I took a photo of the waxing gibbous moon at ISO 6400 and ISO 800. At first glance, I cannot tell the two apart. Usually, a photo at ISO 6400 starts to break down with splotchy coloring. This was not the case.

Of course, ISO 800 will yield a darker image than ISO 6400. Previously, I was adjusting the brightness, contrast, curves, highlights and shadows to reach the optimal exposure. The other way around the low exposure problem is stacking the same image in Photoshop.

Nikon D800, ISO 6400, 1/1,600s

Nikon D800, ISO 800, 1/2,000s

Walking through the Normandy American Cemetery was a treasured experience. We often think of World War II on a macro level with the United States, Britain, Russia and China fighting against Germany, Italy and Japan.

A visit to the cemetery brings the conflict to a micro level. As I walked through the cemetery, I came face-to-face with the names of American men and women who had lost their lives in the cause for freedom.

Thank you Aaron Tonkin. Thank you Dolores M. Browne. Thank you Joseph J. Garcarz.

Thank you.

Nikon D800, Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G ED, ISO 250, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/250s

Last night, I connected the DSLR directly to the telescope. Skipped the extension-tube-like part of the Orion variable universal camera adapter. I also took all my photos with the mirror up. Right now, I think the limiting factor is the StarSeeker III mount and tripod. My usual process is to view an object on Live View and manually focus with the magnification cranked up.

However, the mount and tripod is not stable enough at these magnifications. Every time I touch the focus dial on the telescope, the image shakes. I can get the focus close enough, but there is no way to be 100% spot on.

I also experimented with different ISO values. Dropping down to ISO 800 didn’t give me a cleaner image. Since the moon travels quite a bit, I went as fast as 1/2,000s to see if that helps. All the images were underexposed, and I had to tinker around in Photoshop to recover some of the details.

D800, ISO 1250, 1/2000s, Orion StarSeeker III 127mm GoTo Mak-Cass Telescope

In the middle of last night’s session, I lost control of the telescope mount. The hand controller kept displaying “No link to mount stand alone mode.” So, I brought my telescope indoors and consulted Google. While Google did not produce the exact answer, it did point me in the correct direction.

My best guess is that the batteries had enough charge to power the controller, but not the motor. Fortunately, I had an AC-to-DC Adapter. When I plugged the adapter to the mount, the controller was fully functional again.

So, I removed all eight AA batteries and tested each one. All were good except for one, which was 100% dead. Could not even budge the needle. So, that problem was fixed, but not without some pointless diagnostics involved where I plugged and unplugged the controller multiple times to see if it would reset on its own. A simple low battery warning could have saved me a lot of time instead of the “No link to mount” error message which suggested some problem with the connection between the hand controller and the mount.

Nikon D800, ISO 2500, 1/1,250s, Orion StarSeeker III 127mm GoTo Mak-Cass Telescope

Last year, I had taken a series of waxing crescent moon photos with a camera lens. Taking a photo with a camera lens is so much easier because I can adjust ISO, aperture and shutter speed.

With a telescope, the amount of detail that can be captured is absolutely astounding. But, I lose the aperture control, and am limited to adjusting exposure by ISO and shutter speed. At high magnifications, I really need a fast shutter speed because the moon is moving fast. This one ended up a touch grainy.

Nikon D800, ISO 2000, 1/1,000s, Orion StarSeeker III 127mm GoTo Mak-Cass Telescope

At Angoville Au Plain, the church features a stained glass window dedicated to the paratroopers.

The church also singles out Robert Wright and Kenneth Moore for recognition. During the battle of Normandy, these two medics treated over 70 allied and German soldiers at the church.

In Normandy, the history of Europe and America will forever be intertwined. This stained glass window at Sainte-Mère-Église documents the contributions of the paratroopers who descended on Sainte-Mère-Église as part of the D-Day invasion. At the time, the United States had been at war for 2 1/2 years. Just 11 months later, Germany would surrender unconditionally to the Allies.

Nikon D800, Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G ED, ISO 2000, 70mm, f/2.8, 1/80s

I’ve been meaning to visit the Elizabeth F. Gamble Garden Center for a few weeks now, and finally found a few spare hours this morning. My last visit was in November when Gamble Garden had different flowers in bloom.

I love the serendipitous aspect of macro photography. Some elements, like the micro beads of water on the edge of the petal, were invisible in real life. I did not notice them until I viewed the photo at 100%.

Nikon D800, AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED, ISO 100, 105mm, 0 EV, f/4.5, 1/800s

I find flowers like this to be absolutely mesmerizing. When drawing a flower, the inner part may be reduced to a simple circle, but when we look at the photograph, we can see the individual structures that compose the center of this flower.

Nikon D800, AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED, ISO 100, 105mm, 0 EV, f/4.5, 1/800s

The inside of this flower reminds me of a lotus.

Nikon D800, AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED, ISO 100, 105mm, 0 EV, f/4, 1/800s

See if you can find the ant.

Nikon D800, AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED, ISO 100, 105mm, 0 EV, f/4, 1/800s

I thought this was a fennel or dill plant.

Nikon D800, AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED, ISO 100, 105mm, 0 EV, f/4.5, 1/800s

The poppies were in bloom. These flowers attracted a lot of honeybees and bumblebees.

Nikon D800, AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED, ISO 100, 105mm, 0 EV, f/4.5, 1/800s

Another view of a waxing gibbous moon through the telescope. This is a blend of three different photos, and I tried to focus on a different part of the moon per photo. However, at close to full moon, the moon was a bit flat and I had a difficult time seeing the craters. The other problem I encountered is that the bundled tripod was not sufficiently stable, so any time I touched the focusing dial, the image was jittery for a few seconds.

Nikon D800, ISO 800, 1/800s and Orion StarSeeker III 127mm GoTo Mak-Cass Telescope