I got all the bookings done to photograph the total eclipse of the sun on 14 November in Cairns. The total eclipse is expected at 6:38 am at 13.5° above the horizon and last for 2min. Sunrise is at 5:34 am and the partial eclipse begins a few minutes later. At 6:00 am partial eclipse is half way across. The main outstanding factors are the weather and the best location. Any ideas on the location? Will photograph with a canon 5DmkIII and either a 500mm canon with 2x extender or a borrowed 800mm with 1.4x. Any thoughts? I have ordered some Baader solar film and a canon internal filter holder that will fit both 500mm and 800mm lens. I’ll use a homemade altitude and azimuth gimble mount with a Gitzo GT1354ILS tripod. Hope that is stable enough.
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After a year trying to get the images printed on an Epson 7900 to conform in a consistent manner to what I was seeing on my DELL 30″ LCD screen, I purchased a new NEC Spectra view 3090 monitor at 40% discount. It is a great monitor, but I still was not able to get a consistent monitor calibration, using the Spectraview 5.0 software and the Eye one pro. In fact the best contrast I obtained was 80:1 and this decreased with each further attempt at calibration. Then I noticed that the Eye one pro was slightly warm to the touch. Could the screen be warming the Eye one pro spectrophotometer? I bought a USB powered fan to cool the Eye one pro during the calibration and Walla! The contrast shot up to 400:1, and the monitor calibration became consistent. So it is necessary to air cool the Eye one pro spectrophotometer to get a decent monitor calibration.
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Castles, Stratford, and the Fat Duck. Stratford on Avon. Going to a Shakespearean play at the Royal Theater in Stratford upon Avon was a must-do experience. Only two adjacent, but expensive seats were available when I tried to book three months in advance. But it was well worth the expense. The play was performed inside an intimate theater (it actually holds 1000 spectators) with minimalist staging. The staging was of little importance, as the brilliance of the production, was the ability of the actors to articulate Shakespeare in a way that made their performance understandable, and with a delivery that mimicked the song of modern English. To complete the experience we stayed the night at the Shakespeare, a hotel housed inside three converted 17th century Tudor halls close to the town centre. The public lounge, tea rooms and restaurant still retained much of their true character. We just had to have high tea in the historic tea room. Stratford has done exceptionally well in preserving the historic facade of the Tudor period, housing Macdonald’s restaurant and the supermarkets inside buildings with period shop fronts. It was a pleasure to stroll down the central area amongst historic buildings. Had lunch at […]
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Part 1. Oxford and the Cotswolds. This was our first extended visit to the Oxford region since I left my research establishment near Abingdon, 34 years ago. At that time, Britain was one of the foremost technological and scientifically advanced countries in the world. It also had a rich, traditional heritage, full of pomp and ceremony and its country villages oozed old world charm. So going back to my old stomping grounds near Oxford was not only to see how the region had fared to the global challenges, but also to see if that special feeling we experienced in being part of the English way of life for 10 years still remained. My other object was to see if any of my former colleagues were still employed and to reestablish contact with our old friends in Abingdon and London. I also wanted to be a tourist and revisit some of the top tourist places, and visit a few good English restaurants. Oxford. We arrived at Oxford station by train and took a taxi to our rented apartment in a quiet location behind the Oxford castle. From here it was a casual 10 min walk to Carfax and the heart of Oxford. Almost immediately I noticed a number of substantial changes. ♦ How expensive the trains had become. The casual purchase of a day return to London by train was now £50/person, too expensive for us to go to London […]
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OUTINGS. 1) Visit to the Le Petit Trianon- The Domain of Marie Antoinette. Took the RER from St Michel to the Versailles Rive Gauche. (Note do not get off at Viroflay Rive Gauche which is 2 stops earlier, also the RER ticket is required to get out of the station). To get to the Chateau of Versailles go out of the front of the station. Sign across street show turn right and then left see red route in Fig1. We did not go inside the main Chateau as we had previously visited it 3 years ago and would have found it too much to see both the Palace and le Petit Trianon in the one day as they are quite far apart and there is a lot to see. Last time in visiting Versailles we had a ticket to see the state apartments of the kings and queens. This is well worth doing as the group is smaller, the extra rooms including the chapel are very interesting and there are far fewer people. Also our guide was very good. The Palace can be very crowded with long queues for the tickets, so it is advisable to book them in advance. E.g. on line […]
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1) Carcassonne. Went 3 days to Carcassonne, an intact fortified medieval walled city Fig1, situated in the French province that borders Spain. It is a magnificent complex with the centre piece being a fortified castle with high castellated walls, circular watch towers Fig2, and a deep dry moat inside an historic village of narrow cobble stone streets Fig3. This compact ‘cite’ is further protected by two outer concentric walls with its own towers and barbicans. And yet, in spite of all this visual superb architecture, there was something missing. It lacked a soul. For there were very few resident locals, the streets being populated by visitors and tourists like me, who, come June, would be shoulder to shoulder. Took the 0720 TGV from Paris arriving at Carcassonne at 1355. Went to get a taxi, but found the taxi rank is some 200m towards the town centre on the right. En-route found the taxi is not permitted to drive into the Cite during the day, so the driver telephoned the hotel which sent its small car to rendezvous just outside the Cite entrance. Stayed at the Best Western Hotel located in the centre of the Cite. Note this hotel has […]
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Week 2. Highlight 1. Had lunch at le Train Bleu, a restaurant inside the main railway station of the Gare de Lyon. Built for the 1901 Paris exposition it is furnished in a grand style with crystal chandeliers, ceiling frescos and ornate gilded arches. Into this voluminous Bistro, casually dressed travellers are escorted to their tables while waiters dressed in dinner suits scurry to and from the kitchen with silver food platters held high on outstretched arm. It all adds up to an ambiance of opulence and grandeur, a canvas of former regal times. I read le Train Bleu does not rank in the top gastronomical establishments, but for me the food was excellent and good enough to provide an overall memorable experience. Main Course: Duck done three ways. (fig2) Dessert: Rhum Baba, served by the waiter pouring rum fig3, and leaving the full bottle as an accompaniment. Booking:Advisable. Dress: Smart Casual. Highlight 2. Perhaps an even more grandiose experience was the Bolshoi Ballet performance of Flamme de Paris, at the Palais Garnier, an imposing neo gothic theatre with a majestic marble staircase dominating its opulent entrance hall fig4. We made our entrance up the grand staircase, and bypassing […]
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This will be our 3rd 5 week stay in Paris. Dahlia’s objective is to reinforce her Parisian accent. Les’s Objective is to refine his portfolio of Paris images. This Paris blog will consist of a number of sections each some 7days long. Part 1. SYDNEY TO PARIS TRAVEL REVIEW. A) Overall Itinerary. Sydney to Paris. London to Svalbard. Svalbard to Sydney. Booked with Scandinavian Airlines, long haul flights business, regional flights economy. Sydney to Paris Sectors. i) Could not check in online on the SAS or Thai air websites. Sydney -Bangkok with Thai air. 9hr30m, on time. Service on ground: Vgood. Service in Air: excellent. Food: vgood; seat pitch and sleeping; vgood. Sydney lounge is Air New Zealand lounge: good. Bangkok –Copenhagen SAS. 11hr. On time. Service in air: good. Food: average. Seat pitch and sleeping: excellent. Bangkok lounge is Thai air lounge: average and crowded. Copenhagen-Paris: economy. 2hr. On time. Service in air average. Seating pitch 30” (my estimate). Must pay for all food and drinks including water. Arrived at Charles De Gaulle terminal 1. Baggage came out fast. Decided to get TGV (RER B) to Gare du Nord and then taxi to apartment in Rue Mazarine on left […]
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