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Mandy Daniels
Derbyshire, UK
11/25/2023
08:36 pm

Equipment Details:

Nikon D800, 14 mm prime lens, Benro carbon fibre tripod with geared head.

F/2.8
12.1 secs
ISO-400

Post-processing Details:

GIMP: Adjust curves.

Image Details:

Tonight there was a fabulous 22° halo around the Moon, with Jupiter close by, so I set up the D800 with a 14 mm prime lens on a tripod with a geared head and grabbed a few trial shots. Unfortunately, from my location at home it was not possible to get a clear view of where the Moon was at that time of evening, without streetlights and other floodlights getting in the frame, so I decided to try from the church yard, just up the road. I'd been thinking about capturing the Moon near it's spire for more than twenty years and tonight seemed like a golden opportunity. From the far north-west corner of the car park, I was able to position the camera with the halo getting closer to the spire. Tilting the camera sideways to keep the spire vertical in the frame of the 14 mm lens was a doddle with the geared head on the tripod. Remote shutter release ensured no movement as each frame was captured. The resulting final image has the halo kissing the top of the spire, with the Moon and Jupiter to it's left. Above the spire is a bright star, probably Alpha Andromedae, mag 2.03.