FZ18/C-180 Not your everyday moon pic "Twilight Flight"

Tried to be creative on this one..I was pleased with the results..
What do you think?? What would you do different if the opportunity
arises??



Tried an aircraft closer to moon..It wasn't as pleasing, especially
since the clouds had moved..They added interest, I think..

RudyL -

1st is an excellent shot!
--
OK Dave

Dave, Thanks for viewing and your kind comment...
Your new title is interesting..

Haven't heard that song in a while and now can't get it out of my head!

This is the title to a very popular and romantic song over 20 tears ago.

But I was shocked and disillusioned to learn that the creator wrote it while circling New York City waiting for the plane to land.

(My thoughts back then are humorous to me now.)

And it is well worth playing the beautiful song for your love mate.
--
OK Dave

P.S. Thanks, your first photo captures the image perfectly!

Glad to see another post of yours and I continue to be impressed by the telephoto prowness of your ability and equipment. The atmospheric conditions look to have improved as well, the detail of the moon and its color are wonderful in #2 and the window light being observable in the plane in #1 is remarkable. Any suggestions as to what to do differently are so luck dependent that I hesitate to comment but as you stated in a previous post that you reside on the airport's flight path why not try for a capture of a plane right in front of the moon. That would be very dramatic. Perhaps a call to the tower could direct the plane at the proper angle.(Joking of course) Taking pictures at dusk is great fun but the moment is fleeting using burst mode and exposure compensation can help with moving objects and rapidly changing light. If you want to experiment with post processing try taking the plane from #1 and placing it in #2 after removing the other plane or the air traffic controllers might have heart attacks if they saw it! That song just won't go away. 9Name

OK Dave said:

This is the title to a very popular and romantic song over 20 tears ago.

Click to expand...

"Tears" is a typo, of course, but it's appropriate for a romantic song.

OK Dave said:

But I was shocked and disillusioned to learn that the creator wrote
it while circling New York City waiting for the plane to land.

Click to expand...

More than a bit OT but which creator would that be: Chris Cross, Burt Bacharach, Carole Bayer Sager or Peter Allen, all of whom seem to share credit for writing the song?

Allen, you're very observant..I missed the typo until you
pointed it out..
I am pleased and amused at the thought pattern these
photos created..Maybe that's a measure of success in
trying to be creative????

(9NAME, Ol buddy, I'm saving my responce to you for
later)

9NAME, At long last I'm back..My problems with IndyMac bank
are finally clearing up..
Re: plane in front of moon..That is exactly what I was attempting
to do..These two images are as close as I could get.. Will continue
to try when conditions allow..The time that the moon rises into the
flight path at twilight is another variable I need to learn more about.
Have any suggestions???
Tracking the aircraft is pretty easy at this distance 3-4 miles plus some
for there altitude (about 7-8000 ft)
Would have no idea where to start swapping images of the planes..
Guess if one wanted, they could just add an image of a plane on top
of a moon image and fake what I'm trying to accomplish..Would take the
fun out of it for me..
I'm impressed with your mastery of our language..You seem to always have
the right words for all occasions..
Looking foward to seeing more of your posts...Take care, RudyL

Nice shots.

But how did you get them? To take moon shots you need long exposure, but plane is not "moving" in your shots. You are realy creative person.

Time does not permit a proper reply today but I will place some thought on your questions and try to continue this thread tomorrow. 9Name P. S. See if local paper gives moon rise times and check edition of the day you took picture and compare it to time of photo. That should provide a way of estimating future windows of opportunity.

It sure isn't...but that's why I like it so much!!

Robin-Lee :O)

Tripod,FZ18, W/C-180,
3M, ISO100
P F4.0 1/125

Focused on moon surface at max. zoom. Backed off zoom
to include area the plane would enter. Held shutter button
half down until plane image entered view finder. Pressed button.
Have no idea why long exposure not required..Might have panned
slightly, don't remember..Thank you for your kind comment and
interest..

On second thought ,I think exposure time is affected by
surounding light..I find that moon shots are much easier
at twilight than sky is dark...Others on this site can explain
this much better than I.. RudyL

Searching forum for other examples. 9Name



Here's #2



Seems like either the moon or the plane gets priority but not both. Due to your proximity to LAX and skill level maybe that one special opportunity where it all comes together can be obtained. I'm thinking of the movie company logo of the kid on flying bike from E.T.

Thanks for your research..It appears to me that these examples may
have been taken sometime prior to twilight,which would add to difficulty,
I think..On the other hand we don't know how much pp these have..
Followed your suggestion re: ck local newspaper for moon rise time and ended
up with a online moon/sun rise calender..After considering the time window
problem there are at least two primary considerations: 1. Twilight, which
depends on sunset. 2. Moon rise, at a time which allows it to rise into area
of aircraft flight path during twilight..This was about 2 1/2 hours on 7/14 when
my photos were taken..Since sunset time is constantly changing, I looked for
windows where the time between sunset and moon rise was approximately
2 1/2 hours and found a window each month starting Aug.12. This assumes
that the time for moon to rise into flight path remains at approx. 2 1/2 hrs..
My gut feel says this isn't true..Does the moon move across the sky at the
same speed each month?? I doubt it..Thats probably the next problem...
Thank goodness the flight path doesn't vary very much, AND, there's an
aircraft coming by every 3-10 minutes...Which will give me several chances
during each window...
Another question..How long does twilight last each month??

This may be boring everyone else, so I"ll drop it for now...
Any help for you astronomers would be appreciated..

Thanks again 9NAME, take care....

RudyL, you continue to amaze. Why I went old school on the newspaper idea was that I grew up reading the Washington Post and seem to recall the moon and tidal data being printed there. Of course the internet is the way to go now for quick information look-up. Also reviewed your settings and agree with them. F/4.0 seems to be the sweet spot for the FZ cameras dating back to my FZ1 and your photos are clearly sharper than the others I researched. The specs on the FZ18 list a 16:9 format and a 7 frame max in burst mode. The wider aspect ratio might allow you more wiggle room as the plane approaches the moon and since a tripod is being used, setting the timer at a 2 second delay in conjunction with continuous shooting could help in getting that centered shot. Please don't wait until next month's window, now that you have the moonrise times go for it on any clear night as the results might surprise us both. A less than full moon also shows better crater detail on the line between day and night. In any event I have no doubt that you will nail this shot soon. 9Name

...observers to occur at 6:21 Universal Time on September 12th when the 10th-magnitude asteroid 9 Metis causes the 6.0 magnitude star HIP 14764 to snap out of view for as much as 50 seconds! Just grab a pair of binoculars and look to the east-southeastern sky and find the head of the constellation Cetus. HIP 14764 is 4 degrees northeast of Lambda Ceti. I just couldn't resist sending you this tidbit from Sky & Telescope Magazine. Other forum members have actually posted pictures of Jupiter and Saturn taken with their camera not thru a telescope. I'm thinking the FZ18/C-180 combo could image an asteroid!!! What a first that would be.

Thanks for your confidence , encouragement ,and tips.
I have alot to learn about what works and what doesn't..(Every
once in a while I even refer to the manual)..
The moon doesn't rise here now until very late and by the end of the
month it will be early morning..The rise time changes very
rapidly..Will be around 8/12 before the time it is reasonable
again..
By the way, My email address is listed under my profile, if you
would like to correspond via email also...Thanks again, RudyL