Charles H.

Comet McNaught at Lake Murray

© Charles H.

date: 09 January 2007
location: Lake Murray (park on Irmo side of dam)
film: digital, ISO 400 equivalent
exposure: 1/15sec at f/4.5
camera setup: Olympus E-500 D-SLR, 150mm zoom on a tripod
telescope setup:

comments: Hey folks,
I apologize in advance for attaching a large file... I'm new at this and don't know how to re-size and post as a link.
This was my first attempt at photographing an event like this. Look for the tiny bright patch maybe a degree above the treetops, above the last light on the shoreline.
This was taken from the park on the Irmo side of the dam at 6:06 on Tuesday, 1/9.
I used an Olympus E-500 D-SLR, 150mm zoom (biggest I have now), ISO 400, 1/15 at f4.5, on a tripod. It was very windy. I should have hung a weight from the tripod to stabilize it. Other pictures of Venus setting over the lake would have turned out better.
I was set up and scanning the horizon with my 20x80's by 5:20. I never saw it naked-eye. When I did see it, I was shocked. It was much farther North of Venus than I was anticipating. I have 6-8 shots before the trees got it. This one is the highest.
I was up there on 1/8 and again on 1/10 and didn't see it. On 1/11 I went to a parking garage on Assembly St. Nice sunset, but it was too cloudy for the comet.

Keep looking up!
Charles

[Webmaster's note: I cropped and resized the original image for posting on the website.]