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Images of 2022, the beach rules

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The 365 days that made up the tumultuous year of 2022 have slipped from the calendar. Like the first steps on a long journey, a new month and year have arrived. Before all the collected pixels making up the 1,609 digital photographs I submitted for publication last year are sent to storage on a backup hard drive, a look back at the numbers and images seen in 2022.

Not surprisingly, the number one photographed subject was the beach. As an old photojournalism teacher said, “Always go where the people are.” So off to the beach it was, 41 photos in the beach category, not all sunbathers and beach umbrellas, however. There was erosion from the Jan. 29 nor’easter’s aftermath, Vineyard Wind work on Covell Beach along with sunrise and sunset.

A hawk takes a beating from a wind driven rain flying low over the dunes at Kalmus Beach in Hyannis on Nov. 12, 2022, keeping a keen eye out for breakfast.

Second place was a tie between flowers and kids, both coming in with 29 images each. From the Nutcracker ballet to sledding to Easter egg hunts; it is always fun to look at the world through a child’s eyes. On a hectic news day, when the world seems to be crumbling, a few minutes of photographing flowers, often accompanied by a bug or butterfly, can be a quiet meditation away from the day’s noise.

Birds arrived at number three, with 25. Always a favorite, they seem to introduce themselves on slow news days, a gift from Mother Nature. Following up in the fourth spot, at 21 photographs, this category of image-making wasn’t even on the list five years ago. The drone camera has become a great way of visual storytelling for many news stories, bringing an aerial perspective that used to require a trip to the airport and a chartered plane flight. It is also fun to take a new look at everyday scenery from a bird’s eye view, be it pickleball players or a snow-covered ancient cemetery on a sunny winter day.

Lighthouses rounded out the top five list with 11 images, edging out dogs and cats with 10 images, sorry cat people, dogs were a 7-3 favorite in this grouping. The most photographed lighthouse of that portfolio was Nobska Light in Woods Hole.

Filling the rest of these numbers to get to 1,609, day in and out photojournalism. Portraits of politicians, candidates, happy people and sad, young and old, added together with spot news and simple mug shots of building to make up the majority of the 2022 portfolio. Social distancing, masks and virus-testing photos were greatly diminished since 2021. The St. Patrick’s Day parade in Yarmouth was back to its March date and the world did seem more “normal” as COVID-19 was still in the rearview mirror but hopefully farther in the distance.

The past is indeed prologue, so as a new year begins the future is always hard to predict, safe to say if it is a nor’easter or a sunny July afternoon, there is a better-than-average chance I will spend a lot of time at the beach in 2023.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: A look back at a year’s worth of Steve Heaslip’s photos on Cape Cod

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See the rare ‘planet parade’ of 5 naked-eye planets in these photos by an astronomer

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Five naked-eye planets shine in the sky, marked by numbers: Venus (1), Mercury (2), Saturn (3), Jupiter (4) and Mars (5). The moon is the brightest light.

© Virtual Telescope Project
Five naked-eye planets shine in the sky, marked by numbers: Venus (1), Mercury (2), Saturn (3), Jupiter (4) and Mars (5). The moon is the brightest light.

After days of clouds in Rome, the skies finally cleared for a “planet parade.”

Virtual Telescope Project founder Gianluca Masi was at the ready with telescopes, cameras and broadcasting equipment to observe the five naked-eye planets on Wednesday evening (Dec. 28). The most-easily seen planets were Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. He also spotted Uranus and Neptune, which require equipment to view.

“A very beautiful Christmas present from the sky,” Masi wrote of the celestial sight. “I managed to capture some great images and share the view with the world.”

If you’re looking for binoculars or a telescope to see the solar system planets, our guides for the best binoculars and the best telescopes have options that can help. If you need photography gear, consider our best cameras for astrophotography and best lenses for astrophotography to prepare for the next planet sight.

Five naked-eye planets shine in the sky, marked by numbers: Venus (1), Mercury (2), Saturn (3), Jupiter (4) and Mars (5). The moon is the brightest light.

Masi caught the five planets in a single view using a panoramic “fish-eye” lens, which gives a 180-degree field of view of the sky. He also set up several zoom lenses on a telescope mounted on the roof of his house in Rome.

Fleeting Mercury was the greatest challenge as it is fast fading from view in a bright twilight sky, but Masi managed to just capture it in the fish-eye lens. Zooming was easier, he said, “as I could select the best camera/lens settings for each planet.”

Masi captured Venus and Mercury together, “showing in such a colorful sky just above the S-W (southwest) horizon.” Then he proceeded through the sky, capturing each of the planets in turn and even imaging the remaining two only visible in telescope or high-powered binoculars: Uranus and Neptune. You can see the entire “parade” in the gallery above.

“I’m already looking forward to the next cosmic show to bring to our community,” Masi said; his next broadcast will be previewing the Quadrantid meteor shower that peaks on Jan. 4, unfortunately during a very bright and nearly full moon. But if you miss it, there will be other meteor showers in 2023 sure to produce amazing shooting stars.

Elizabeth Howell is the co-author of “Why Am I Taller?” (ECW Press, 2022; with Canadian astronaut Dave Williams), a book about space medicine. Follow her on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.

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A History of Photography Through the Collections of the Musée Nicéphore Niépce

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For The Eye of Photography, photographic books are as important as an exhibition or a portfolio. They make the history and the actuality of the medium. Our correspondent Zoé Isle de Beauchaine has a tirelessly curious and knowledgeable look at the latest publications.

On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Nicéphore Niépce Museum in Chalon-sur-Saône, Sylvain Besson, director of the museum since 2008, has published an original history of photography, a celebration of the immense diversity of this “inexhaustible” medium, told through the museum’s collections.

With “four million photographs, more than 8,000 cameras, at least twice as many accessories, thirty thousand magazines and technical books or books illustrated with photography”, the collections of the Nicéphore Niépce Museum have a lot to tell. This incredible collection is distinguished above all by its heterogeneity, the result of a work of valorization of the medium as a whole, initiated by Paul Jay, the first director of the museum, and continued by his successor François Cheval.

Over the years, the collections have been enriched with photographs made by professional and anonymous people, vacation souvenirs and family albums, legal or scientific photographs, postcards, advertising or pictures of everyday objects, relief photographs and microphotographs. The Niépce museum has also largely contributed to the opening of the discipline to photography magazines and books by being one of the first to integrate them in its collections, whereas many people prefer the uniqueness of an original print.

It is precisely this notion of uniqueness, borrowed from art history, that the museum has always refused to confine itself to. In the eyes of Sylvain Besson, the opposite “would mean excluding the notion of series for an author-photographer, the album of photographs for the amateur, the illustrated magazine for the press agency, and neglecting the very essence of photography as envisaged by Nicéphore Niépce: that of the multiple.

Echoing Niépce, the book published by Textuel proposes to explore the history of photography through the multiple paths it has taken, from its creation to digital, offering its share of (re)discoveries. In an encyclopedic form, it traces its technical evolution as well as that of its distribution media, its omnipresence in an infinite number of domains – fashion, advertising, press, documentary, propaganda, judiciary, science, eroticism, cinema as well as the whole intimate sphere – and finally its apprehension as an art in its own right.

In this “other history” of photography, as singular as it is fascinating, the anonymous rubs shoulders with the great names of photography, the artist and the craftsman become one, technique and aesthetics walk hand in hand, the intimate becomes professional and vice versa.

Sylvain Besson’s book embodies fifty years of acquisitions whose heterogeneity makes for richness and pays homage to the Niépce museum, which has never ceased to promote the universality of this multi-faceted medium, responding to François Arago’s ambition for photography: “that everyone should get hold of it.

Sylvain Besson – A history of photography through the collections of the Musée Nicéphore Niépce

Foreword by Michel Frizot
Published by Textuel
21 x 28, 360 pages
59 €
ISBN : 978-2-84597-928-4
Available in bookstores or online

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The Recorder – Speaking of Nature: 2023 resolutions: Pointing the lens at plants

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Welcome to 2023! Another calendar has been used, another red journal finished and safely tucked away on a shelf and newness has taken over. I place a brand new desk blotter calendar on my office desk, I unwrap a brand new red journal and begin to enter all of my almanac data and I crack open a new black journal so I can punch “2023 vol 1” on to its cover. These sorts of rituals are particularly satisfying for my and I take immense pleasure sitting in the silence of an early morning house and poring over the information recorded in years gone by.

Before I opened up this new document I decided to look back at my first column of 2022 to get the exact wording on last year’s resolutions and this is what I found: “So here is my resolution for 2022: I won’t let the paperwork pile up. I will make sure that I process my photos in a timely fashion, which will allow me to keep my website up to date and that nagging little voice in my head quieter than it has been. Like many resolutions this sounds really simple, but if I actually do it I will benefit greatly. Now let’s see if I can follow through.” A year later I can definitively say that I failed miserably.

As of the writing of this column I still had a backlog of photos going all the way back to August.

However, I did manage to take more photos in 2022 than I had ever taken in any previous year. The funny thing about these columns is that there is a curious element of time travel involved in them. I’m writing about the end of 2022 before the I actually experience the end of 2022. By the time this column reaches you I will have hit 23,000 photos for the year, but as I write I am still about 400 photos short of the mark, so I don’t know what the subject of that milestone photo actually is yet.

Anyway, I think that a resolution about getting paperwork done is a little boring anyway. Surely there must be something a little more interesting to focus on than that. As an example, perhaps it is time to see about working on the botany catalog of my property that I have been thinking of. I have six acres of land that is covered in a mixture of lawn, old field and forest. Perhaps it is time that I take an inventory of the different plant species that live within the geopolitical boundaries of what I temporarily call “mine.”

This is a daunting prospect because of the sheer magnitude of the project. Cataloging the trees would be the easiest because there are so few species that I would have to deal with. Beech, birch, maple and oak are all simple enough to identify. Then there are the slightly more challenging hawthorns, buckthorns and alders. And don’t even get me started on the difference between hornbeam and hop hornbeam!

Then you shift into the realm of the forbs and the grasses; non-woody plants that grow and die back every year without leaving “permanent” stems like trees and lilac bushes. Six acres of land could host hundreds of different species and finding them all would require an enormous amount of time, effort and discomfort. The ferns and the mosses would represent the final straw. I’ve got books, but the mosses in particular could actually represent the tipping point for pure madness to take hold of me.

Yet, there is an entire branch of botany called “bryology” that is focused purely on the mosses, liverworts and hornworts of the world. My poor computer is underlining all of these words in red because it doesn’t recognize them.

Well, I think I might be able to find a happy medium here. Perhaps what I will do is dedicate myself to identifying all of the plant species that can be found along the edges of my trails. These trails pass through meadow and forest and emerge into areas that I maintain as lawn. I realize that this might be a little more than I can chew, but I am going to go for it. 2023 will be my year of botany! I will continue with the photography of wildlife, but I will make a conscious effort to aim my lens at plants more often. Time to break out the close-up lens!

A secondary resolution will be to make an improvement on my general paperwork and correspondence. I like going outside and looking for interesting things, but I am not quite so good at sitting down at my desk and working on emails and whatnot. That being said, I am also getting tired of my afternoon routine and I think that I might enjoy dedicating an hour a day to “clearing off my desk” after getting home from work. If I can just do it long enough to make it a habit, then I will never stop doing it.

So, dear reader, I wish you the happiest and most prosperous 2023. I am personally filled with optimism about the coming year and I think that the project that I have initiated will bear fruit. I might even give myself the added challenge of alternating between plants and animals every other week, but that is going to take a little more thinking. Since I can’t get down to the Thinking Chair at the moment, I’ll get some fresh coffee in my mug, throw a fresh log on the fire and settle in for some imaginings of what might come next.

Bill Danielson has been a professional writer and nature photographer for 25 years. He has worked for the National Park Service, the US Forest Service, the Nature Conservancy and the Massachusetts State Parks and he currently teaches high school biology and physics. For more in formation visit his website at www.speakingofnature.com, or head over to Speaking of Nature on Facebook.

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How to watch the Quadrantids – one of the best meteor showers all year – on Jan. 2 and 3

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Astrophotographer Jeff Berkes took this photo of the Quadrantid meteor shower on Jan. 4, 2012.

© Jeff Berkes
Astrophotographer Jeff Berkes took this photo of the Quadrantid meteor shower on Jan. 4, 2012.

The first meteor shower of 2023, the Quadrantids, is coming up — and it may be one of the most spectacular showers of the year.

The Quadrantid meteor shower is active from Dec. 26 to Jan. 16 but will peak on Jan. 2 and 3. At the peak, viewers can expect an average of 80 meteors per hour streaking through Earth’s atmosphere, according to NASA. — although the shower could produce up to 200 per hour. Most notably, the Quadrantids are known for producing dramatic fireball meteors, which are longer and brighter than typical meteors because they originate from bigger pieces of debris.

The Quadrantids are the debris trail of an asteroid called 2003 EH1, which was discovered in the Lowell Observatory Near-Earth-Object Search (LONEOS) in 2003. The asteroid is about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) across and may be the remnants of an extinct comet, according to a 2004 study published in The Astronomical Journal.

Our sister site Space.com has a full guide on how to see the Quadrantid meteor shower. If you’re hoping to snap a photo of the Quadrantids, don’t miss our guides on how to photograph a meteor shower, as well as the best cameras for astrophotography and best lenses for astrophotography.

Related: The best meteor showers of 2023

Planets, winter stars and a comet in January 2023 NASA skywatching guide

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Asteroid 2003 EH1 orbits the sun every 5.52 years, according to NASA. Earth passes through its debris trail at a perpendicular angle, meaning the peak period for showers of dust and tiny rock fragments is brief.

To best view this short-but-spectacular show, find a place away from light pollution on the night of Jan. 2 or predawn hours of Jan. 3 and lie flat to see as much of the sky as possible. (Bring a sleeping bag or warm blankets to stave off the cold.) According to NASA, the best viewing angle is to lie with your feet to the northeast. Let your eyes adjust for 30 minutes to catch even the faintest meteors.

The shower can be viewed from any latitude north of 51 degrees south, according to NASA, but the best viewing will be in the Northern Hemisphere. The meteors will appear all over the sky but seem to originate from between the constellations of Bootes and Draco, not far from the handle of the Big Dipper.

The shower gets its name from a constellation called Quadrans Muralis, which was named by French astronomer Jérôme Lalande in 1795 but is not recognized on the list of modern constellations kept by the International Astronomical Union. (If you want to try to find Quadrans Muralis while your eyes are adjusting, look at the space between Bootes, Draco and the handle of the Big Dipper. It’s a triangular shape that is supposed to resemble a quadrant, a navigational tool used to measure angles.)

The next major meteor shower after the Quadrantids will be the Lyrids, which are active from April 15 to April 29 in 2023, peaking on April 22 and April 23.

Originally published on LiveScience.com.

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Camera Jabber Photographer of the Year 2023/24 competition round one: Winter

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We’re excited to announce the launch of the next Camera Jabber Photographer of the Year competition with a £7,750 prize fund sponsored by MPB.com.

The competition takes place over the 12 months of 2023 with a different theme each month. Every month the Camera Jabber team will pick one winning image and nine runners up. The photographer of the winning image will receive a voucher from MPB.com to the value of £500 which can be spent on anything from a huge range of kit from the World’s biggest platform for used photographic gear.

All 10 images selected each month will then go into the shortlist (of 120) that will be judged by an esteemed panel of judges who will select the first, second and third-placed images. We’ll be announcing the VIP panel of judges soon.

Camera Jabber Photographer of the Year Prizes

In addition to the monthly prize awarded to the Camera Jabber team’s favourite image each month, at the end of the year, the judging panel will select their favourite images from the 120 images shortlisted throughout the year.

At the end of the year, the photographer of the first-placed image overall, as decided by the panel of judges, will receive a voucher to the value of £1000 from MPB.com as well as a trophy and the title ‘Camera Jabber Photographer of the Year 2023‘. The photographers who come second and third will receive vouchers worth £500 and £250 respectively.

You don’t have to enter the competition every month, but you are welcome to do so and the more shortlisted images you have at the end of the year, the greater than chance of winning the top prize.

Camera Jabber Photographer of the Year 2023/24 competition round one: Winter

Camera Jabber Photographer of the Year 2023/24 round one: Winter

The first round of the new Camera Jabber of the Year competition is now open for entries.

The theme for the first round, which runs until 23:59 GMT (00:59 CET and 15:59 PST) on 31st January, is ‘Winter’.

Winter can seem a very bleak time, but it’s also wonderfully photogenic and there are lots of suitable subjects such as frosty landscapes, snowball fights, wintery details and cosy fireside scenes.

You can submit up to three entries for £2.00 plus payment processing costs (£0.26). Images should be Jpegs and at least 1920 pixels along their longest side but no larger than 1MB.

Follow the link to submit your image(s).

Camera Jabber Photographer of the Year 2022/2023

Just in case you’re wondering, the 2022/23 competition closed at midnight on 31st December 2022 and we’re now judging the entries. We’ll be announcing the winner and shortlisted images for the December round very soon and then it’s over to our panel of VIP judges to decide who has won the overall title of Camera Jabber Photographer of the Year 2023.

About MPB

Founded by Matt Barker in 2011, MPB is the world’s largest platform for used photography and videography kit. MPB has transformed the way people buy, sell and trade equipment, making photography more accessible, affordable and sustainable.

Headquartered in the creative communities of Brighton, Brooklyn and Berlin, the MPB team includes trained camera experts and seasoned photographers and videographers who bring their passion to work every day to deliver outstanding service. Every piece of kit is inspected carefully by product specialists and comes with a six-month warranty to give customers peace of mind that buying used doesn’t mean sacrificing reliability.

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18 Most photo-worthy spots in Alice Springs!

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Popularly known as the Alice or simply Alice, Alice Springs is in the heart of Central Australia. It’s known as a gateway to some of the country’s most impressive landscapes, including Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park and the MacDonnel mountain ranges, which stretch east and west from the town center.For outdoor lovers, Alice Springs Desert Park is a great place to see the natural habitat and animals that live there. Adventurers can pick up a free audio guide or join one of the free ranger talks to learn more about the area. The Olive Pink Botanic Garden is another lovely place to spend the afternoon. Founded by anthropologist Olive Pink, the garden has more than 500 central Australian plant species.Alice Springs also boasts a number of cultural museums within the Araluen Cultural Precinct, including the Sculpture Garden, Museum of Central Australia, and the Namatjira Gallery, which houses the territory’s largest collection of original paintings by Aboriginal artist Albert Namatijra.

In Alice Springs you will find some beautiful attractions that you just cannot miss! Places like Litchfield National Park, Camp At Rainbow Valley, and Alice Springs Aquatic And Leisure Centre and many more. Continue reading to know more.

Alice Springs

© Provided by Microsoft Travel (Kevin LEBRE Getty Image)
Alice Springs

Litchfield National Park features stunning views of numerous waterfalls that lead to crystal clear bodies of water.

© Provided by Microsoft Travel (Manfred Gottschalk Getty Image)
Litchfield National Park features stunning views of numerous waterfalls that lead to crystal clear bodies of water.

Visitors who love the great outdoors and sightseeing will also love the Litchfield National Park in Alice Springs. It is famous for its beauty as it houses numerous waterfalls that cascade down a sandstone plateau known as the Tabletop Range. Visitors will surely love the magnificent views the park has to offer.

Rainbow Valley is famous for its sandstone bluffs and cliffs that change colors and make up its great scenic landscape.

© Provided by Microsoft Travel (Roger Paris Getty Image)
Rainbow Valley is famous for its sandstone bluffs and cliffs that change colors and make up its great scenic landscape.

Rainbow Valley, located in Alice Springs, is a must-visit destination for those who love sightseeing and admiring the beauty of nature. The valley is well known for its sandstone bluff and cliffs that change from red to orange and purple depending on the time and season. The valley also offers stunning picturesque landscapes that will surely leave visitors in awe.

© Provided by Microsoft Travel (Wikimedia Image)
Enjoy the amazing experience of swimming at Alice Springs Aquatic and Leisure Centre.

Alice Springs Aquatic & Leisure Centre is known to provide a safe swimming experience, quality facilities, and great customer service. It has a 50-meter pool, a 4 lane learn-to-swimming pool, a 20-meter indoor pool with beach entry, an indoor spa, and a lazy river. Undoubtedly it is a great place for people of all ages to have a stunning swimming experience.

A spectacular park that is home to various plant species.

Finke Gorge National Park is located in the Northern Territory of Australia. It covers an area of 458 km square. It is said to be protecting one of the oldest rivers in the world called the Finke River, which was believed to be 350 million years old. The park includes an impressive dessert with an oasis and a Palm Valley. It is a unique area containing a variety of plants including the red cabbage palm. It has around 3000 full-grown trees along with thousands of small seedlings. Other attractions here are a maze of sandstone amphitheaters, pinnacles, and gorges.

Glen Helen Waterpark is an exciting park where visitors could go tubing along its river while admiring nature.

© Provided by Microsoft Travel (Northernterritory Image)
Glen Helen Waterpark is an exciting park where visitors could go tubing along its river while admiring nature.

Glen Helen Waterpark, located in Alice Springs, is a must-visit destination in the summer as visitors could play in the sun and splash in the water. The park is famous for offering a one-of-a-kind experience as it offers free tubing all day long. Visitors will surely love tubing along the waterpark’s river while also admiring its surroundings.

A railway museum depicting a 1930s-style railway station.

Old Ghan Heritage Railway and Museum is located in Alice Springs, Australia. This museum is operated by the Road Transport Historical Society. The museum houses narrow gauge equipment from the original Central Australian Railway which once operated to Alice Springs. There are also restored locomotives and carriages displayed here. Apart from the museum, there are tea shops, family-friendly restaurants, barbeque cafes, souvenir shops, and toilets available.

Araluen Arts Centre has a collection of more than 1000 works of art.

Araluen Arts Centre is located in Alice Springs. It has four art galleries that contain a significant collection of regional art. It is known as the keeping place of stories. Apart from this art exhibition, drama, dance, and music are also held here. There is a theatre that features independent movies as well as international movies. The largest collection of Aboriginal art in Australia is present here. It is a great place to visit and enjoy the beauty of art.

An art gallery exhibiting a huge collection of Aboriginal paintings from the artists of Utopia.

© Provided by Microsoft Travel (Tripadvisor Image)
An art gallery exhibiting a huge collection of Aboriginal paintings from the artists of Utopia.

Mbantua Fine Art Gallery is located at the Todd Mall in Alice Springs. It is an Australian art gallery that specializes in exhibiting and selling the artworks from Utopia region of Central Australia. You can also find jewelry, woodwork, sandstone carvings, Utopia giftware, and other kinds of souvenirs displayed here.

See the iconic crocodile and other cold-blooded creatures here.

Cold-blooded does not always refer to murder. Some of the most amazing animals that have ever lived have blood that heats up or cools, depending on the environment. The “cold blood” most reptiles have to make them fascinating subjects of serious study or mere curiosity. Here at the Alice Springs Reptile Centre, you’ll get a fair dose of exposure to crocodiles, geckos, lizards, and other reptiles in this part of Australia.

Yubu Napa Art Gallery showcases the gallery's collection of Australian traditional and contemporary artworks.

© Provided by Microsoft Travel (Guide Getty Image)
Yubu Napa Art Gallery showcases the gallery’s collection of Australian traditional and contemporary artworks.

Yubu Napa Art Gallery, located in Alice Springs, is a must-visit for art enthusiasts as it features an exquisite collection of Australian traditional and contemporary artworks. The gallery is unique for featuring up-and-coming Australian artists’ works that are just starting to showcase their stunning artistry.

West McDonnell Ranges is a mountain range that offers beautiful views of nature and great hiking trails.

© Provided by Microsoft Travel (Wikimedia Image)
West McDonnell Ranges is a mountain range that offers beautiful views of nature and great hiking trails.

Visitors who love the great outdoors will surely love the West McDonnell Ranges in Alice Springs. It is a mountain range that features stunning scenery of nature as it is filled with various beautiful and vibrant flowers as well as towering trees. It also features a hiking trail perfect for those who want to stroll around and admire the beautiful views of nature.

Spend a relaxing day on Corroboree Rock Conservation Reserve.

Corroboree Rock Conservation Reserve is a protected area in Australia’s Northern Territory, located in the East MacDonnell Ranges about 42 kilometers east of Alice Springs. Dark grey and light grey streaky blobs of ‘dalmation rock’ can be seen near the base of the rock. The rock is surrounded by a ring of low land, giving it the appearance of an obelisk. To obtain a better look at the old rock structure, take a short walk around the base of the rock.

© Provided by Microsoft Travel (Agmtraveller Image)
Enjoy a sun-powered natural kaleidoscope while in Australia’s Top End.

The Northern Territory of Australia is home to a massive rock formation called Uluru. The nearest town here is Alice Springs. That is why there are many camping tours of Uluru that depart from and return to this town. Many of these tours last for at least more than a day. Hence, anyone who participates in adventurous excursions like this can enjoy the play of colors at Uluru during different parts of the day. For example, Uluru’s colors come alive when hit by the golden light of the sun during dawn or sunset.

Outback Ballooning is an air balloon company that offers one of a kind experience where visitors could ride a balloon.

© Provided by Microsoft Travel (Discover-the-world Image)
Outback Ballooning is an air balloon company that offers one of a kind experience where visitors could ride a balloon.

Outback Ballooning, a company that offers hot air balloon rides, is located in Alice Spring. It offers a one-of-a-kind experience as it features hot air balloons with vibrant designs which visitors could ride. Guests riding a balloon will surely have fun as it offers wondrous and stunning views of the county’s skylines.

Australia's gateway to the world is now a gateway for recreation.

Back in the late 1800s, the telegraph relayed messages and news much like the Internet does today. However, there were was no multimedia back then, only electrical signals that represented letters. During the telegraph’s heyday, information traveled from the rest of the world to Australia and vice-versa, through this station. Perhaps owing to the fact that this facility was a communications hub, the Alice Springs settlement grew around it. This cultural and historic attraction is among Australia’s most preserved, with buildings, furnishings, and artifacts restored to their original glory. Aside from its rich history, the station is also an access point to recreational areas like a bike trail network, park walks, and bushwalking trails.

Stroll around Anzac Hill, one of the most popular landmarks of Alice Springs, and admire the scenic views of nature.

© Provided by Microsoft Travel (Dane-mo Getty Image)
Stroll around Anzac Hill, one of the most popular landmarks of Alice Springs, and admire the scenic views of nature.

Anzac Hill, located in Alice Springs, features a bird’s eye view or panoramic view of the town. It is also surrounded by stunning scenery where visitors would surely love seeing. The Anzac Hill is perfect for those who like to go on sightseeing and stroll around while admiring the beautiful views of nature.

Larapinta Trail is regarded as one of the top 20 best trails in the world and is a spectacular bushwalking experience.

© Provided by Microsoft Travel (Burroblando Getty Image)
Larapinta Trail is regarded as one of the top 20 best trails in the world and is a spectacular bushwalking experience.

Visitors who love hiking will surely have a great time hiking at the Larapinta Trail. It was voted as one of the top 20 best trails in the whole world as it offers a unique and unforgettable trekking experience. The trail spans 231 kilometers and crosses different kinds of terrain where visitors could admire the beautiful scenery of nature.

Stroll around at the Alice Springs Desert Park which offers beautiful views of nature as it is surrounded by plants.

© Provided by Microsoft Travel (Alberto Mazza/robertharding Getty Image)
Stroll around at the Alice Springs Desert Park which offers beautiful views of nature as it is surrounded by plants.

Alice Springs Desert Park, located in Alice Springs, is a must-visit destination for those who love the great outdoors. The park is famous for its Palm Valley which is filled with towering red cabbage palm trees that are unique to Australia’s desert. Visitors would surely love the stunning views the park offers.

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10 key events for astrophotographers in 2023

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© Arun Sankar/Getty Images
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Astrophotography is getting so popular and yet its practitioners are so often badly informed about the unique and beautiful events happening in the night skies above. So get your calendar out, grab one of the best cameras for astrophotography and/or one of the best astrophotography telescopes and start taking long exposures and technical close-up shots of deep-sky objects at night.

Here’s what to point your camera at in the next 12 months:

1. Northern Lights on the increase

Since the Sun is waxing towards its once-in-11-years ‘solar maximum’ in 2024 or 2025 it’s theoretically true that the Northern Lights will in 2023 be more frequent and stronger than they have been since the mid-2010s. That doesn’t mean there’s a 100% chance of seeing them – clouds can thwart you at any time – but a trip to the Arctic Circle between 64º and 70º North latitudes in places like Iceland, northern Norway, Sweden and Finland will maximize your chances.

Read: Where, when and how to shoot the Northern lights

2. Venus and Jupiter in conjunction: 1 March 2023

When two objects in the night sky appear very close together it’s called a conjunction by astronomers. When it’s Venus and Jupiter – the brightest planets of all as seen from Earth – it’s an astrophotographer’s dream. This conjunction will be particularly impressive because the two worlds will appear just 0.3º apart. That’s close enough to see them in the same field of view of a small telescope. It’s a convenient event, too, appearing at its best in the southwestern sky just after sunset. The nights on either side will also see the two planets nicely positioned very close to each other.

Read: The best camera for astrophotography in 2022: tools and lenses to shoot night skies

3. Milky Way Season: April-September

As camera sensors have improved in recent years the internet has become saturated by Milky Way images. They’re beginning to lose their uniqueness, but if you do fancy capturing the arc of our galaxy then get yourself somewhere dark between April (for early morning views) and September (for post-sunset views) and line it up with an interesting foreground subject.

Read: How to shoot nightscapes: camera gear and exposure settings

4. A rare hybrid solar eclipse: 20 April 2023

Everyone knows that it’s a total solar eclipse that’s one of nature’s great experiences, so why travel to Western Australia, Timor Leste or remote West Papua to see a hybrid solar eclipse? Especially one that lasts only a minute! Occurring only seven times this century, a hybrid eclipse occurs because the Moon is just the right distance from Earth in its elliptical orbit to cause a total solar eclipse only from the middle section of a path across Earth’s surface. From all viewing zones aside from remote areas of the ocean, a brief totality will result, with the shortness made up for by an extra-special display of beads of light around the Moon both before and after. Exmouth Peninsula in Western Australia is where to head for the best chance of clear skies – and a dramatic 62-second eclipse.

5. Venus, Mars and the Moon: 23 May and 21 June 2023

Triangles appeal to the human brain. When the Moon passes close to two planets and appears to form a triangle, in reality, nothing is happening of any significance. But it looks great! There are two chances in 2023 to catch the sight of the Moon passing Mars and Venus, with the events on 23 Ma and 21 June occurring in the west just after sunset.

Read: When to photograph the moon

6. Mars in the Beehive Cluster: 2 June 2023

Nestled in the simple Y-shaped constellation of a Cancer is M44, also called Praesepe or the Beehive Cluster. An area busy with blue stars, it’s a zodiacal constellation so one that both the Sun and planets pass through. This year it’s the once-every-two-years apparent visit of Mars, which will be waning from its super-bright opposition in December 2022. You’ll need a long lens for this, but taking the shot is mostly about timing. It will be above the western horizon after sunset on 2 June 2023. Venus will appear to be close by.

Read: Best smart telescope in 2023

7. Perseid meteor shower: 12-13 August 2023

Everyone’s favorite annual meteor shower has been a victim of lunar light pollution in recent years. Thankfully that’s not the case in 2023. With a waning crescent Moon just 8%-lit and not rising until an hour before dawn, the night sky will be dark as Earth busts through the debris stream left in the inner solar system. Get yourself under dark, rural skies and set your camera to take aseries of 30-second shots, being sure to also take some time to gaze at the night sky. The next morning you can flick through your captures and see if you caught one – and then use your data to also create a wonderful multi-hour star trail.

Read: How to photograph a shooting star

8. Giant planets at opposition: 27 August and 3 November 2023

Ever captured the ringed planet up close? Although it’s not a particularly bright planet, the fifth planet from the Sun has such a magnificent ring pattern that it demands a close-up attempt when it’s at its biggest, brightest and best in 2023 on 27 August. Try the stacking method, which entails taking lots of images and stacking them together to maximize both contrast and clear atmospheric condition – ditto for fellow giant planet Jupiter, which reaches its annual opposition on 3 November.

Read: How to try deep-space astrophotography

9. A big, bright ‘Blue Supermoon’ rising: 31 August 2022

Technically speaking there are four so-called supermoons in 2023. On 3 July, 1 August, 31 August and 29 September. However, it’s on 31 August that our natural satellite in space will be at its absolute biggest, brightest and best during its full Moon phase. It will appear to look its biggest as it rises in the east as the Sun sets in the west. As with all rising full Moons, it will look a deep orange as it appears, changing to a bright yellow and then white as it climbs higher in the sky. It will be called a ‘Blue Moon’ simply because it will be August 2023’s second full Moon. Since the Moon takes 29 days to orbit Earth, that’s bound to happen now and again.

Read: How to photograph the full moon

10. A ‘ring of fire’ solar eclipse in the Americas: 14 October 2023

An annular solar eclipse – a ring of light around the Moon – occurs when the Moon is relatively far from Earth in its elliptical orbit, so can’t cover the whole of the Sun as seen from Earth’s surface. It’s only an interesting shot in close-up and your timing has to be perfect, but this October there’s a great opportunity to capture this relatively rare event when a vast swathe of the American West (and many U.S. National Parks) experiences up to five minutes of annularity.

Key sites to experience the light drop in light and a ‘ring of fire’ include iconic locations including Oregon’s Crater Lake National Park and Utah’s Bryce Canyon National Park – both Dark Sky Parks ideal for wide-angle nightscape photography in the nights surrounding the eclipse. The rest of North America will experience a big partial solar eclipse.

Read: 10 nightscape photography hacks: boost your set-up with these simple tips

Read more:

• Astrophotography: How-to guides, tips and videos

• Astrophotography tools: the best camera, lenses and gear • The best lenses for astrophotography

• The best star tracker camera mounts

• Best equatorial mounts

• Best deep-space telescopes

• The best light pollution filters • The best CCD cameras for astrophotography

• The best spotting scopes

• The best binoculars • The best microscopes

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Photographer Roeselien Raimond Captured Fairytale-Like Photos That Show The Beauty Of The Wild World

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Dutch photographer Roeselien Raimond captured fairytale-like photos that show the beauty of the wild world. Roeselien is a self-employed photographer, editor, and author. Specialized in fox photography, but with a love for (almost) anything that breathes.

In her words “I have been a graphic designer/web designer for years, which may sound fun and creative, but I actually spent all day inside, producing boring designs for mortgages and refrigerator manufacturers. After a few years, I was so fed up with this creative poverty and felt a strong urge to be outside, to find out what is really important in life. I realized I needed some freedom, some fresh air, and… to be able to play again. At the time I was an amateur photographer and my photos were doing great, so I wondered if this could be my new path. But everyone told me it was just impossible to make money out of photography. I decided to ignore the well-meaning advice and to just follow my heart. Best choice ever and… still going strong!”

Scroll down and inspire yourself. Please check Roeselien’s Website and Instagram for more amazing work.