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I think I just voted for you, justkat. I likes. The problem is with SO many good pictures, I’d nearly want to vote for all of them. I tried to limit my voting to one of each type insect, and one per person. I failed at this, but that was the goal going in.

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Link threads? Explain. If you mean mentioning on regular fark posts about the contest, I already did my part tonight, in a thread asking about gays going straight (which is actually a really funny thread). I left saying I had to post to the contest and requested they vote whore me.

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Excellent!! I saw this on the ‘best of’ page; had no idea, of course, it was your work. Nice job!

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Thanks Ennui and Els! I think this week I turned a corner with my photography; I’m hoping to top it, though, for ‘All night long’, as I have two new telescope toys to try out…

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Jesus tap-dancing christ, U-Man, is there any type of photography you don’t own? 😉

I’m fairly certain the answer is ‘no’. I shoulda became a docta loik my mudda wanted; oy-vay, to have the $$ for such toys!!

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olavf wrote:

Lately I thought of that, too, but having figured out a way to make a watermark with my ghe-tow technology, I went all out. Probably will only use it on the good stuff, henceforth (but the one is ‘the good stuff’.)

Hey, the McQuotem thing farked up.

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If I’ve watermarked my submissions with my signature in the corner, is that kosher? I don’t want to get DQ’d; I’ve seen others put in little ‘trademarks’ or ‘created by’s and such. Good?

I wouldn’t ask because I wouldn’t bother, but I’m actually proud of my entries this week (esp. one in particular) and though people can just crop them out, I want them marked as “I made this”.

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I took a picture, but it’s not P.C. and would probably offend many. But it features G.I.’s and has the American flag and stuff. Just not in the way one would expect in observance of the holiday.

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Chupathingie–still out there? I’m shooting with a Canon xTi 10.2 Mpxl, prime focus via a Celestron 11″ Schmidt Cass, 2800mm focal length. Thus far, I’ve been fairly disappointed in lots of ways; planets are affected by seeing conditions (I got one good one of Jupiter a month ago; my registax doesn’t acknowledge my images, perhaps because of the file size? Or seeing cond.?) Thusfar, however poor they may be, I have pics of every planet, though I’ve yet to identify which blip is Pluto.

I got into the astrophotography in earnest while I was unemployed (bad timing, but I had the scope and the camera so what the hell..). I’ve been star-gazing for 30 years, have pictures from 25 years ago from a film 35mm camera (no scope, though). Anywho, I bought a reducer for my CPC 1100, so I can reduce exposure by 3x, and increase FOV; just in time for the Jupiter-Uranus conjunction. I have on order a LPR filter, which should also help things considerably.

Can you recommend a good freeware program that will allow me to stack galaxies and planets? On planet stacking, should I be taking shots that are technically correctly exposed (i.e. light levels), or shots that are underexposed so the software can ‘add each’ to each other? My next toy will probably be the polar mount; I’m working overtime at my new job, should be able to afford it by the end of July (as I have other obligators to pay back, I can’t just spend the OT money on my toys, and the polar mount is a $400 toy.)

I hope to get images that I can stack like I’ve seen on sites elsewhere.

And it’s been 6 months–anything new to show us from your part of the globe?

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I wish I could afford such toys; it’s my understanding that Az. Highways still requires the 4.5″ negative images for their magazine submissions. They’re the only ones that can blow up to a full-spread size magazine image and still retain the quality.

I went out and got my third shot this morning (and another 199 that weren’t as good, though some were ‘spiffy’ enough.) It is, I must say, the best macro picture I’ve ever taken. If I had a macro lens, I don’t know that I could do any better. It may actually be the best picture of any subject I’ve ever taken–and certainly will be my best farktography submission to date.

Of course, one of ute’s will outclass me with the products of your fabulous toys. But I’m stoked that my humble toy will give you’s a run for your money (I think. I hope. I’ll be shocked if I don’t get some farktography street cred out of this.)

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Totally. I find myself experimenting a lot more to get just the shot I want, too, because I can. That’s probably my favorite part of going digital.

What you call ‘experimenting’ I call ‘take 100 shots because you’ll be lucky if one is worthy of submission’. For one of my entries, I took 29 shots, as I was on manual focus, as close as I could get w/my shortest focal length lens (28/80) plus *coughbullshitcough* ‘macro’ *cough* adapter (came with the camera, fro ‘Digital Concepts’). It seems with the Canon xTi there is, with this configuration, about an inch distance of wiggle room that the camera senses as ‘in focus’ (about 16 inches away total.) As I wanted the clearest shot available, I just kept weaving back and forth expecting at least one shot to be as crisp as I can get it to be.

(It was, and given the subject was 1/10″ [or twice that with legs], it’s a pretty damned good shot for a guy with no macro lens.)

The other shot I took about 140 (twice that if you count raw/jpg both). But it was way-cool, contest besides.

One more to go…

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I liked all of the cameraflage b-sides, but think the one in the contest is the bestest. Except…that last tongulashing…that’s just plain *hawt*, even if it’s wrong, and with no disrespect to orionid’s NSFW post (which is also in my archives, for later viewing pleasure), I’d love to be a camera on some belly lint.

Oh, wait.

Did I write that out loud?

I meant to use my quite writing voice…

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Wow. Nevermind. Don’t need the cocoon. As soon as I posted, I walked outside, went to a tree by the bbq area, and saw the biggest purple and green catapillar I may have ever seen–in Arizona? Holy fark.

I have my contest entry. Somewhere in the 2 gigs and 274 shots, I have an entry (I won’t win, but I can at last be competative with what I’ve got to work with.)

Amazing.

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New theme suggestion: Macro bug abodes.

*sigh* I’ll save them for some future contest; sooner or later, there will be one that fits the images. Well, it’s my day off, I’ll have to go searching under some rocks for real live critters I guess. I was going to ask about little critters I know are lurking in the pool–gone-green at the house for which I’m dog sitting, but those aren’t insects either.

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Okay, new question. While trying to capture a live ga-nat, I noticed a little web-thingy on my window screen ( I aluded to it earlier). Here’s the deal: it’s some kind of cocoon. It’s inhabitant is no longer in residence. The cocoon is very much shaped like and egg, with the top neatly sawed open at the top, and meshed with fine fibers to my window screen. Or it was, at least, and I took pictures, of course.

Naturally (geek, kid at heart, boy; call it what you will), I attempted to take it off the screen for a better look. And I managed to do so. So now I have these few window pics, and some microscopic macros showing the fibers that make up this as-it-turns-out incredibly durable 2.5 x 4 mm cocoon sac, complete with lid, a shot of the interior (DOF totally lacking; it’s a joke in a 100x power scope; I focused on the junk that was left on the bottom), various other pictures (I took 25.)

I wish to use one of them. Whatever creeped and crawled has done and Elvis and left the building.

Is the subject matter okay? I don’t know what shot I’ll use, but I’d like to use the best one I can manage from what I took.

And for the guy in Scottsdale (carderoc? I forget); I saved the little eggshell and lid in a little baggie. If you have a REAL macro and what to see what you can do with it; you’re welcome to it.

Not the shot I would use, but this is what I’m talking about:

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