Spying on Orion with Chuck Hilliard

January 20, 2013  •  2 Comments

I'm over in Seattle for a few days before I head to New York City. Last night there was supposed to be some decent auroral activity to the North so Chuck Hilliard and I headed out to Anacortes, Washington, which is about 30 miles shy of the Canadian border on the West Coast. It was a foggy night in Seattle, but we figured we would head up and give it a shot. The drive up was filled with dense fog until about a mile before we got there. The puffs had finally cleared and we found a neat spot that looks over the ferry terminal and north toward Vancouver, BC. Chuck brought his massive Meade telescope so we set that up to shoot the moon since he had a Nikon adapter for it. After trying my luck at a moon shot, I decided the telescope and Chuck would make a great subject so I asked him to go stand in. 

I got the tripod super low on the pavement so I could get some stars in the background along with the trees and the road. I love how there is a street light around the corner subtly lighting the road. To light Chuck, I used 1 LED, I held it behind him for about 4 seconds, then ran around the front of him for the front light. I wanted the light to be coming up at him from the bottom. His face got about 2 seconds of light. I used a flashlight to bring out a little more detail in the trees behind him to help with the separation. 

The telescope wasn't the only shot I got from that location, I also grabbed a nice view of the water to the North. I was hoping to catch some auroral activity, but we didn't get it. The city lights from Bellingham did help to give some nice detail in the clouds though which goes nicely with the blue sky and the stars. 

 

And how could I not show the shot of the moon through the telescope? I decided to flip it vertically, I thought it looked more interesting that way.

Want to help support my work and my move to New York? Buy a print at http://www.mattleitholt.com/fineart/h52dc6052#h52dc6052


Comments

Dan Murdock(non-registered)
With a telescope like that,if you and Roy J.Murdock were to set it up on one side of the Bay,got in a car,
And drove to the other side of the Bay,got out and went out on the dock and bent down to pick up your
Kodak camera's....could Eddie look in the telescope and see youranus......s?
Stephanie Arieno(non-registered)
I love the light painting job! It looks very natural, like it's just light, hitting him, while he's being a boss with a 'scope. Well done. ALSO, DA MOOOOOON is amazing.
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