Could This Be Venus?

With excitement I looked out of the window this morning only to see many clouds in the sky. I lay in bed pondering the day ahead.

When I finally decided to hop out of bed, I noticed the sun streaming through the loungeroom window. So I did what any good photographer would do if they wanted to see the transit of Venus across the Sun but did not have a telescope.

I set up one camera with the long lens pointed at the sun. I then grabbed a book to project the image on in one hand and had the other camera ready to take photos in the other.

The first photo was over exposed. By the time I adjusted the shutter and aperture, the Sun was hidden by clouds. It came out briefly three more times before I needed to race off to the city.

I knew I would not be able to make it to the Melbourne Observatory until 15:10 at the earliest. And I also knew that Venus would have crossed the sun by about 14:50. But I would certainly give it a red hot go.

As it turned out, I arrived at 15:14. Just as all the old fellas were packing up the very big telescopes. I had missed the transit by about twenty five minutes. Drats. To say that I was a little disappointed would be quite an understatement.

It was not until I decided to look at the images that I took in the morning that I realised I had some very compelling evidence for capturing Venus' transit.

Here is that first shot that is over exposed.


I wondered what would happen if I highlighted the over exposed area and then dragged the highlight slider in Lightroom to the left.





Hmm. So far so good. And then...


I am presuming this is the faint spot where Venus was in front of the sun? Yes? YES???

I totally think it is. I am stoked. Over the Moon. Very very happy.

Here is the third out of five frames that I snapped.

Back and Fourth

Ollie kept wanting to visit the kindly old gentleman that is our neighbour. He ran back and fourth and back and fourth between the houses. Each time I went to check up on him he would say, Go home Daddy! And then he would race back and tell me that it is ok for me to come over, and race away. So I would head back to our neighbour and again I would be greeted with a, Go home Daddy!

Instead I got my camera out and took loads of photos of him racing back and fourth in the afternoon light.

I find this image quite intriguing. It is blurry. Almost 2 stops over exposed. No real focus.
Yet it captures the afternoon perfectly. Ollie is off on his own journey. The spider has made it's web. The bug things are flying around. The trees are glowing in the sun. And the neighbours across the road have a large overly lavish white front steps and a neat little hedge.

Skye's Belly

Sarah (http://sarahhone.com) painted our baby sitters belly. She is doing more and more belly paintings and has admitted to really enjoying them. I think it is pretty cool.



This was taken against the light blue wall in the bathroom. 50mm @ f/1.6 (I think) with a strobe outside firing in through the window. I love the diffusion from semi-opaque bathroom glass.

Julee Latimer, Latest Works

Renowned Melbourne mosaic artist, Julee Latimer, has been invited to display her art internationally. This is really exciting because I get to have a sneak peak at her latest work.

Using the new eye-fi card has been magical. What this means is that I can have the image that I take show on the ipad almost instantly. This is great for viewing by the client. Julee loves being able to see what her images look like on screen. She already has an idea of what to expect before I send her the final processed image.





Taken with a 1D III, 50mm f/1.4 @ f9, one on axis ring flash for fill light. And 1 shoot through umbrella directly to the right of the subject as the key.

More of Julee's recent works.

Taking photos

For quite a while I have been a regular visitor the Kirk Tuck's blog, The Visual Science Lab.

He regularly posts lots of interesting pieces with regard to his views on photography. I often find his ideas eerily similar to my own. Albeit, he has probably 20 years or so more experience than what I have in the business of photography. None the less, it is quite bizarre to read somebodies words from across the other side of the world and pretty much be exactly your thoughts.

Us new (digital) photographers have quite a lot to learn from the seasoned veterans of this craft.

In light of this, I thought I would take some of Kirk's initiatives and wander around with my camera and take photos. For it's own sake.

I was finishing a job in the city at around 5pm. Wanting to avoid the evenings traffic, I grabbed my Canon 5D and trusty 50mm f/1.4 and wandered by the mighty yarra. I watched the sky go from light to dark. I saw Venus in between the buildings. And had quite a lovely time in a balmy Melbourne Autumn evening.

All images converted to jpeg in Lightroom 4 with a slight colour balance tweak. ISO ranging from 800 - 1,600.







Damn bird got in the way here. That was tongue in cheek. I quite enjoy serendipitous occasions like this when unplanned things happen. They quite often liven up the photo.

A Little Reminder

Just a reminder, if you are researching circus photographers or circus photography from Australia and in particular Melbourne, remember to have a look at my website.
HONEphotography.com

I have over 15 years experience in the Australia's contemporary circus scene. As well as touring both nationally and internationally with Circus Oz; their number 1 act. That is me in the centre next to the BMX.


So not only do I create great photographs, I know what it is that I am photographing. That is, I understand timing.




Couple this with a great attitude and high regard for professional ethics, you can trust that you are in reliable hands.


Take care,
Scott Hone

The Sliver of the Moon

Today and tomorrow are sweet spots for the moon. I thought that I would not even get a shot of the Moon because the clouds were rolling in. I got lucky. I had a window of about 10 minutes of cloud free moon. Hopefully tomorrow I will have Venus and Jupiter in the photo as well.