IMGP3156, originally uploaded by MattB.net.

I was happy to catch these images tonight of the visiting comet and the crescent moon together. There was a 20 minute window to get the shot in clear skies so a smaller one with these clouds. My son and I hiked to the top of a nearby hill and I got these with my Pentax K-5 and vintage Pentax A*300/4 lens. They were just barely close enough together for 300mm to work! Now I'm getting I'm excited for ISON in November!

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IMGP8492-Edit, originally uploaded by MattB.net.

I captured this image from my driveway last night of the moon and Jupiter's conjunction.

They appeared very close together overhead in the night sky.

By blending two exposures I was about to get our moon, Jupiter, and some of Jupiter's moons in the shot. This would be impossible with a single exposure because of the difference in brightness between the objects. Jupiter's moons appear very small and faint while our moon is big and bright. So with one exposure for our moon and Jupiter blended with another exposure for Jupiter's moons we can show them all in one image.

To create this image I shot with my Pentax K-5, Pentax A* 300mm f/4 lens, and Vivitar PK-A R-PK 2x TC (which doubles the effective length of the lens mounted to it).

I took two consecutive exposures 2 stops apart and then combined them using Photoshop CS5 using a layer mask.

Too see the detail better, check out the large version.

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We did a moonlight XC ski last night in some very cold temps. It didn't last too long but it was a beautiful night. The -2 temp was pretty tough and it was only getting colder (-20 this morning). The Gunnison Nordic Council has groomed tracks at Hartman Rocks now which is really nice. Conditions are thin so I'm hoping we get some more snow to make it really solid. It also gets warmer when it snows so that would be nice too!

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IMGP4004, originally uploaded by MattB.net.

I had hoped to be skiing this weekend but we don't have enough snow so I got a few rides in instead.
Friday I did a nice solo ride at Hartman Rocks and I kept noticing the moon as I was riding along. Almost as if it was trying to get my attention. Well, it did! I ended up taking several shots that ride which included the moon. This first one includes me as well!

With the moon constantly reminding me of it's presence and it's location in the sky, I had an idea. There's this neat bent old tree that I might be able to frame the moon under. It was maybe a mile away from my location when I had this idea and figured it might be worth it to head over there and see if it would line up.

Before I got to that bent tree I passed this big rock outcropping. With a little adjusting of my position I was able to capture the moon in the slot in these rocks. Cool, so far so good.

Then I got to the tree that brought me over this way. It wasn't easy but by balancing on a boulder (in cycling shoes) and using live view to compose while holding the camera over my head I managed to line this one up too. Hooray for the moon!

Finally on the way home the sunset started getting really good. I rode as quickly as I could to reach this little pond between the KOA and the airport in hopes of catching some nice sunset reflections. As luck would have it I caught the peak of a great sunset at the pond and I had time to snap a few more here before the last couple of chilly miles to get home. This one didn't include the moon as it was in a very clear part of the sky that wasn't as interesting as the parts with clouds. But that's ok. It was a nice ride and a good haul of photos for the day.

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Challenging light conditions tonight but a fantastic moon. This was taken at Hartman Rocks. Dynamic range was fully utilized!

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We stayed at Waunita Hot Spring Ranch for my son's birthday after a great ski day at Monarch. It was so pretty out at night I had to get the tripod out for some night shots.

There's also this cool old truck out back that was being so nicely lit by that moonlight.

Waunita is a really nice spot with a lot of character. We had a great time!

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IMGP9749.jpg, originally uploaded by MattB.net.

The Farmer's Almanac says a ring around the moon foretells unsettled weather. I really hope that means more powder this weekend!

I shot this while doing a little after work XC skiing at Mill Creek.

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IMGP6920.jpg, originally uploaded by MattB.net.

Had a good but COLD early morning shooting the eclipse. Brrr!

I got this shot using a new (to me) manual focus prime, a Pentax-A * 300mm f/4. A lovely old piece of glass!

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