Murray Fox Photography | Artist
Murray Fox Photography
Phone: +61 408 355 558
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24.01.2022 Comet Neowise C/2020 Well the comet is fading fast and a very bight moon certainly didn't help last night trying to capture it. Only chance I've had to photograph it and not really what I was hoping for. Still, very cool to see and it will be something like 6500 years before it graces our night skies again. This was however a great test of using my tracker in the field as I captured Neowise over Mt Walker south of Ipswich Queensland. Technical for those interested : Sony A7, ...Mamiya 150mm lens (equiv to 92mm focal length), Skywatcher Star Adventurer tracker, 20 light frames, 10 dark frames, and captured 10 frames of the foreground all merged together in photoshop. I'll be taking the tracker out again once the moon is gone for so really long captures of the milky way, I have much more hope for those photographs :) Until next time stay safe and take care! Murray #neowise #comet #australia #skywatcher #sony #nightscape #astrophotography #ipswich #queensland #discoveripswich
23.01.2022 Awesome sunset at the moment. Share your #backyardsunset in the comments
21.01.2022 Progress after second night, 4 hours of data now and wow what a difference! The red nebulae of M83 or the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy are really starting to appear. Friday and Saturday nights looking clear so far so hopefully I can add a whole lot more hours. I've noticed processing time is increasing exponentially as well however. Original stack took around 20 minutes, it's out to an hour so far lol! Anyway, another update for all my fantastic friends and followers :)
20.01.2022 Orion Nebula Those that caught my live cross last night, would have known I was shooting some backyard astro again. This is the final result! I've created a blog post giving more detail to the steps I took, and there is a FREE DOWNLOAD of this photo there for you to use as you wallpaper if you so desire.... https://murrayfox.com.au/backyard-astro-orion-nebula/ Until next time, stay safe and clear night
19.01.2022 Cat's Paw Nebula - NGC 6334 One for the cat lovers out there! This is an emission nebula and star forming region located in constellation Scorpius and is around 5500 light years away. The whole gas cloud is around 50 light years across and is one of the most active nurseries for massive stars in our galaxy. One gigantic space paw print :) This is the first time I've put together a multi night photograph. Quite a learning curve involved in being able to frame up the same targe...t on different nights. The more images you can put into the total pool of data the better with astrophotography. Allows you to bring out more detail and reduce noise. Technical Information for those interested : Total exposure time of 5 hours of images stacked in DeepSkyStacker. Also added in dark frames, bias frames and flat frames from each night for further noise reduction. Skywatcher 72 ED telescope, Skywatcher HEQ5 mount, Astro modified Canon 1100d camera, ZWO 120mm-s Guide camera and mini guide scope. Astrophotographytool used for target locating, framing and image capture session. Sharpcap software used for polar alignment. PHD2 software used for autoguiding. Final processing done in a mixture of Pixinsight and Photoshop. Looks like a lot of cloud for the next week, and with no moon at the moment that's frustrating. In the interim I'll keep reading, watching, learning and planning my next target. Until then, stay safe and hopefully clear skies sooner rather than later! Murray #skywatcher #astrophotography #astro #catspaw #nebula #deepsky #dso #apt #phd2 #sharpcap #nightphotography #stars #ipswich #queensland #Australia #murrayfox #evostar
19.01.2022 Backyard Astro - Orion Nebula
18.01.2022 April 2020 Supermoon *EDIT* It was a supermoon tonight, closest it will get but the actual full moon is tomorrow night, the 8th. The weather didn't quite play ball this evening with lots of cloud around as the moon rose the same time as the sun set. An hour and a half later I managed to capture this photograph in a break of the clouds. ... Photographed using my Olympus OMD Em5 Mark II attached to a Celestron 70 Travel telescope. ISO 200, 1/200 sec. Stay safe and until next time, clear skies :) Murray #supermoon #backyardastro #murrayfox #ipswich #queensland #night #moon #photography #olympus
18.01.2022 I hope everyone is well and safe during these crazy times. Being socially responsible we are limiting our time away from home to work and necessities as directed. So I've taken to playing around with some deeper sky astro photography in my backyard. This is the Orion Nebula, visible to the west early evening. 89 x 10 second tracked photos, stacked and edited. Not bad, but nowhere near what is possible. This was on my Olympus OMD Em5.2 at 45mm (90mm equivalent). I really need ...to get closer but wind tonight made it impossible. Dark skies right thru next weekend so plenty more chances. Stay safe everyone. Murray
17.01.2022 Removing filters off camera sensor...camera now full spectrum for infrared and Astro nebula. Colours will be corrected with different filters. Fun times ahead. Warning, not for the faint hearted, I'm an electrical engineer by trade and this was a challenge.
17.01.2022 Milkyway in detail Did some testing in the backyard last night of a portable, battery driven setup to photograph milky way landscapes. I ran a series of tracked photographs just on the core, stacked and processed them and wow! I've never captured this much detail before. I had to crop some light pollution out, however I think I've got the process down pat now for a few upcoming shoot. Now to plan and get out there ... Technical details: Skywatcher Star Adventurer tracker on Manfrotto tripod Raspberry Pi mini Pc running Stellarmate with a Zwo Asi120mm-s camera and mini guide scope, running PHD2 to autoguiding.Sony A7 camera, Mamiya 45mm f2.8 (equivalent to 28mm) lens for photos. 20 photos @ 1.5 minutes long each, Iso 800, f5.6. 10 dark frames with lens cap on of same length. 29 bias frames at 1/8000 sec iso 800 with lens cap on and 29 flat frames pointed at white screen, iso 800, 1/40sec to help get rid of gradient from light pollution. All stacked in DeepSkyStacker and post processed in Photoshop. Until next time, stay safe and clear skies Murray #skywatcher #milkyway #backyardastro #nightsky
16.01.2022 Infrared Photography Since there is a lot of cloud around making astrophotography impossible, and I have a full spectrum camera on my hands, figured I'd give infrared photography a go. I added a Hoya 720nm IR filter to the front of the lens so the only light coming through is Infrared which the modified Canon 1100d camera allows to pass straight through to the sensor. The result? Foliage glows and blue skies go dark. You still get colour however I think the photos really look... wonderful when converted to black and white. A lovely little drive within 50ks of home this morning netted some great shots. It was awesome just to get out and about for the first time in months. Technical : Canon 1100d modified camera (AA filter and infra red filters removed from sensor). Canon 18-50mm kit lens, Hoya 720nm Infrared filter. ISO 100, F11 in Aperture priority mode letting the camera decide the shutter speed. Tripod mounted using 10sec shutter delay. Hoping the skies clear soon to really hit some more astro. Until then, stay safe. Murray #infrared #infraredphotography #ir #blackandwhite #blackandwhitephotography #ipswich #queensland #australia #landscapes #landscapephotography
15.01.2022 Hail Core A different view of the hail core I photographed going over Flinders Peak south of Ipswich yesterday. This system caused a lot of damage where it hit and my heart and prayers go out to all those affected for a quick and full recovery. Bobby from Mr "S" Photography and I had run south from Peak Crossing as we could hear the roar of the hail coming at us there. Getting clear we stopped and the sun broke through briefly between more cells coming from the west.... I've updated my website at http://www.murrayfox.com.au/ with this and a few other recent photos so be sure to check them out. The next week is looking pretty clear at this stage so stay safe and hopefully I'll get some more astro photography in and a new nebula for you :) Until next time! Murray
13.01.2022 Storm at Collingwood Park, Ipswich Qld. Saw it coming on radar and grabbed a quick infra red photo of it. Lots of thunder, rain and strong winds at the start. Stay safe! *UPDATE 2PM* more coming, next one a bit north.
12.01.2022 For anyone interested (I know I am ) this is the live feed for the SpaceX launch scheduled for 5.20am our time tomorrow. Currently 40% chance weather will stop it proceeding. Live feed starts around 4 hours before launch. https://youtu.be/pMsvr55cTZ0
12.01.2022 A work in progress. This is not the final image. One thing with creating astro photos I'm learning fast is the more time you get capturing a photograph, the better the end result. I only got 18 x 3 minute shots the other night between bands of clouds. I am going to try and put together 8 to 10 hours worth of photos to get the final image. It is fun to share the progress however. So what is it? The Fighting Dragons Nebula (NGC 6188) is an emission Nebula approx 4000 light year...s away in the constellation Ara. This is a star forming nebula and is sculpted by the massive young stars only recently formed there a few million years ago. To me the Fighting Dragons are very obvious already, and once I get a lot more data should really stand out. Now if someone could just organise for the clouds to go away, I'll be able to keep updating you as this project progresses. Until the stay safe. Murray
12.01.2022 When your photo goes viral. Nice intro to the weather by Tony Auden on the Seven Brisbane News this evening :) Thank you for the share guys and thank you to everyone for your amazing comments, likes and shares, love you all! Murray
12.01.2022 Progress shot for my fans, just 2 hours of data on this so far, want to get up to around 10 or so to really get the detail in the shot and reduce more noise. This is the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy - M83. To find this at the moment in Australia, stand outside and look straight up heh, Hopefully have final shot for you on Sunday with more clear nights!
12.01.2022 Sunset view from Redcliffe. Sometimes a phone will do, just enjoying that amazing sky on my holiday
11.01.2022 Comet Swan (C/2020 F8) Well an early start on Monday, little wind but it was certainly fresh!. Setup at 3am, shooting by 4am after finding the comet and waiting for it to clear the trees to the east of my backyard. First comet I've ever seen let alone photographed I took 60 x 60 second photographs. Light pollution really hurt, I couldn't go longer or get my ISO above 400. Both needed to get more tail detail. Still, very cool to see and watch. Editing was a real challenge as ...the comet moves at a different speed to the stars. Using DeepSkyStacker (free software) I made 3 stacks, stars, Comet and comet head. This way I got the best part of each and merged them together in Photoshop. 6 hours of stacking and editing on top of 3 hours in the field. Technical : Olympus OMD Em5 Mark II Camera. Skywatcher 72ED Telescope. Skywatcher Heq5 Mount. Zwo Asi120mm-s Guide Camera, Zwo Mini Guide Scope. Laptop running Sharpcap for polar alignment using guide camera, PHD2 for autoguiding, Olympus Capture for imaging session. DeepSkyStacker and Photoshop for post processing. 60 x 60 second photos, 15 x 60 second dark frames. 29 x 1/8000sec photos for Bias frames. (Darks and bias taken right after photos with telescope cap on, used by DSS during stacking to reduce noise). No moon this coming weekend so should be a good chance to chase nebulas if the clouds stay away. I'm tossing up the idea of doing YouTube vids of this stuff, let me know if interested, might help motivate me Until then, stay safe and clear skies Murray #comet #swan #astrophotography #murrayfox #skywatcher #backyardastro #nightphotography #ipswich #queensland #australia
10.01.2022 Toowoomba Japanese Gardens I recently had a couple of hours to spare in these gardens. Located right next to the University campus, this garden has meandering pathways, awesome bridges, a huge mount of aquatic bird life, and almost sculpted rocks, with water flowing through. A truly peaceful place. I decided to use my Intrepid 4x5 camera for a couple of photographs and this is my favourite. I used a red filter to boost the contrast in the sky and make the bridge pop out in li...ght tones (in reality it's bright red). The Kodak Tmax 100 film gives an exceptionally sharp result and I decided to process this with a warm tone, really helps with the calm feeling I had at the time. You can see the other shot in my blog post on my website at : https://murrayfox.com.au/toowoomba-japanese-garden-intrepi/ Until next time, stay safe. Murray #largeformat #film #landscape #intrepid #photography #toowoomba #japanese #gardens #queensland #Australia #murrayfox
10.01.2022 The Tweezers Galaxy Well this is a first for me. First time ever seeing another galaxy and first time photographing one! This is the Tweezers Galaxy (or NGC 4945) in the constellation of Centaurus. It's 20 million light years away from us, around the same size as our Milkyway Galaxy and we see it almost side on (around 80degrees) so a bit different in shape for what we normally expect. I managed 48 x 2 minute exposures to get this level of detail. Really needed more but sleep... called lol. Photographed using a 400mm telescope with my Olympus OMD Em5.2 giving an equivalent view of 800mm on a full frame camera. To say spotting and finding a subject this small in the night sky was hard is an understatement. The only way I successfully found it with my relatively cheap setup, was to use a laptop and special plate solving software that examined photos I took of the stars, worked out what I was looking at, and then I figured out which way to move and slowly hopped my way across the sky to find it. All up around 30 minutes from starting to actually locating. I geek out on this kinda stuff so it was a lot of fun :) Meteorite shower expected Wednesday and Thursday nights here. Hopefully the clouds clear off and I can try my luck for a few from the backyard. Until next time, stay safe and clear skies. Murray #backyardastro #photography #galaxy #olympus #nightsky #astro #Astrophotography #queensland #australia
10.01.2022 Eagle Nebula - M16 (also know as the Star Queen Nebula) First light on this amazing nebula for me. To me it's very easy to see how this wonderful subject got it's name, wings stretched and head proud. This nebula is around 5700 light years away, and contains several active star-forming gas and dust regions, including the Pillars of creation, very central part of this photo, made famous by the Hubble Telescope. It was great to finally get a clear sky last night to photograph ...this one, it's been high on my wish list for a very long time. You can read more including the technical information in my latest blog post at https://murrayfox.com.au/backyard-astro-eagle-nebula/ Until next time, stay safe and clear skies :) Murray #eaglenebula #nebula #dso #astro #astrophotography #night #deepspace #pillarsofcreation #canon #skywatcher #evostar #heq5 #blog #queensland #Australia #photograph #murrayfox
09.01.2022 IC 2944, also known as the Running Chicken Nebula or the Centauri Nebula, is an open cluster with an associated emission nebula found in the constellation Centaurus, near the star Centauri. It features Bok globules, which are frequently a site of active star formation. This photo was basically a test to see what would happen. Normally shooting under a full moon is a bad idea for astro unless you have very specific narrowband filters. I only had a city light suppression fi...lter so wasn't holding much hope of getting anything good. The results are very interesting to me. I didn't expect to get as much star colour as I did which was great, I think that may have had to do with the reduced ISO I used due to the brightness of the sky. Something to trial more of in the future. I'm interested to see if anyone else see's the running chicken. I certainly do so let me know if you do or don't and I'll show you what I see :) Technical Data for those interested. Skywatcher Evostar 72ED Telescope, HEQ5 Mount, Modified Canon 1100d camera, ZWO Guide cam and scope, Stellamira Field Flattener, Optolong CLS-CCD Filter, Laptop running PHD2 for guiding and Astro Photography Tool for image capture and target finding. 3hours of integration, 45 x 4minute exposures, 15 x 4 min darks, 29 bias frames. This coming weekend should have no moon so hopefully the clouds clear off and I can get some really good nights in for you all to enjoy. Until then, stay safe and clear skies :) Murray #runningchicken #nebula #astro #astrophotography #backyardastro #Astrobackyard #skywatcher #flo #stellamira #canon #murrayfox #ipswich #queensland #australia #phd2 #stars #night #nightsky #nightphotography
09.01.2022 Lagoon Nebula Designation Messier 8 or just M8, this awesome looking nebula is approx 4000-6000 light years away. The cold snap is here and with it, crystal clear nights and fantastic seeing conditions. First light on this target for me and I was amazed at how impressive it looked just on the back of the camera. The final result is by far the best astro shot I've taken yet. I hope you enjoy this one :) Technical : Olympus OMD EM5 Mark 2, Skywatcher Evostar 72ED Telescope, Sky...watcher HEQ5 Mount/Tracker. 23 x 3 minute exposures, 10 x 3 minute dark frames for noise reduction and 30 x 1/8000sec dark frames for further noise reduction. Stacked using Deepskystacker and post processed in Photoshop. Now to figure out what target next, and hopefully get some more time on it. Until then, clear skies! Murray #astrophotography Sky-Watcher Olympus AU & NZ #lagoon #nebula #backyardastro #ipswich #queensland #Australia #night
09.01.2022 For those willing to get up early tomorrow, Comet Swan can be spotted to the east. Most likely need binoculars at a minimum to see it visually, but should be able to photograph it with most DSLR type cameras. Try a high ISO like 3200 to 6400, 30 seconds shutter and lens aperture wide open (like f2.8 or f3.5). Zoom might help as you can start wide to find it and zoom in when on target. Here's a guide on how to find it. I'll be seeing if I can photograph it.
09.01.2022 The results are in and I've been awarded a Highly Commended for my entry into this year's Mono Awards. Very happy! Some interesting facts, the photo was taken with a $100 camera and kit lens that I converted to infra red (actually full spectrum) myself. A simple IR filter on front gives well lit plants a glowing look. I'll definitely be out taking more of this style of photograph
08.01.2022 Car Nebula Not quite a success, I'm still working to eliminate movement and vibration in my whole setup so didn't get nice round stars. Still, it looks pretty cool to me. This Nebula has a few names, Car, Keyhole, Great Nebula in Carina. It's located not far to the right of the southern cross if you look at it orientated straight up and down (it rotates thru the night). It's fun to share the successes and failures
08.01.2022 Carina Nebula Take 2. I think I'll be shooting this deep sky object often as it's situated perfectly at the moment to get a good couple of hours shooting in. That will let me hone my skills and improve each time. This one certainly came out better than the last one. 58 x 60 second exposures using my Olympus OMD Em5.2 and an old Canon 70-210mm @ 210mm. Thats the same field of view as 420mm on a full frame camera, didn't have to crop this much at all which really helped the det...ail. Just need to get longer exposures now, ideally around 2 minutes but will need darker skies than I have at home. Guess that will have to wait for now. Also took 15 dark frames to use in noise reduction and they worked a treat removing the hot pixels that popped up. I hope everyone is staying safe and enjoying home life. Until next time :) Murray #astrophotography #backyard #photography #ipswich #queensland #australia
07.01.2022 The Rho Ophiuchi Complex Last night I set about photographing this stunning section of the nights sky. Located near the star Antares it's really stunning when you can pull the detail and colours out. Full details of everything that went into creating this photograph as well as a Free downloadable wallpaper version of this can be found in my latest blog post at https://murrayfox.com.au/backyard-astro-rho-ophiuchi-compl/ I hope everyone is safe and well, until next time, clear skies :)
07.01.2022 Round 2! A Burner and Triplets! This one came out of nowhere, raced back to Redbank and captured these two awesome shots. The bolts I missed as I drove there was blinding and I could see why when I got these. It was moving very fast towards Brisbane so not much more after this.
06.01.2022 Wivenhoe Sunset This sunset was worth waiting for. Setting up an hour before hand, I really took my time getting my Intrepid 4x5 Camera focused, filters in place, framing all organised. Soon Bobby from Mr "S" Photography arrived and we waited for the light. It wasn't until the last few moments before blue hour that the real high cloud gained any colour. It quickly bloomed and then faded as fast. It really did pay to be setup and ready and I just love this result. The location... is Wivenhoe Dam, about an hour west of Brisbane and is the main water catchment and supply for the entire area. The levels are down a bit at the moment but there is still so much water here due to the massive size of this dam. My film of choice for this photograph was Kodak Etak 100 Film which is super saturated and was just perfect for this view. Photographed using my Intrepid 4x5 Camera, Fujinon 90mm lens, ISO rated at 100, F16, 1/8th second. I metered for the reflection and added a 2 stop graduated neutral density filter to balance the sky with the water. Developed myself at home then scanned and negative inverted and post processed in photoshop. Everything through this process is very hands on and I just love it :) I've added this photograph to the colour landscape gallery on my website at https://www.murrayfox.com.au/ Until next time, stay safe and take care :) Murray #wivenhoe #dam #queensland #Australia #sunset #water #film #4x5 #kodak #ektar100
06.01.2022 Carina Nebula - NGC3372 The largest nebula visible from home at the moment and a great opportunity to try some new things. First up was finally being able to use the Canon 1100d I modified for astro photography by removing both the AA and IR cut filters from the sensor. The second was the CLS CCD Filter that clips into the camera in front of the mirror. This filter removes light pollution (CLS = City Light Suppression) as well as infra red, but it cuts the IR much higher than... a normal camera sensor, allowing the H-Alpha red of the nebulosity through. Finally I added a process while shooting called Dithering. Between each exposure, the computer moves the mount just a few pixels before the next photo starts. This helps randomise noise and hot pixels giving a much much cleaner image. The result? Well pretty sure you can see that for yourself lol. Mind Blown! The boost in detail, colour and clarity is just fantastic. Hopefully we keep getting some clear nights now, had to wait a little while to get this one. Technical : Canon 1100d astro modified camera. Skywatcher Evostar 72ed Telescope. Skywatcher HEQ5 Mount. ZWO ASI120mm-s Guide Camera with ZWO mini guidescope. Everything connected to and controlled by a laptop. 40 x 3 minute light frames (photos) / 10 x 3 minute dark frames (with cap on telescope for noise reduction / 29 x 1/8000 sec bias frames (with cap on telescope to reduce sensor read noise). On laptop I used Sharpcap for polar alignment with the guide camera, so fast and simple. PHD2 used for guiding. APT (Astro Photography Tool) for plate solving to find target, focusing, automated image capture and dithering, Stellarium for simple goto function with a great map. Photos then all stacked in Deepskystacker and then the result edited in Photoshop using levels, curves, Nik Color Efex and Astronomy tools actions. No chance to do a video on this one as I was really testing too much but I think I have everything sorted now. So until next time, stay safe and clear skies :) Murray #astrophotography #carina #nebula #dso #nightsky #deepspace #astro #photography #ipswich #queensland #australia #skywatcher #heq5 #zwo #asi #apt #phd2 #stellarium #nasa #astronomy
05.01.2022 Hay Shed - Infrared photograph. I quite like the warm treatment I have this one, it's actually quite similar to the colours you get straight out of camera when shooting IR. Click on the photo to see it in full.
05.01.2022 Triplet Nice lightshow at Collingwood Park, Qld tonight as another storm rolled through today. Plenty of weather still around, take care and stay safe!
05.01.2022 Hail Core over Greenbank This is the back side view of the storm that dropped significant hail first over Rosewood and then over Greenbank as this photograph was taken. You can see Flinders Peak to the left side of the skyline to get a perspective on just how big this system was. Shot in infrared with a specially modified camera, 5 vertical photos joined to a panorama.... I hope everyone is safe and damage free, it was a real mess out there when they storms triggered. Lots more photos to process and I'll share them over the next few days so be sure to like and follow my page to see them all.
04.01.2022 Amazing view of a storm cell of Tweed Heads NSW from Ipswich in Queensland tonight. Absolutely lit up by the setting sun it was a blast of colour!
02.01.2022 Your support needed please. Heritage railways across Queensland have a petition happening to try and get much needed funds from the Govt. These volunteers keep a very important part of out history going and are critically underfunded. I would love any support you could offer by following this link and signing the petition if you agree. http://chng.it/rbXCrg6WgV This photo was taken at a local Heritage railway a few years ago.
01.01.2022 Nice little storm and welcome rain in Collingwood Park
01.01.2022 Mt Maroon The clear skies at the moment give some great sunrise light on local landscapes. This is Mt Maroon in the Scenic Rim of Queensland Australia. First light of day is hitting the peak perfectly at the moment, as long as you can handle the very cool starts required to witness it! Captured on Kodak Ektar 100 film with my Intrepid 4x5 Large Format camera. Developed in and scanned myself at home. ... Until next time, stay safe. Murray
