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[APML] Two new widefields

Hi everyone,

First, I wanted to thank everyone for their comments on my first  
Orion shot which I posted back in the spring. I really appreciated  
all the feedback and constructive criticism. It's been a very busy  
summer for me what with getting married and moving, but I've still  
had a chance to do a bit of astrophotography amidst all the events. I  
hope to post a number of new images over the coming weeks.

Although I'm now largely shooting medium format with my Bronica, I  
have a backlog of 35mm photographs still to scan and process. These  
two were taken way back in April under the dark skies of Muskoka,  
Ontario. Rather than being piggybacked on top of the scope, in this  
case my Nikon FG was clamped to the counterweight of the Super  
Polaris while I was shooting piggyback with the medium format camera.  
The Nikon works perfectly to help counterbalance the extra weight of  
the Bronica, and I get twice as many images per session!

The first shot is a wide-angle constellation portrait of Leo, exposed  
for 30 minutes with a 50mm lens at f/4 on E200 +1. It's not a  
particularly exciting shot, so I tried a simple diffusion-style  
technique in Photoshop to emphasize the brightest stars. What do you  
think?

     http://tinyurl.com/75d6r

My second shot is more of a problem. It's is a portrait of Saturn,  
Gemini, and the Beehive cluster also with the 50mm lens. While I'm  
pleased with the composition and general look of the shot, I do see  
that there's a pretty significant circular area in the middle of the  
frame where the stars are noticeably out of focus. Does anyone have  
any clues about what it could be? Strangely enough, I've noticed it  
in other exposures with the same camera, but a different lens! Here  
it is:

     http://tinyurl.com/cxtyg

As always, comments and criticism about the processing are  
appreciated. Up next: my first medium format shots!

Colin
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