here is a great website with plenty of ideas.http://www.jwrider.com/photo/ideas.htm Some of them are kind of goofy but they will get you started.
If worse comes to worse do what I do and grab your trusty backpack and take a hike. Who cares where you go on a hike as long as you get out.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Infrared photos

Shooting IR photos is a fun and exiting way to experiment with photography. You can either have a dedicated camera for this or you can by a filter. Here are a few websites to get you started and a few sample photos as well. The first website shows photos and techniques http://discoversomething.com/digital_infrared_photography the second shows you how to make a filter on your own.http://photocritic.org/create-your-own-ir-filter/ I do not recommend modifying a camera it can be done but do it at your own risk. Have fun and enjoy.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Rain Rain

Very crummy day here in Illinois . It is supposed to rain and thunder storm most of the day. It doesn't look like I will be taking many photos. Tomorrow is looking a little more promising, a little colder but promising.
I'll probably go on a short hike in the morning.

Monday, March 23, 2009

My bucket list

Sell some photos LOL

Visit Yellowstone national park

Take a trip to Antarctica
There isn't a single person there.

Ride cross country on a Harley.

Travel the world

Making black and white photos with color.

Have you ever seen those black and white photos with a little color, maybe a rose or some other object standing out and wondered how they do it. Well here is a website and a free program to get you started .
The program you need is called Gimpshophttp://www.gimpshop.com/( you don't need this program as long as you have a program that can layer). The reason I recommend Gimpshop is because it is free and easy to use.
The website to get simple instruction on how to do this is http://herselfswebtools.com/2007/06/.
It may seem like a lot at first but it really isn't, it is very simple to do and it will give you several ideas as far as taking pictures go.
Have fun and enjoy.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

The gadget that is at the top of my list is the Canon XS or XSI camera.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Things to bring on a hike

When going hiking you must take your trusty backpack if you don't have one any bag will do. You'll defiantly need water. You can go days without food but not without water. I would recommend bringing a compass as well, and maybe a couple of granola bars, AND DON'T FORGET YOUR CAMERA.
If it is cold outside defiantly wear warm clothes but most importantly warm comfortable waterproof boots.
I don't take a hiking stick if I need one that bad I will find one in the woods. But I'm not going hiking in the mountains either.Although I would love to.
If you don't know of a place to go hiking do a search of your local forest preserves.

Shooting

When taking photographs look everywhere, up down side to side, you never know what you will discover. Sometimes you'll have some luck if you don't have anything in particular to shoot.
Try to Previsualise your shots before leaving the house. Sometimes this can be hard to do especially if you've never been to the location your are going to be shooting. And most of all have fun.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Photos

I took a trip to Chicago today,I have added a few new photos to my slideshow. Enjoy.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Gloomy Day

Today is a very gloomy day here in Illinois but that is a good time to go out and try to take some black and white photos. Most people who take color photos prefer a bright sunshiny day however, when taking black and white photos overcast is great. Just remember to bring something to cover your camera up with in case it rains.
So I'm going to give it a go. Wish me luck.

'Surely your joking MR. Feynman' will make you LOL

You wouldn't expect a physics book to be on the funny side but this one is. Richard Feynman one of the greatest physicist to walk the earth will have you sitting on the edge of your seat with laughter , the book not only tells a story it gives you an inside look into Feynman's life and some of the quarks he had.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Best photo sharing sites

Of course you have Flickr and photobucket but I have come across a few better photo sharing sites that are a lot of fun and you can meet some good people. One of the sites is called Viewbug http://www.viewbug.com/, you can post all of your photos for free and it gets better, you can enter monthly photo contests for free and they have weekly winners as well. You can actually win some money just for taking great photos.
Another good site is called Deviant Art http://www.deviantart.com/ where you can post photos for free or pay for a better account. You can sell prints if someone wants to buy them and everyone gets a free print account.
So enjoy the sites and have fun.

I'll spend my golden years in Maui

The weather is perfect there, when it rains it only rains for a short time. The beaches are great , the food is great and the wildlife is wonderful. I would have plenty of opportunities to take photos. The only problem is money would definitely have to be no object because it is expensive there.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

HDR is it worth the time?

Although HDR images can be beautiful they can also take a lot of time to compose and edit. You can spend more time at the computer than taking photos. Now I'm not saying don't give it a shot but don't get caught up in it to much. Unless you would rather sit at your computer all day than taking pictures. If done right HDR photos can look great ,however, if done wrong they can look terrible. Black and white images can look absolutely amazing if done right.
If you would like to give HDR a go there is a free program called Picturnaut that will get you started. It's a very simple program to use.
Remember the key is to take photos not spend hours upon hours at the computer.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Golden Hour does it exist?

It's said in photography that there is a golden hour which is usually around sunrise and sunset and the light tends to shine just right over objects. I have seen this and I do believe it, however, I believe that the golden hour is anytime you can go outside and take photos. Ansel Adams used to shoot a lot of shots in the harshest light of the day. What does that tell you?

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

New

New photos have been added in my slide show. They were taken today. I'm kind of disappointed with the day I had. It was very windy and cold. But I got some OK shots.

Black and white

The best time to take black and white photos is on a gloomy day with a little overcast.Check out Ansel Adams gallery.http://www.anseladams.com/

Sunny

Well no more rain here but it is a little colder. I think I may go out and take some photos today.I am going to try and put new photos on every week.
Please comment on any of my posts or in the chat bar. It's only a quick guestbook.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Recommended reading

http://www.bandwmag.com/ Today's recommended reading for photography is , B&W magazine and Outdoor Photographer.

Cheap Stuff

Well, I have never purchased anything from an infomercial.I know people that have and everything looks very cheap. However, for mothers day my wife wants a Snuggie. So it looks like this will be my first purchase from an infomercial.

March 10 2009

Another rainy and gloomy day here in Illinois. Probably not a good day to take photos. Everything is flooded around here, it stinks.

Monday, March 9, 2009

My money's on the shark

No chance


Well of course it would depend on what kind of shark. But im going to have to assume that we are dealing with a great white. I believe that if a bear were to get in a great whites territory that he would be to slow compared to the sharks agility in the water. One large chomp of the jaws and the bear would be gone.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Couldn't wait to get home

My wife and I went to the taste of Chicago. There were so many people I couldn't wait to get home.

Let me tell you what I do

I work in an assembly plant. I ,being the assembler build large molding machines for the iron foundry industry. I start a job with nothing but a frame. Like everything else I work my way from the ground up. It takes about 3 months to build one machine. There is a lot of fine tuning and troubleshooting that is involved in my everyday job.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

When shooting black and white photos ,it's best to shoot in color then convert to grayscale once you get home. Most cameras offer a black and white feature but if there is any noise it will show up more using that feature.
Lets talk about some photo ideas while your here. Maybe some rainy day photo ideas. Macro or anything.
For information on prints please e-mail me at kirkgrove1@sbcglobal.net.
The site is still in the process of being built but feel free to browse the photos and post a blog.

Hello

Hello, and welcome to my blog. I Love to take photos, I really love black and white photos, I hope you do to. If you would like to order prints please e-mail me at kirkgrove1@sbcglobal.net. Please leave any feedback good or bad.

Lonely

Lonely

Endless

Endless

Take a seat

Take a seat

Another day

Another day