Cairns and beyond

Sunday 11th November 2012

Woke early again this morning and upon opening the blinds saw sunlight kissing the trees that make up the garden view I have out of the apartment. Dressed quickly and headed to the car park on the north side ofthe resort to see where sun light was kissing the ground. There were a couple of car spots that would be ideal and took a few photos for reference. Then headed over to the southern car park and there were some possibilities there as well. One other option on this side is a grassed area.

I then moved between the two car parks as the time approached when totallity would hit. Definitely have options and will not worry about going to the beach to watch.  Now the only thing we need is clear skies.

At this point I jumped in the car and headed downto Port Douglas to grab some breakfast. There were some markets down by the water that were starting up and had a wonder through. Stalls were fairly typical with jewelry, clothing, photos etc. I grabbed a pineapple juice but it as more like pineapple pulp. Sweet and enjoyable.

Headed back to the hotel and grabbed the camera camera before heading south to Cairns. The day was looking so nice that I wanted to make the most of it whilst I could. Took about an hour to get into Cairns and parked the car before walking down and around the marina. Then walked through some of the streets. Being a Sunday the majority of the stores were shut. Restaurants however were open.

Stopped by the Rememberance Day ceremony that was being held along the Esplanade before getting in the car and heading towards the town of Atherton. The drive snaked up the mountain range that is located behind Cairns and was there in around a hour.

Atherton is a small country. Fairly typical really. After getting some cash out I the headed onto the town of Herberton which was a further 20 km on. There is a historical village setup in the old tip mining town. It was well worth the visit as everything had been setup with authentic houses and items from 1850 thru to 1950. Then grabbed some food from the town itself before driving back to Port Douglas.

Settled in for the evening. Thinking about the next couple of days. One more day of sight seeing and then a day specifically for setup and final testing before the big morning on Wednesday.

Rest of kit arrives for Total Solar Eclipse

Saturday 20th October 2012

I thought last week was busy for items arriving but this week was on par if not greater. A number of the items that I've decided to purchase do not necessarily fit in the "must have" category. But somehow I seem to have convinced myself that I need them. Either for this total eclipse or for other projects that I'm looking to undertake in film and photography. The damage is done now, the credit card is still smoking, so let me take you through the latest.

For locaton and timing accuracy I've decided to go with a Bluetooth USB GPS dongle. Whilst there were same bare bones versions, I opted for one that can do data logging which is great for trips and geotagging photos. The make and model is the Qstarz BT-Q1000XT-F. I've included a picture of the device next to a standard mouse for reference. I'll post a video eventually of the unboxing that I did, but first impressions? It does what it says. 

I was able to get it working relatively easily with both my main computer via USB and a Asus Eee PC via BlueTooth. The main application that I wanted to verify was Eclipse Orchestrator and that worked perfectly. The suggested clock error being detected was well within the suggested range by the creators of the application. One downside I found is that only one application at a time can access the information. This could be down to the use of the serial comm port interface. To be honest that is not an issue for what I want to use it for.

In addition to the GPS dongle, a package from Rainbow Symphony arrived. The package took only four days to arrive in Sydney from California. I had purchased a variety of solar filters for the video and DSLR cameras and for good measure, 25 solar filter glasses. These might be handy to have for people who are not prepared and leave it to the last minute to secure. Added to a number of eclipse glasses I have left over from the 2004 Venus Transit I should be able to make some people happy. Here is a shot of the video and DSLR cameras all setup.

 

One additional purchased that I hadn't necessarily counted on but thought it would be a great idea to have one lying around, was a video fluid head. Manfrotto have a few that I liked and this one was reasonably priced when sourced from somewhere like B&H Photo and Video. The model # is MH055M8-Q5 Photo-Movie Tripod Head. Very nice design though a touch heavy being made out of magnesium. Added to the tripod head I bought some bags for my Giottos MTL-8360B's, a padded bag for the Manfrotto 393 and a Think Tank Pixel Sunscreen.

So all of the large purchases are now done and have been delivered. I am glad that I didn't leave it too late and be disappointed in the final weeks.Next weekend will be big as we start to approach the last full moon at which point I'll take the opporunity to check sample exposures. Theoretically speaking the DSLR should be OK but I want to make sure that I know the correct setting for the video camera (Sony CX700) for ideal exposure. On auto exposure the gain is too great and I won't get to film any subtle detail.

In the next three and a bit weeks to go I'll be practising setup and configuration followed by a number of trial runs. Will keep you informed of my progress.

Tripods and Canon EOS lens arrives

Sunday 14th October 2012

This week a number of packages have arrived that I've been eagerly awaiting. This includes 2 sets of Giottos MTL8360B carbon fibre tripods along with a Giottos 1311-656 ball head. Added to this I also opted to get a Giottos tripod bag, the AA1253. Unfortunately was only able to get one and the back order was 6 weeks. Looking into some options there but the bag itself is very nice.

Then last Friday I picked up the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6. So Friday night I had a lot of fun opening up boxes and packages and putting it all together. Here is a picture of the lens mounted on my EOS 7D and then attached to the Manfrotto 393 gimbal mount. It really is a beautiful sight. 

Given the amount of research that I've performed, YouTube videos that I've watched I was very familiar with how it was going to behave and I think it is going to work perfectly for me.Tightening the tension knobs allowed me to find the sweet spot to be able to move the camera to different angles and it just stayed there. I still need to get it outside and test it properly.

So since my last post about a week ago there has been a few other purchases. This includes some more Giottos tripod bags, a bag for the Manfrotto 393 and also a Manfrotto fluid head video tripod head. I've sourced these again from B&H Photo and Video so that should arrive in the next week or so. Everything appears to be in stock so shouldn't be any suprises for delivery.

I've also purchased the filters for both the DSLR and video camera. They are in route and hope to have them available soon.

Whilst I've been waiting for kit to arrive I've been trying to do as much reading about eclipse photography. I've since found a good a good presentation by Steve Russell and can be found here (http://www.asnsw.com/node/854). Titled "Astroimaging - Total Solar Eclipse Workshop" he covers off how to shoot, what to shoot, lessons learnt etc. 

This week I also tested the free version of Eclipse Orchestrator successfully with my Asus Eee PC. This small laptop is light, has good battery life and will be joining me on the trip north.  Will look to buy the Pro version of Eclipse Orchestrator soon.

Amazing to believe it's only one month to go!

Kit starts to arrive for Solar Eclipse in November 2012

Saturday 6th October 2012

In my last post I talked about the the type of kit I was looking at so that I can shoot the upcoming eclipse in Far North Queensland. Since then I've made some decisions and placed some orders. Now it is just the waiting game for everything to arrive.

For the lense I opted for the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM. This will get me close to the action whilst providing me with some other options later on for the use of telephoto. There is an Avalon Air Show in Melbourne that I intend to get to next year and have heard this is a great lense for capturing it. The lens is being sourced locally in Australia and spoke with the retailer last week. Should arrive in the next week or so.

To support and mount the lens on the Canon 7D I went with the Manfrotto 939 Gimbal mount. This was sourced from B&H Photo and Video in New York. 

On this expedition I not only want to shoot stills I also want to capture video. I believe video offers me the opportunity to capture not only the event itself but the reactions of people in and around. I am hoping to capture screams, cheers and high fives. To do this I am going to use my Sony CX700 Full HD HandyCam video camera. This is such a great little unit and the quality of images is superb. Like the telephoto lens my plan is to get as close to the action as possible. In this case I've opted for a Sony VCL-HG1737C 37mm 1.7x High Grade Telephoto Converter Lens. This was also sourced from B&H Photo and Video.

As I mentioned before the Canon lens will arrive shortly. The gimbal mount and teleconverter took about one week to arrive from the US via UPS. Not bad really. 

So what else do I need to get? One thing that I've been lacking over the years is a decent tripod. I have a Manfrotto 190XPROB and thought I've seen some posts around taking the head off it seems a touch painful. Instead I want something that is light and allows attachment of a ball head or the gimbal mount in this case. There have been a couple of sales on lately for Giottos so have placed an order for two sets of tripod legs and another ball head to match the Giottos 1311-656 that I already have.

One final purchase will be filters for the lens. I'm looking at a couple of options there but that will do it from a hardware perpective. Once I've got everything I'll post some pictures and maybe a video or two.

Kit for Solar Eclipse in November 2012

Thursday 6th September 2012

I previously mentioned that I had booked my holiday to Port Douglas to watch the total solar eclipse in November. One of the last things that I had to organised for up there was the car hire. That too has been completed. I pick the car up from the airport and have wheels for all the time that I am up there.

Being mobile is going to be key. I want to travel around and understand all the options that I have on the morning. But I suspect in reality I can dream all I want, the day of the eclipse will be chaotic. For some reason they have organised a marathon the same day to coincide. Crazy!

I am still undecided on my final setup for cameras and video. I joined a Yahoo group (http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/SEML) called SEML (Solar Eclipse Mailing List) to seek advice from experts. A number of people replied which was great. All of the feedback was very practical from trying to reduce the complexity of what I was trying to achieve. Rather than going with one tripod I will probably opt for at least two. That way I can split the risk if I bump one versus the other.


Mounting the and pointing a video camera should be easy due to the size and weight. But with the DSLR and a decent size lens I am looking for a gimbal type mount. Manfrotto has one that seems to be reasonably priced. I've included a video that I found on YouTube.

Not entirely sold on using a Manfrotto just yet. Will continue my investigations on that front.

Now to the size of the telephoto lens. There is one site dedicated to eclipse photography that gives a real good indication on the size of the moon/sun (click here). I don't want to be too far away and nor would I look to be too close as the $ of the lens would be too high. So for the moment I've got my eye on the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM. 

Will look to make a decision in the next month for all the kit.

Trip booked for Solar Eclipse in November 2012

Saturday 11th August 2012

This year on the 14th November 2012, a total solar eclipse will be visible in parts of Australia and the Pacific. Being located on 3 hours flying time away this is a perfect opportunity to see my first total solar eclipse. It will certainly be a thrilling experience.

Back in August 1999 I was living in the United Kingdom which experienced a total solar eclipse through parts of Devon and Cornwall. I was located just outside of London at the time which was just north of the path of totality. We only experienced 96% coverage of the sun but it gave me a fair idea as to what a total solar eclipse would be like.

My memories of the day are quite clear. The day was clear and someone in the office had welding glass. When the moon started to cover the sun I rushed home and grabbed my video camera. I still have the video on Mini-DV somewhere and will look to put it on YouTube at some point. I can also remember the temperature becoming noticeably cooler at the maximum point of coverage.

When I learnt of the 2012 eclipse in Far North Queensland I booked my leave over a year in advance. This is rare feat for me but such an event is so rare I may as well make the effort to experience one in person. The flights are booked and so is the accommodation. 

Next steps are to prepare to photograph and video the event itself. I've located a nice application called Eclipse Orchestrator which can control when photographs are taken when an eclipse is under way. My intent at this stage is to have 2 Canon EOS DSLRs (7D, 350D) and also a high definition video camera recording. Mounting the three cameras may be a touch difficult but I've spotted a rail system from Giottos that looks very promising. Check it out here (http://www.photogear.co.nz/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=785). Added to the mounting rail I probably need a new tripod and a couple of ball heads so will start shopping around.

That's it in terms of an update for now but stay tuned for more as the big day draws closer.