Steve Paxton's photos

I have a lot of flowers Now its try and find there names.

Love the Blue water and a good set of waves.

A tiny flower in a huge area of tree litter

One of the Stunning blue water beaches in The Esperance area. The pip shows where the milky way bow was shot.

The recent trip down to Esperance (1652 km round trip) I got to go out to Observation point with the Grand children and son in law. I had them sit still till I was finished them, they could move on the wooden platform. Once I finished I sat down with them and showed them parts of the sky /milky way and answered there question. You will note a little left over light from sunset as we went out at 7pm. This is about 200 degrees of view of the night sky Esperance is the far right. Seemed to have caught an Asteroid shower as they are in all 4 Shots of the area. The real sad part is when I removed the lens next morning I noted the depth of Field ring had come loose from the focusing ring, don't look as critically as I do, super glued back in place at the right place. This is a two row Bow all taken by my computer , " Human Brain" first row horizontal to get the waves and the ground and second row tilted up above the bow. Head leveled, in Camera Leveled. All planes removed Nikon D810 on M 15 sec 20 shots 10 per row. Iso 5000 Samyang 14mm F3.2 PtGui Ps, Lr

Wagin a stop on the way home from Esperance. www.wagin.wa.gov.au/explore/what-to-do/giant-ram-wetlands-park.aspx

The Clouds brought more than a touch of rain.

The very last day of my working life I sat down in the sun and warmth for the very last 10min. I was greeted by the one and only thing that I will truly miss in this school. This bird has been my constant companion always looking for a free feed most times almost side by side to my boots. I had to look before I moved she was that close. Soon the be a mum she is flat out building a nest I lost some of my sock to her nest. She is a wild bird that came to trust me I would never do her harm or touch her , she instead touched me. Time to time I will put my work shirt on and go back and see here and hope for some new chicks. Almost the end of an unbelievable tale but here it is in colour. This is one of 10 shots of her from the day. This was her last......... The story started March 2024

This is the very first photo from the 8" Newtonian and the brand new Starpoint Australis SP3 focuser. This focuser is the first of the production batch and is being used as a tester built and designed by the Guru behind our group of astro Photographers.. This is the blue part next to the body of the telescope. Night one I could see no stars just the meager hint of some, the silver connecting part was made too tall so it was never going to focus. The corrector was not sitting in the right place to get focus. Brendan said we have to make an upside down Adaptor. My last day of work Brendan said I will have one ready for you come pick it up. A discussion how to use it and a message to my wife so I remembered what I was told. Night two I was tired but keen to get a result but all night long I kept getting pitch black images even when I shone the torch in the newt, still black. time to go to bed. Next day I rechecked every thing camera back focus , Collimation all where correct so I changed camera. I went out armed into the night smelling like a chemist shop, Bush mans mozzie spray, if you dont you loose weight a lot. 15 min into the second try I had pinpoint stars . It was a case mark up bring inside and clamp up the corrector try again using Auto. Some 25 min on my knees in front of the screen the perfect curve. It was then pack up out side and go inside at try it all out. The stars are crisp and the major ones the highlights are even and clean. As a start I am using just the colour camera so its a little bit more simpler that using the full set of filters in the shot above on the desk ZWOASI 071MC -10c 120 shots 5 min over two nights .. MeLE Mini PC Pegasus Astro Pocket Mini power box Starpoint Australis SP3 Focuser Optolong LeNhance filter, Skywatcher 200 F4 PREMIUM PHOTO QUATTRO REFLECTOR OTA Skywatcher NEQ 6 Pro Hypertuned SVbony 50MM Guide scope QHY5L-II-M Guide camera Guided PHD2, Nina Pixinsight, Ps

A globular Cluster that is bright enough to be seen by your naked eye out in the dark Next to the small Magellanic cloud. You can in this shot see just each side of 47 Tuc two smaller globular clusters as two white clouds. My last photo with this small rig I have new my large telescope is ready for my pick up on Sunday afternoon. Then its get it set back up to take photos. The new focuser is the blue part next to the tube of the telescope all made in Australia. QHY183 C -10 120 shots over 3 night . 600 sec each shot. Sharpstar 61EDPH II Optolong LeNhance filter, SESTO SENSO Focuser Skywatcher NEQ 6 Pro Hypertuned Guided PHD2, Nina Pixinsight, Ps Lr

This show the details within the small SMC on its own. This also shows just how bad the clouds and the rain has been. I first started this the 2nd of August got my first night worth of shots. The 1 & 2 of September I got my final two nights worth of shots. You guessed it tonight it's raining Cats and dogs. You cant mistake the small and the larger Magellanic clouds on the left small at the top. A wider view of the area. Close up of 47 Tucanae QHY183 C -10 120 shots over 3 night . 600 sec each shot. Sharpstar 61EDPH II Optolong LeNhance filter, SESTO SENSO Focuser Skywatcher NEQ 6 Pro Hypertuned Guided PHD2, Nina Pixinsight, Ps Lr

I wanted to add a photo that is typical of this winter one that has had no let up and given no quarter. We have had so few breaks of fine weather it has been consistent clouds and rain. Even this photo was taken in the rain this morning under an umbrella but worth it . My Introduction to this plant was in summer setting up a Milky way shot sat on the small plants only to find out just how sharp and hard those needles are. look at the orange shot in the wild that's what i sat on. The flower of the Drosera Menziesii not seen by many people. This wild Group has been in my care for the last 7 years they are put in a place so its the same as their natural environment. They get full summer heat and almost look like its a dead group till there is natural water "Rain" and been so much of that this year they are flourishing. all I do for this group is remove any weeds that are trying to grow but the summer dry out kills most which is so extreme nothing survives. Sadly no milky way shot or not even one deep space photo for the last month, each photo I have taken has taken a full month to get three nights. Last year, nothing like it this year. www.ipernity.com/doc/1073393/52075714

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eagle_Nebula M16 Like you may have never see it before. I have to confess I know where the Eagle( its so small you would miss it) is but as a whole I see a sleeping face with closed Eyes and what looks like a beard. I even asked my wife to come look she did not even get past the door "there is a sleeping face, you can see the hair and the beard" and I did not say a word. This is only possible With Carlos Taylor Smallrig getting to feel like its home. I do think we all get 100% dominated by longer focal lengths we do lose sight of the leaves on the tree . This is in part why I will not forget to use my nikon lens to bring to life the whole not just the macro with a 10". Enjoy a whole new view and yes there has been some star reduction . QHY183 C -10 100 shots over 3 night . 600 sec each shot. Sharpstar 61EDPH II Optolong LeNhance filter, SESTO SENSO Focuser Skywatcher NEQ 6 Pro Hypertuned Guided PHD2, Nina Pixinsight, Ps Lr

The sand is so white, the water looks so blue but all the swimmers are warming up on the sun warmed rock the water is so cold..

This is a small red dot in a sea of dark dust. I thought its worth a look while The next target rises. As it not much of a target I have only shot for one night. The dark lines of the dust show up very well. QHY183 C -10 60 shots over 1 night . 600 sec each shot. Sharpstar 61EDPH II SESTO SENSO Focuser Skywatcher NEQ 6 Pro Hypertuned Guided PHD2, Nina Pixinsight, Ps Lr.

This has always fascinated me on Stellarium as its just white field of Stars. I was a bit surprised to see the colours when I took the stars away. So with that in Mind I left the stars as they where there is no reduction at all but there is a lot behind you cant see. QHY183 C -10 100 shots over 2 nights . 600 sec each shot. Sharpstar 61EDPH II SESTO SENSO Focuser Skywatcher NEQ 6 Pro Hypertuned Guided PHD2, Nina Pixinsight, Ps Lr.