The Moon And Saturn

I have a confession: I get a daily email from a website called EarthSkyNews. If I knew how to link things I'd do it here -->, but, alas, I haven't figured that one out yet. It shouldn't be too tough, however, to find if you go snooping around. That blog gives daily reminders of astronomical things to look for or, at the least, to know what is going on in the heavens above.

For space geeks, a few weeks ago was a fairly big deal. The planet Saturn was playing tag with the Moon for a couple of days, as both appeared very close. They really weren't of course but after the Moon, Saturn was the brightest object so it was nice to see them in close proximity to each other. It gave people with cameras a chance to play and try to get some good pictures. Since I am still a neophyte and really quite too close to the city's ambient light, my shots won't be too spectacular, but there are no faint hearts at Shawshank when attempting to get better.

With camera firmly attached to tripod, it was just a quick 5 minute walk to the edge of the complex next to Clam Bayou. The jet trails were my first clue to what would be a nice shoot. (See? I'm already talking like a seasoned photog)

It didn't take too long till the blue sky was replaced by an orange sunset. Before I took the shot I saw a large bird flying from the right into the frame, but didn't really know where he went. It was just dumb luck that he ended up in the tree limb on the left. See him?

I was captivated by the layers created by the jets. I've never really noticed that many in the sky before, but then maybe the sunset time was busy for the airlines, plus we have McDill Air Force Base over in Tampa.

And the stars for tonight's show, Saturn and the Moon. I decided to try some shots before the sun set and I think it was a decent choice. I liked the orange tinted clouds and the blue sky.

As I was walking back to my cell I saw them peeking through the pines and set up shop again.

My little camera is just an entry level DSLR, but I think it does a pretty good job.

Maybe if I had a photo editor or maybe that Photoshop program I could dazzle you even more, but I don't so this will have to do. Besides, sometimes a photoshopped picture, while pretty, looks unrealistic. This is what my camera sees, and that's good enough for me.

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