Star Trails and Amp Glow

Every once in a while I get the funny idea that I should do a star trails shot. The results have been okay, but I've run into a problem that forces me to crop out the top corners of the frame.

That's a full frame of a star trails shot I took last summer in Quebec. It was my second time doing star trails, an 11-minute exposure (using long-exposure NR) with my D80 on the beach looking out over the lake. I was a bit perplexed by the shot, because I hadn't seen anything of the sort when I'd first shot star trails.

The second picture was taken the previous December with the D40, also an 11-minute exposure using long-exposure NR. After some searching around it seems as though I'm suffering from amp glow problems with the D80. I had considered that the ambient temperature may have been the culprit (25°C vs. -25°C) but I also ran into the problem (to a lesser extent) in December 2011 with my D80.

In the end I just crop out the corners when the amp glow gets too offensive, but it's something I need to keep in mind as I'm framing my shots.

I'm curious to hear if this problem is widespread, or if it varies a lot from camera to camera. Is it possible my D80 is just a lemon? I'm hauling a D70 around with me these days, so I'm a bit curious to get out in the country and see if its results are more like the D40 or the D80.

New Toy

I got a chance to pick up a 1992 Civic hatchback, thanks to a friend moving. It needs a fair bit of work, but it should be a ton of fun (and save me a bunch on fuel costs when it's back on the road)

Not Quite Daily Photos

So my daily photos are already falling behind, so I'm going to nip this in the bud and drop any notion of doing a photo every day. I'll certainly try to take one or more every day, but I won't sweat it if I miss.

Of course now I can't simply post "Daily photo #4,509,652-4,509,671" and have it containing whatever random photo I happened to take, I might actually have to start putting more thought into these blog posts and trying to group photos together into themes of some sort. Quite frankly, it's a daunting prospect.

Consider the mixed bag I present here:

Festival Place - June 6 2012

Spray painting fun - June 8 2012

Strathcona High School - June 11 2012

"Bard Residence" - June 11 2012

Downtown Edmonton from the river valley - June 12 2012

"Edmonton Queen" Riverboat - June 12 2012

If anyone can help me find the thread of a theme through here I'd be glad to hear it!!

Daily Photos 4-7

I guess I'm a week into my renewed daily photo taking. Friday night I worked quite late, as I was waiting for some files to transfer so I could go home I decided to snap a self-portrait of sorts in the driveway.

Daily Photo #4, June 1 2012

I didn't venture far from home on Saturday (when I took a picture at a nearby park) or Sunday (when I took a picture in my back yard).

Daily Photo #5, June 2 2012

Daily Photo #6, June 3 2012

Tonight I took a drive into Edmonton proper and saw an interesting window on the Hardisty Fitness and Leisure Centre. If I suddenly go missing tomorrow it will be because an old lady must have thought I was planting a bomb or something. She came up and asked what I was doing when I got back to my car, and didn't look very convinced when I told her I was taking a picture of a window ...

Daily Photo #7, June 4 2012

Daily Photo 3

On the Legislature grounds ...

Daily Photo #3, May 31 2012

Daily Photo 2

Urban wetlands adjacent to a utility corridor

Daily Photo #2, May 30 2012

Daily Photo 1: River Valley Cycle

Wait ... what? Photo a day has returned with slightly different labelling to keep some separation from the first go round. You may have to bear with me a bit through this, I scratched the sensor on my D80 last night and I'm currently borrowing the D70 I have at work. It's a slightly different beast, and I can't guarantee I'll always have it available for the daily photos, but it should do the trick. This is the former site of River Valley Cycle, which burned in 2007. The bike shop moved and this site has remained fenced off and abandoned for more than four years.

Daily Photo #1, May 29 2012 - River Valley Cycle

... and because it felt so good to be back in the proverbial saddle I've got a bonus photo to share as well.