DIY Photography

Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time

Search

Submit A Story

This amazing tiny satellite selfie video was shot using an off-the-shelf GoPro action camera

When we think of satellites, we often think of super high-tech state-of-the-art technology being sent up into space. We generally don’t think of them blasting up off-the-shelf electronics that many of us already have in our homes. Well, that’s exactly what the folks at NanoAvionics did when they attached a GoPro Hero 7 (Yes, not even a Hero 10!) to their MP42 microsatellite to capture selfies in space as it flew over the planet.

At 550km (~341 miles) above the earth’s surface, the GoPro attached to the MP42 capture photos of the satellite over the Coral sea and the Great Barrier Reef – the only living structure visible from space – along the north-east side of Australia. It also shot some excellent (and nowhere near long enough!) 4K video of the trip.

[Read More…]

Watch a camera being launched into the Earth’s atmosphere at 1,000mph

by 4 Comments

SpinLaunch has created an alternative method for putting class satellites into low earth orbit. Their kinetic launch system is innovative and environmentally friendly – but when they add a camera inside it also becomes incredibly cool! The SpinLaunch team has recently used their Suborbital Accelerator to launch a camera into the Earth’s atmosphere. Naturally, it was rolling so its journey was captured in an awesome video.

[Read More…]

This slow motion Apollo 11 launch footage shot in 1969 still looks absolutely incredible today

This is a video we’ve actually featured before, way back in 2014, but it appears to be making the rounds on social media again and it’s well worth a revisit. It was shot by NASA, obviously, and it’s footage of the Apollo 11 launch, shot on 16mm film at 500 frames per second in 1969. Now, that might not seem like a lot compared to the crazy slow motion cameras available today, but 53 years ago, that was pretty impressive!

When shot at 500 frames per second and played back at 30 frames per second turns that ~30-second real-time clip into an 8-minute and 22-second sequence that you just can’t take your eyes away from. The Saturn V rocket that launched Apollo 11 was an extremely powerful Heavy Lift Vehicle. It was the heaviest rocket ever to ever fly successfully, weighing in at 6.2 million pounds fully loaded.

[Read More…]

Does this beautiful timelapse really show Europa and Io orbiting around Jupiter?

It’s funny how many things are being called out as fakes lately. It seems that most people think everything that’s posted to social media these days has been made by some kid in their bedroom with a copy of After Effects or Blender. The latest victim to the cries of “FAKE!” is a timelapse sequence created from a number of still photographs shot by Cassini back of the moons Io and Europa passing Jupiter’s surface in January 2001.

The video was created by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA-JPL) scientist Kevin M. Gill by combining hundreds of images shot by Cassini into a timelapse sequence. Despite the images being created 21 years ago, the timelapse video wasn’t created or posted to social media until 2018. More recently than that, it’s been posted to Reddit in r/Damnthatsinteresting with the caption “Timelapse of Europa and Io orbiting Jupiter captured by the Cassini probe” but commenters don’t believe it’s real. But are they right?

[Read More…]

Japanese billionaire films a timelapse around the Earth as he visits the ISS

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa recently joined the crew onboard the International Space Station. While enjoying his exclusive trip around the Earth, he filmed a pretty cool timelapse. He described the experience as “beautiful,” and judging from his video – I have no reason not to believe him.

[Read More…]

Microsoft’s new tool turns blurry satellite images into high-quality “drone photos”

Last year, Microsoft announced Azure Space, a tool that brings together the possibilities of space with the power of the cloud. The company has now added a bunch of new capabilities to it, and some of the most interesting ones include “seeing” through clouds and turning blurry satellite images into high-quality photos that look like drone shots.

[Read More…]

The Dragonfly Telephoto Array is expanding to have 168 Canon 400mm f/2.8L IS USM II lenses pointed at the sky

by Leave a Comment

Project Dragonfly, designed by a team from Yale University and the University of Toronto in 2013 is an attempt to capture the darkest parts of the sky that are so faint that they’ve managed to escape the gaze of more conventional telescopes – even the really huge ones. The design was built using an array of 3 Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS USM II lenses to begin with in what they called the Dragonfly Telephoto Array.

It was expanded to 10 lenses and in 2015, Canon supplied 40 more EF 400mm f/2.8L IS USM II lenses to the team, bringing their total up to 48 in two 24-lens units. Now, with some more help from Canon, the team is going to put together four more of the Dragonfly Telephoto Array units for a total of 168 400mm f/2.8 lenses pointed towards the sky to capture the darkest galaxies in the universe.

[Read More…]

These incredible images of Earth were shot from 575km away aboard Inspiration4

The world’s first entirely civilian space mission was launched. Naturally, it’s operated by SpaceX. Dubbed Inspiration4, the four crew members have shared a bunch of images since they went into orbit aboard their Crew Dragon spacecraft, but they haven’t been all that amazing quality. Fortunately, somebody took a DSLR with them, though, and the results are just amazing.

The images were shot through an all-glass dome that offers panoramic views of the Earth and when shooting with a DSLR, the images show the (obviously round) earth with an incredible level of detail from 575 kilometres (357 miles) above the planet’s surface. That’s a little over 160km (or 100 miles) further up than the International Space Station.

[Read More…]

A photo of annular solar eclipse in Tibet wins 2021 Astronomy Photographer of the Year

by 1 Comment

Astronomy Photographer of the Year is one of the contests I always look forward to. It has just announced its 2021, and just as always – I’m definitely not disappointed. The winning image is a striking photo of the last year’s annular solar eclipse, but there are many more photos that will make your jaw drop. So, without further ado, let’s check them out!

[Read More…]

Astronaut captures incredible photos of blue Aurora Australis from space

Other than being an astronaut and the first French commander of the International Space Station, Thomas Pesquet is a darn good photographer, too. Photos from space are remarkable on their own, but Thomas has been happy to capture some… well, even more remarkable sights. And this time, it’s blue Aurora Australis or the southern lights. Definitely not something you see every day.

[Read More…]

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Recent Posts