Luna Watching

So did you have a look at the moon last night?  Wasn’t it beautiful!  Just after 6pm I packed the dogs and camera into the car then headed out.  I’d decided upon 3 locations for the evening and started at the one closest to home.  I had to smile when we arrived and I saw someone else with a tripod, obviously with the same plan.

The hope was to get some shots with the moon close to the horizon with the river Stour in the foreground.  WWWWeeeeelllllll it didn’t work.  British Rail (or whoever operates the trains in the local lines) simply didn’t play ball, between rogue trains and power lines I couldn’t get the shot I had in my mind.

Still such is life, so onto glamourous location number 2.  I say glamourous as it was actually a muddy field a few miles from the village where I live.  It’s advantage however was that there were no power lines and I could set up right next to where I parked.  The dogs selflessly agreed to guard the inside of the car (which was nice and warm) while I set up and tried again.  This location was to be a straight moon shot.

A definite improvement on the shot at Scone don’t you think!  For those of you who might like to know, this was at f/11, for 1/90’s, ISO100 and with a 200mm Lens.

So I’m feeling very happy to finally have a Luna shot I’ve taken myself.  Of course I could have continued fiddling about with the camera and taking more shots, but to be honest all I wanted to do was gaze up at this amazing wonder.  Eventually however, the cold seeped in through all my layers of clothing and it was time to get back in the car and turn the heater up full blast.  The car’s thermometer was displaying –3 degrees C, and I believe it.  I did make it to location number 3 but that’s a whole other story and a very different image.

Glorious Luna

Are you fascinated by our moon?  I am.  I think it’s amazing.  I’m not old enough to remember the moon landings but it didn’t stop me being mesmerised by them as a child.

Tonight will be the ‘largest’ Full Moon since the early 90’s.  If you are so inclined you can read about it on the Guardian Science site (and loads of others if you google it).  Basically the moon gets closer and further away from the Earth as a natural part of it’s orbit.  This means that to us it really does appear larger at some times than others.

For someone who loves Luna as much as I do, I have remarkably few photographs of it (or should that be her).  This is about the best and was taken in August 2009 at the Scone Palace Runrig concert.  Hand held as the camera was held up over peoples heads, it’s not really a surprise it isn’t very good.

So tonight I shall be joining photographers all over the world by heading out with my tripod and a flask of tea.

Many people try to photograph the moon, but few get results they are happy with.  So here’s a few tips in case you’re also feeling inspired.

• Get your camera off automatic mode.  Modern cameras will do all sorts of things for you, including working out all the settings to take a photo.  Unfortunately the software bases all this on averages.  So when presented with a dark sky and a small bright disc, the camera will try to average it all out.  This will overexpose the moon and you’ll lots of detail.
• If your camera allows you to shoot in RAW mode then do that.  You will record much more detail allowing you more options when you get your image onto your computer.
• Use a tripod and cable release if you have them.  If not then prop your camera on something (beanbag, coat, wall) and use the timer feature.  This will help to prevent ‘camera shake’ by your hands/arms moving ever so slightly while you take the shot.
• Take lots of photos.  The chances of getting THE shot on the first click are not good.  So take plenty.  Change the settings and cover all the bases.  It’s better to take more shots than you need than not enough.  It’s going to be about 20 years before you get another chance.

Above all if you do go out have fun.  I know that’s my plan….

 

Past and Future…

Well I know I posted a few days ago, but I’m feeling a little negligent towards my blog.  I normally have ideas for two or three blog posts at any time but at the moment, zip, nadda, nothing…..

I’m blaming tiredness.  I have to blame something, so it might as well be that as my brain just isn’t working.  So instead I thought I’d share a photo I took this week.  It’s part of an old engine and it has a steampunk feel to me.  Then I’m going to allow my eyes to drift shut and embrace sleep.

Taking advantage of modern technology

Given my recent problems with my phone line it’s brought back to life all my anxieties of loosing data in the digital world.  All those precious photos lost in computer crashes and failures.  Photos of loved ones I’ll never see again…

So fuelled by all these fears I’ve been doing some digging online for possible solutions.  My main concern is photos as these are what I get most upset about when lost.  I’ve tried various solutions in the past but none have really been able to quieten down that nagging little voice that sits on your shoulder whispering horrible things in your ear.

Part of that solution (which I’m currently trialling, but fairly sure I’m going to stump up the cash for it) is called Smugmug.  This is an online site aimed primarily at photographers to store and display their work.  Thing is they allow unlimited storage and unlike some sites, will also store the full size image and allow you to download it again later.  As such you can use it as backup storage as well.

Of course you need a user name and given I have Fantasia Yarns I decided to go for Fantasia Photos.  So I shall be spending quite a bit of my near future sorting through images and uploading them.  This will include quite a lot of photos of yarn!  (See I can make this craft related if I try).

If you’d like to check out the site you can find it here.  Or if you’d like to check out my photos you can find them here they’re not all yarn related but an increasing number of them will be over the coming days...

A link with the past

Like many families we have a few family heirlooms.  Nothing spectacular, but they provide a link to the past.  Most of them fall into the category of jewellery which I imagine is the same for many families.

One, however, is a little different.  A silver thimble which once belonged to my great grandmother, Sarah.  It passed to my grandmother, and then my mother who has now decided the time is right to pass it onto me.

It might not be the most ornate or financially valuable (in fact I’m fairly sure it’s not worth much at all), but it’s now one of my most prized possessions.

We know it is pre 1910 and we believe it was given to Sarah when she worked at Blacketts in Sunderland as a seamstress.  It’s always been referred to by the family as ‘the silver thimble’ although I believe it probably has a steel core and then silver outside.  It’s certainly quite heavy.

This tiny little thing makes me feel very strange inside when I hold it.  It’s a direct link back through time to my forebears.  It’s not a fact, or a date, but a tangible object which has been used and loved.

I remember my grand mother using it when I was a child.  Even to my young mind I could tell there was something special about it for her.  Later as I grew I realised she treasured it because of the link to her mother.

Now it has passed to me and I find it’s stirring all sorts of emotions, the strongest of which is wonder.  I wonder at the ability of such a small, mundane, inanimate object to affect me.  It triggers a desire to know more about it’s history and also my own.  Did Sarah have any idea when she received this tiny bit of metal that one day her great granddaughter would look at it and wonder about her life.  Was it something she was happy to be given as part of a sparkly new job, or did she not really want the job at all.  Of course I’ll never know the answers but it doesn’t stop me wondering about it.

Here it is with a much smaller, lighter thimble which my mother used when she still sewed.  ‘The silver thimble’ is all well and good but was simply to big for her finger.  I must have inherited her hands as I have the same problem when I try to use it.

The Antiques Road show is due to go to Layer Marney Tower in May where my friend Maytheweed works.  I wonder if it would be possible to take it along and see if I could find out more about this little piece of metal which has touched my heart so deeply.  Then again, does it really matter?  Whatever they say won’t change the link if forms with my past, and that’s the magic this thimble holds over me.

Oh and Fire the cat seemed to enjoy watching me take these photos from his bed next to me.  I simply couldn’t resist taking a photo of him as well.

Pyrite Ammonite

Remember I mentioned a fossil from the Bead Fair?  We I finally got round to photographing.  It’s a pyrite (fools gold) fossil of an ammonite and I’ll admit I had never heard of pyrite fossils before.  In fact I initially thought it was a con!  However after a little bit of digging (mobile phones with internet are so wonderful for this) it appears to be genuine.

The blurb says it’s from Michaelov in northern Russia near Finland and formed in sediment which was rich in quartz, magnesium calcite, aragonite, marl and chabazite.  I’m taking that all on face value as I really don’t know.  The man I bought it from said it was 160 million years old and that seems to tally with the info I’ve found for these fossils online.

Regardless it is very pretty and will probably end up hanging on my wall as a decorative piece rather than being worn as jewellery.

Musings on a modern world

Earlier in the week my phone line went down.  It started with the voice line turning into cracklesville and I couldn’t get a dial tone.  This was quickly followed by the internet becoming more twitchy than a fluffy cat sat in the middle of a dog pound that had run out of food.

The result is no voice calls and the internet has become so intermittent its not really worth the bother.  At first – being a thoroughly modern girl – I fiddled with the connectors and, after assuring myself it wasn’t something I or the beasties had done, called the phone company.  One hour, two companies and six operators later they decided an engineer needed to come out because ‘I had a fault on the line.’  Funnily enough I seem to remember that being my opening comment to all 6 people I spoke to.  Still I suppose they’re just doing their job.

So you’d imagine faced with 4 days or so without modern communications (my mobile signal is terrible at home as well) I’d simply reach for my knitting and think nothing of the passage of time.  But not so.  Even if you discount the internet for work (yes I often work at home on an evening) I found myself all twitchy.  No Ravelry, No blogs, No Mysewingcircle…… NO INTERNET SHOPPING!

It’s not until we have something like this taken away that you start to comprehend how much it has infiltrated our lives.  Isn’t it silly that I feel aggrieved I can't shop online for stuff at 3 in the morning.  These photos are all images of some fabric I bought recently on a late night shopping trawl of the internet from Gone to Earth.

They’re designed by Tanya Whelan and I’ve not seen them in the local fabric shops.  Years ago I either wouldn’t have been able to buy these, or would have needed to do it mail order, possibly via a catalogue.

The plan is to make them into a quilt for my garden hammock.  I love my hammock.  It’s wonderful and I could rave about it for pages on end.  Yet, for reasons I won’t go into, I couldn’t really to use it last year.  However I’m hoping a nice new quilt to throw over it will allow me to bask in the summer sun once more with a nice cold drink.

So it was I decided (flushed with the success of my quilted cushions) to add a garden hammock quilt to my list of things to make.  The hunt for the fabric was on…

I’ve chosen these patterns as I want something floral but with a slightly vintage feel.  In my minds eye I see the primary colours as blue and white with just a little bit of another colour for accent.  While I was looking around I worried that many of the fabrics would be to bright, or the pattern too busy.  I want the quilt to be beautiful but not compete with the real plants and flowers close by.  Thanks to the modern world of communications when I found these beautiful fabrics I was able to order and pay for them at silly o’clock.  Within a few days they were delivered and now they are tucked neatly away in my blanket box waiting to be turned into my new garden quilt. 

It amazes me how much we come to accept and expect the convenience of technology.  How it has so quickly become the norm, and how much I miss it when it’s gone.  I really hope that engineer turns up soon and put’s me out of my misery…