08/21/2021
It's been nearly a year since comet NEOWISE flew past the Earth. A few months into the most impactful and life-altering event that most of us on this planet have ever experienced, NEOWISE gave people around the world a moment of pause, distraction, and awe.
This post is long-overdue, and is the culmination of a lot of firsts in my photographic journey, a lot of challenges, and a lot of learning. Photographing NEOWISE was my first real attempt at astrophotography, and my first attempt at time-lapse photography. Before venturing out to capture these images I didn't know the challenges of capturing a timelapse, let alone one that includes sunset. (I learned later that timelapses capturing drastic shifts in lighting, such as sunrise or sunset, are considered "Holy Grail" timelapses!)
The results aren't perfect. I should have stopped down the aperture to prevent diffraction causing the halo effect around the middle of the image. I should have increased my shutter speed a stop or two, to keep the stars a little bit sharper. I shouldn't have spent days editing out black dots of birds in the sky, flashing around the images. Despite my best efforts, there is still some lingering flicker in the final video, as the lighting conditions change.
On top of all those learnings I had to learn to use LRTimelapse, Adobe Premiere Pro, and Adobe After Effects. I had to deal with my Lightroom catalog becoming corrupt and the process of recovering it. This has been a long process, and part of me is hesitant to even post the result. I always strive for perfection and I hate the idea of presenting something to the world that isn't perfect - but in the end it will never be perfect, and the biggest joy of photography is being able to share the beauty and wonder of the world around us.
Were you able to view the comet last July, and if so did it have the same impact on you as it did on me? I'd love to hear your stories!
Also, a very special thanks to Cory Taylor for recording Colour My World for me to use for this video. As I was putting it together I knew that song would be a perfect fit.
#2020
