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.

Initial Thoughts on Wacom Intuos 5

Sunday 26th August 2012

Last Friday I took receipt of a Wacom Intuos 5 Large tablet. I had been looking for a number of years to get a tablet and stylus to make the editing of images that much easier. Wacom appears to have cornered the market so bought the largest version available along with the wireless adaptor and soft carry case. 

I've put together a quick video of the unboxing. Will have to spend a bit more time using the tablet before I can provide my opinion on it. This will be the subject of another video.

V8 Supercars at Sydney Motorsport Park

Saturday 25th August 2012

Today I had the opportunity to watch the V8 Supercars at Sydney Motorsport Park, also known as Eastern Creek Raceway. My mate Daz scored some free tickets so I along with Daz and three others headed out there just after lunch. By the time we parked the car and walked down to one of the entrance gates it was about 1pm. No cars were racing at that stage so we ended up walking around some of the merchandise stalls before finding a spot on one of the hills.

I have been out to Eastern Creek a number of times to watch the 500cc bikes when Mick Doohan was riding and a number of times to watch the drags. This however was the first time watching the V8 Supercars. It was going to be a new experience.

Throughout the afternoon there were a number of support races featuring all different types of cars, from 1980s Mazda Rx7's through to late model Porsche's. There were some races also featuring open wheelers and a mini version of the V8 Supercars. The performance of all was very impressive.

We also had a fly by from the Sydney Ibis Roulette's before they landed at the tip not too far away. There are so many of them around and they appear to be the bird everyone loves to hate. 

Weather was exceptional. Sunny the entire time we were there. Whilst it was probably only in the low 20C, it felt much hotter and feeling a little sun kissed after being out there all afternoon.

Qualifying for the V8's started around 2.30pm with the race beginning at a touch after 4pm. The sound the cars make whilst lined up on the grid was amazing. That all ended when the lights went green and away they went. We were in a great spot seeing them drive through a number of tricky sections. Watching V8's on TV is certainly enjoyable being there in person, hearing the pop they make when hitting the rev limiter/changing gears is unique. And the sweet smell of the fuel, you don't get that through the tube either. The race in the end was pretty uneventful crash wise. The eventual winner was Craig Lowndes. 

Getting out of the raceway was pretty easy. About a 15 minute walk and only 5 minutes waiting in the car before we exited. I could see myself getting back there at some point. Maybe even the V8's at Olympic Park.

Feel free to watch some of the videos that I took on the day.

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.

Queen Mary 2 at Circular Quay

Thursday 8th March 2012

To be honest I am a huge fan of grand sailing ships, especially of the Cunard line. Working in Sydney has given me a great opportunity to see the QE2, QM2 and Queen Victoria ships in Sydney Harbour. Out of the three, only the QM2 had not berthed at the Overseas Passenger Terminal. It would instead find a spot at Garden Island but on the 7th/8th March this changed.

When I was reading an online verison of a local newspaper I saw a video of them positioning the QM2 and thought it was fake. Sure enough, it found pride of place between the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. Never to give up an opporunity I decided to pack the cameras to capture some pictures and video of its stay. The weather forecast for the evening of the 7th March/morning of the 8th March was for rain but the bureau of Meteorology said it was going to clear.

It turned out to be a great evening when I got down to Circular Quay by train. The station provides fantastic views over Circular Quay. The QM2 looked huge and the ferries moving past her were tiny in comparison. I took a few shots with the SLR and video before exiting and making my way up to the Cahill Expressway which runs along top of the train line. This too offers fantastic opportunity to capture images and video. I ended up spending around 90 minutes up there taking long exposure shots and ended with me capturing this final image of the QM2 with Sydney Harbour Bridge to the right and Venus and Jupiter in the top left. 

I have around 30 minutes to get down from the Cahill Expressway and take up residence near the Opera House for the QM2's departure. I walked along the East Circular Quay past the bars and restaurants and up to the top level of the Opera House. This gave me good views to the Overseas Passenger Terminal. Just before 8.30pm the tugs positioned themselves to help ease the QM2 into Sydney Harbour. She sounded her fog horn a number of times before getting out into the main channel and turning right to go past Fort Denison before turning left past Bradley's Head. It was at this point that we lost sight of the QM2 but are left with memories of a fine looking ship.

Here is one of the videos that I took....

You can check out more on my playlist here.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL27414B0B0AC2485D&feature=view_all

An evening with Pablo Picasso

Wednesday 21st March 2012

From mid November 2011 the Art Gallery of New South Wales has been hosting an exhibition called Picaso: masterpieces from the Musée National Picasso, Paris. I had walked past the Art Gallery probably 3-4 times a week on my walks around the Sydney Botanical Gardens. Each time the forecourt was full of people coming and going. But like most things I leave it to the lasat minute to get stuff organised and now it was just a matter of days before the exhibition was scheduled to finish.

My sister, Michala, had mentioned going to it and so had the parents. Trying to get to it during the week would have been hard for all of us and weekends were probably going to be too busy. Fortunately Wednesday evenings were open till 10pm so we thought we would give it a shot then. I booked tickets online for 8pm. I had checked with some other people at work to see how much time I should spend walking through. One girl said a number of hours whilst a guy got through in about 45 minutes. Having 2 hours should be plenty of time.

After parking the car at the far end of Mrs Macquarie Point we entered at about 8.15pm along with half of Sydney. It was packed and bordered on unenjoyable. You didn't really get the opportunity to look at a drawing/picture/sketch/painting/object etc for very long before the crowd influenced you to move to the next. I can appreciate however the fact that the exhibition of such a well known artist was going to attract a lot of interest and $$$ for the art gallery so in the long run I see this as a positive.

Picasso was certainly one very talented gentlemen. His early work most people could relate to but he certainly got stranger as time went on. By the end of the exhibition, which featured his later work, it was the style that most people would associate with him. Strange and wierd but full of colour.

I am certainly glad I took the time to see the exhibition. By the looks of it the paintings will make their way to Canada and beyond.

A visit to Temora Aviation Museum

Click here to watch the videos on YouTube          Click here to view the pictures

Friday 17th February 2012

Had a half day at work today as the plan for the trip out to Temora required us to get away at a reasonable hour. Got home just after 2pm and waited for my brother Damian to arrive. We left my house at around 3.30pm and started to negotiate the Friday afternoon traffic along with everyone else it seemed. Made our way out ot the M4 and after a pitstop for McDonalds we rejoined the freeway before taking the M7 south towards Goulburn. There was a bit of traffic and didn't being to get better until we were out near Picton. From that point onwards it was good express way driving.

Not long after passing the Yass turnoff on the Hume Highway we started to experience some rather heavy rain shows. These continued as we headed west towards Temora. The roads were suprisingly good and even though it was single lane each way we had no problem keeping to the 100kph limit. The country side was certainly picture-esque as the sun set.

We arrived in Temora not long after 8pm with lots of lightning and thunder annoucing our arrival. Finding the hotel that we were staying at was very easy thanks to the inbuilt GPS. After quickly unpacking the car we drove around to see what was still opened. That was certainly the biggest shock that you have on arriving late at a small country town, all shops are shut except for the pubs and the odd food outlet. We did happen to find the Ex-Services Memorial Club and decided to grab some food there. It was close to 9pm at this point and there wasn't too many people left so service was quick. Damian grabbed a T-Bone with the surface area close to one square metre and I had a lamb shank. Whilst the food was very nice we would have liked for the sizes to a bit bigger. 

To finish off the evening we drove around town before heading back to the hotel. We agreed on 8am as the time to get up the next morning and kept our fingers crossed for good weather.

Saturday 18th February 2012

Had a really average nights sleep. I had a headache which meant I wasn't able to get into any sort of coma. Needed to get some food into the stomach before bombing some Panadol, but first had to buy some Panadol. So we headed out to the local Woolworths. We thought at first that it wasn't opened because the car park was empty but 8am seemed to be a bit too early for the locals so I had the shop all to myself. Grabbed some drugs then headed off to find a cafe. We spotted two in the main street and I made a call on the Waratah Cafe. After parking the car we headed in and entered a time warp. This place hadn't changed since it was put in. Very dated decor but food was what we were after. Grabbed some toast and coffees before bidding them good bye and heading back to the hotel to pick up the camera gear. From there it was back to Woolworths as we didn't think there was food available at the aviation musuem.

We drove out on one of the main roads heading north west and found the airport. You can actually buy land and hangers next to the airport if you have a plane which we thought was quiet cool. Next to that was the aviation museum. We had to wait a little while for 10am to come around for the doors to open. I had bought the tickets for the day a couple of days ago so it was just a matter of showing them the form and getting a stamp. We passed through the gift store into the start of the aviation museum which had history of the planes that was on offer.

The next building had a number of static displays setup in a fantastic purpose built shed.You are first greeted with the Sabre on the right, a Hudson bomber straight ahead. Away to the right hand side was the Vampire and to the left the Meteor. There was also a Tigermoth and a Wirraway. I hadn't spotted the two Spitfires yet so they must be somewhere else. I stuck around and watched a video on helicopters in Vietnam and once that finished we headed out to the tarmac for the air show to begin.

All the planes that were going to appear were already on the tarmac. Weather was fantastic. Whilst there were a few whispy clouds in the sky, nothing looked threatening and there was some nice temperature which this summer has been lacking.

The air show for today had the theme of Korea to Vietnam Aircraft Showcase, which included a Cessna O-2A, A-37B Dragonfly, T-28 and Huey helicopter. The Huey was the first to take off followed by the Cessna O-2A, T-28 with the end of the flying rounded off by the A-37B Dragonfly. The day was compared by a gentlemen who was out on the tarmac with the planes and gave a running commentary, giving the history of the aircraft, the pilots involved and the area of Temora and it's associated with aviation. This meant the day flowed very well and people were not left wondering what was going to happen next.

The last component of the day was the starting up of the Canberra bomber. Whilst not flying they start up the engines and check other things like hydraulics etc. The firing of the engines was something unique as it requires large catridges that spin up the engines before they can run on their own.

With the end of the display we headed back to take a few more shots of the static displays before viewing the workshop from a raised platform. Here we spotted the 2 Spitfires both undergoing some maintenance. They looked absolutely amazing and even on the ground they are a sight to see. I ended up walking through the gift store buying some shot glasses before we headed back to the hotel at around 3pm. We watched some TV and I had a nana-nap before heading out for some food just after 6pm.

Apart from a Chinese restaurant and a pizza parlour the only options for eating is the Ex-Services Club and the 4-5 pubs. We chose the Hotel Temora and again I opted for a lamb shank whilst Damian had quail. We were both pretty hungry so didn't take long to get through it. Service was good and by the time we left a few more people, other than the locals, had turned up to eat.

Walked back to the hotel and watch some TV and some of the footage we had taken earlier on in the day. We called it quits and agreed to get up at 7.30am to make our way back to Sydney.

Sunday 19th February 2012

Had a good nights sleep and left Temora on a glorious looking day. We grabbed some fuel and a map and decided that we would grab some breakfast in Young which is a much bigger town than what Temora is. Young is located about 75km north of Temora. Again this is a nice little town with a few more shops and industry than what Temora had. But given the journey is less than an hour away you can see how people make the journey easily between towns to get things that their local town may not.

We grabbed some breakfast in a local cafe before getting back in the car and heading towards Yass and then onto Sydney. Traffic was good all the way back to my place where Damian dropped me off around 1pm.

Overall I had a great time travelling out to and experiencing the Temora Aviation Museum. Certainly if you love aviation then it is a worthwhile trip.