Holiday snaps from SW France

[Dangerous-Dave]

Hi folks, just got back from a family holiday in SW France. A kind family member offered to convey my widefield imaging rig by road, so I could fly out with the kids and still enjoy the dark skies. Here are the results:

Milky Way Core panoramic

Astrotrac TT320X-AG, modified Canon EOS20D, Leitz Summicron R 50mm/f2.0 at f2.8. Six panes, each 15x180s at ISO1600.

Lagoon/Triffid

Astrotrac TT320X-AG, modified Canon EOS20D, Leitz Telyt 180mm APO at f4, 25x240s at ISO1600.

M24 and environs

Astrotrac TT320X-AG, modified Canon EOS20D, Leitz Telyt 180mm APO at f4, 24x240s at ISO1600.

Milky Way Fisheye

Astrotrac TT320X-AG, Modified Canon EOS20D, Samyang 8mm/f3.5 fisheye at f5.6, 1x480s at ISO1600, dark frame and hot pixel removal in Deep Sky Stacker.

Obligatory star trails

Canon EOS10D, Canon EOS20D, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Zenitar 16mm fisheye, ISO800, 30 second exposures combined in star trails

Meterorite in Draco

Canon EOS20D, Samyang 8mm/f3.5 fisheye at f3.5, Single 30 second exposure at ISO800

(Larger images on my Flickr page - see sig)

Only problem was the hours of darkness were midnight till five, so I was feeling pretty wrecked after five clear nights on the spin. Luckily my wife let me sleep after 10 most mornings.

[Beyond_Vision]

A cracking set of images Dave, looks like you had a fantastic holiday . I bet you need another one after that to get over it

Regards

Kevin

[brantuk]

Love those milk way shots - superb

[Multi-Coated]

That fisheye lens is a real gem , produced some very interesting effects.I will study those MW shots for ages:) Great images.:hello2:Thanks for sharing.

[SkyJamie]

Awesome set Dave

Jamie

[Coco]

Wow... those are absolutely fantastic!!

Not your usual snaps..

[markcol]

Superb work Dave, love the MW panorama especially.

You must have been really busy with all that lot!

Mark

[Shibby]

That is one seriously amazing set of holiday snaps! Thank you for sharing them with us.

[fatwoul]

That does it. I'm getting me an Astrotrac. Not that it guarantees me the talent evident in these pictures, of course. Great work, Dave.

[ollypenrice]

Dave, those are just downright glorious! Breathtakingly fine.

Olly

[Doug]

Hi Dave

Your images are absolutley stunning and a little bit different than the norm

well done

Doug

Essex UK

[RogerTheDodger]

Lovely images, I think the mosaic is my fave

[Boren]

Sheer delight !!!

The only problem I see is in the picture of Draco - makes me want to jump into that pool :-))))

Wonderful set of images!

Cheers,

Harel

[Komet]

Wonderful series of images Dave ..... love them - especially the Milky Way ones.

Well done!

[johnh]

The Milkyway images are fantastic especially the Lagoon and triffid. Equatorial star trails are interesting too.

John.

[foundaplanet]

Amazing.. Love the panorama and the triffid and the lagoon, both delightful.

[Dangerous-Dave]

Thanks for the kind comments all. I love my Astrotrac, a snap to set up and none of that pesky periodic error I used to get using the camera mounted on the GP. I did balk at the price for a few years but in hindsight it has had plenty use to justify the expenditure. The Samyang 8mm fisheye is also a very tidy lens for £200 bn, I believe Olly uses its 80mm cousin. My only regret is not renting a Sigma 4.5mm fisheye for the trip as there were more than enough opportunities to use it.

[Psychobilly]

Very nice indeed Dave

[whirlpool5194]

I`d be looking at a divorce if i took any astro gear on holiday with me!!! Shes not overly happy with my hobby at home...... Great images btw, sorry for the rant!

Wp

[SlipperySquid]

Great images mate truly awe-inspiring and a pleasure to look at! Thanks for taking the time to post them!

Matt.

[JoLo]

What can I add that has not been said?...absolutely nothing...simply stunning.

[Spr]

Great set of images Dave,

what software did you use for the panorama?

Darren

[Sam]

Wow! they are fantastic, you've certainly been busy!

[cloudbuster]

stunning images dave....reckon if u were to of posted some at weekly intervals, then u might of got a couple of pows or more! lol

[skywatcher1701]

I`d be looking at a divorce if i took any astro gear on holiday with me!!! Shes not overly happy with my hobby at home......

same here my friend, but these shots are fantastic well done.