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Douglas Rollain

M20 Trifid Nebula in LRGBHa

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Posts Made By: Jeff Hapeman

August 30, 2004 02:58 AM Forum: Insects - Flowers and Other Small Stuff - Photos

How about a nice fat caterpillar?

Posted By Jeff Hapeman
Took this with my Nikon D2H and 200mm f/4 ED-IF lens last weekend. It's a Cecropia moth larva; I am raising it with my daughter so she can learn and enjoy the process.

Jeff

November 11, 2004 06:21 PM Forum: Birding Optics and Photos

Trip to southern FL (White Ibis)

Posted By Jeff Hapeman
I was in southern FL for business this past week and I took my newish Canon 1D MarkII and 100-400L IS lens with me to try things out. I could fit it all into one carry-on so it was handy. Here are a few images I liked best. I might post a few more later.

All are seriously downsized for this site. The original files are huge. I do like the higher resolution of this camera, although it is much heaveier than my Nikon D2H and requires more post-processing.

This is an immature White Ibis digging for dinner in the surf.

Jeff

November 22, 2004 03:47 AM Forum: Birding Optics and Photos

White-breasted Nuthatch

Posted By Jeff Hapeman
Today I got some sunny weather and decided to get out and test out my new 1.7x TC. This image was taken with the TC, 200-400mm f/4 VR lens @ 680mm, f/6.7, ISO 400 with SB-800 fill-flash, Nikon D2H. I am very pleased with this combo--the TC is very sharp and has great contrast and color with this lens.

Jeff

November 27, 2004 04:36 PM Forum: Wildlife Photography

Long-tailed Weasel (Ermine)

Posted By Jeff Hapeman
We are at our lake home in N. WI for the holiday, and while eating my lunch, my wife yelled: "Hey what is that outside at the bird feeders!" I jumped up and spotted this weasel. He ran off, and I followed him into the woods, and with a little squeaking, got him to peak out of the brush for a bit. This was my best shot. Very hard to not blow the fur on this guy--there is a tiny bit of blown highlight on his back, but I don't think it detracts. The image was not as sharp as I would like, but all the images with my 100-400L IS seem to be a bit soft at 400mm. I may have a front-focus problem...regardless, I like this image. It's not every day that one sees a weasel this close.

Note, all the weasels that turn white with black tail tips are called "ermine" in their winter pelage. This guy was not very camouflagued yesterday, but last night through tomorrow morning, we are in the midst of a nice snow storm, so he will be happy.

Jeff

December 7, 2004 03:40 AM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

New Image: North America Nebula

Posted By Jeff Hapeman
OK, so I have my new observatory up and running and this is essentially a "first light" image. This is taken with the STL-11000XM with Astronomik filters through an FSQ-106N. The images were 20-minute subexposures, for a total LRGB time of 120:40:40:40 minutes, or four hours. Actually, just the two hours of color data was good enough to stand on it's own, but more signal is always better for smoother images and better enlargements. I am going to get a large 20"x30" print made of this, as I am really pleased with how it came out. You can see the original-sized image here:

http://www.pbase.com/jhapeman/image/37172168/original

The attached image was resized to 1024 pixels in width to make it more download-friendly (although it is still sort of big). BTW, I should mention that the diffraction spikes were added for aesthetics. They were made by a friend using a piece of insulating foam to fit over the dewshield and weed-whacker string.

Jeff

December 17, 2004 03:57 AM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

New Image: Deep M45

Posted By Jeff Hapeman
Here is my shot at a deep M45 from a few nights ago when we had some very
clear, steady and dark skies. I had to battle a little with gradients, and it was made tougher by the fact that there really is a lot of faint reddish dust in this area, and one doesn't want to confuse it with a gradient.

In the end, I think I beat the data. This is a total of 230 minutes data, LRGB of 80:50:50:50 all shot unbinned with the STL-11000XM and FSQ-106N. This is a greatly reduced version to be "web friendly."

The full-resolution original is here:

http://www.pbase.com/jhapeman/image/37575842

Thanks for looking....

Jeff

December 18, 2004 04:44 AM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

New Image: Comet Macholz

Posted By Jeff Hapeman
OK, I thought this was useless data, but apparently it just needed a lot of massaging. I took this image the other night and when I went out, the sky was full of thin clouds, and the data had terrible gradients in it. Anyway, I was bored tonight, and I also realized that I really needed a good comet image, so I gave this a shot. This is a 10:5:5:5 LRGB image, with only one 5-minute sub for each color, and two for the luminance.

I really like the obvious difference between the gas and dust tails in this comet, and nice green-blue color of the coma.

Jeff

December 29, 2004 04:30 AM Forum: Birding Optics and Photos

Common Redpoll Male

Posted By Jeff Hapeman
Up north at our lake home for the holidays--wonderful with about 18" of snow and a fresh inch or so every couple of days. We also get the boreal birds. I was determined to get good shots of the Common Redpolls this year, as I got good Pine Grosbeak shots last year. Good thing, too, as I have not seen one Pine Grosbeak this year. The Evening Grosbeaks are also less common, but have been in--hopefully I can get some shots yet this week.

Nikon D2h with 200-400mm f/4G VR, 1.7x TC and SB-800 fill flash. The lighting was flat and terrible, but I like how the shots came out. The difficulty was in standing still long enough for the birds to get used to me without suffering frostbite. We have had daytime highs in the negative teens to the low single digits. Only today did it get above 15F.

Jeff

February 13, 2005 05:55 AM Forum: Birding Optics and Photos

Mexican Birds: Masked Tityra (female)

Posted By Jeff Hapeman
The week before last, I was in Mexico for a nice vacation at an isolated resort on the Mayan Riviera. It was carved out of the tropical dry forest endemic to the coastal northern Yucatan. I spent most mornings birding, and took my new Canon 1Ds Mark II with me with the 100-400L and 1.4x TC. I am going to post a series of shots from the trip. This is a remarkably sharp camera, and it's nice to have the full-frame sensor to crop images.

http://www.pbase.com/jhapeman/image/39488195.jpg

And a full-resolution crop of just the head, to show the detail:

http://www.pbase.com/jhapeman/image/39488264.jpg

You can go the pbase gallery and see each image at full resolution if you wish.

http://www.pbase.com/jhapeman/mexican_birds

Jeff

February 13, 2005 06:09 AM Forum: Birding Optics and Photos

Mexican Birds: Citreoline Trogon

Posted By Jeff Hapeman
Very dark in the forest, the flash was needed here in the early dawn light.

Jeff

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