I unfortunately only had a limited time chasing Comet C/2023 A3, (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) in the night sky after work hours in the northern hemisphere, but I got her! It had been quite awhile since I had done any nightscape shooting, and it showed. The last few shoots for me seem to have a common theme of " user error", and while we would always like to believe that we are in complete control, we as landscape photographers fail far more often than we ever succeed. Most of us, the real light chasers and not the AI bullstuffs that don't like to put in the real work....would agree that this is what makes this genre of photography not only exciting but also incredibly rewarding. Whether it be user error, the weather not cooperating, gear malfunctions, stresses and poor judgements, poor planning, etc etc etc. The light at the end of the tunnel when you finally get it is sooo worth it. On this shoot I thought I had pulled out all the stops, I shot wide, I shot in between, and I shot telephoto and then even super telephoto.....I had planned properly, hiked crazy elevation in the span of 30 minutes both times I attempted shooting this comet, only to have to scramble for a composition to which I truly never really found....and then only to realize when I got the images back in the computer at home that I Had either missed focus or in most cases shot too long of an exposure time for the given focal length I was using. Star trailing was not desired and is what I got. Its minimal in this image and it's probably only me that it bothers but nonetheless a mistake. The second night the super moon was absolutely photogasmic as one of my favorite photographers would say.....and of course it blew gusts so hard on the top of that butte that I was on that there was nothing I could do to get an image in time. NO WAY. 700ft of elevation gain in 40 minutes, couldn't find a composition, didn't take a single shot of the comet I was there for, and missed the opportunity at the super moons rise. I will still always have those memories and that's the important thing.... be grateful was the lesson of the day for me, oh , and get out and shoot more at night ya putz....lol. Hope you enjoy, looking forward to the possibility of the newest Halloween comet C/2024 S1 Atlas and praying it doesn't disintegrate when it reaches its perihelion! Ill be on a photography trip around this time so fingers crossed.
"O'er The One Of Eighty"
Millenia
Nikon D750
ISO 640
8 Sec
50 mm, foreground @ f/1.8, stars @ f1.8
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