Friday at the Flicks - Amaryllis

 

One of my Amaryllis plants had started to show its flower buds so I thought it would be just the thing for another time lapse trial. It was pure guesswork as to whether the flower would actually end up in frame:



I was surprised just how much the plant moved as it tried to track the Sun.

Photographs were taken every 45 minutes but the flower bloomed much faster than I expected. The photos were compiled to a video using the trial version of Sequence for the Mac. This did a good job of reducing the flicker and adjusting the white balance over the 185 photos. As the original video only ran for about 7 seconds at 25 fps I reduced its speed when I put it in iMovie to add the title and music track.

Blossom Time

Seen on recent walkabouts.
Beautiful while they last:

 

Wordless Wednesday

Web Rainbows

Mercury / Sun Transit

Yesterday was one of those rare occasions where the Earth, Mercury and the Sun lined up so that Mercury could be seen as a tiny dark blob as it came between the Sun and the Earth. As we had virtually clear skies here I had to have a go at photographing the event.

Firstly it should be noted that you should not point a camera or look directly at the Sun without a filter designed for that purpose otherwise both could be damaged beyond repair very quickly. This is the Canon fitted with a solar filter which cuts down the received light about 10,000 times:



On to the photographs.
Even with a 400mm lens the Sun only takes up a small part of the view:



Cropped sections.
The first taken about 1 p.m. local time:

There are two blobs to see.
The tiny planet Mercury is near the edge of the Sun about 9 o'clock.
The other is Sunspot number 2542.

This view was taken about 2.45 p.m. local time:

The position of the Sunspot has moved slightly with the rotation of the Sun.
Mercury has moved further as it transits across the Sun.

Monday Mystery - Guess What

Last week's mystery object goes under several names. It is one of my serving spoons, also called a slotted spoon. Ideal for retrieving meat, veg, potatoes etc. from a stew when I don't want to drain off the liquid. Adrian was spot on and Wilma close enough to gain the virtual Midmarsh Gold Star:





Maybe this week's mystery photo will be easier to identify.
Full photo, but from a more unusual point of view.
Guess What:


Please leave any guesses in the comments.
They will be revealed, along with the answer next Monday.
No prizes, just for fun and maybe a virtual Midmarsh Gold or Silver Star.

Some Blogger posts have been taking many hours to appear.
Yesterday it took over 5 hours before others were notified of its availability.
I wonder how long it will be before this is available for viewing.

Time Lapse Trial Two

The attempt at a long term time lapse with the rotting tomato worked better though there is still some flicker. It is probably better to use a dark background where it would be less noticeable if there is slight variation in lighting.



This is 270 photos taken at one hour intervals over eleven days.
The photos were made in to a video using Zeitraffer on a Mac.

Following a hint from Adrian I replaced the green background using iMovie's green screen masking effect:



Trial number three is under way using a different background.

Open Wide (Blackbird Fledglings)

Thursday saw the first fledglings of the year in the garden.
A pair of Blackbirds and three youngsters.
Mama was doing most of the work: