Moon, comet, and tower

Joseph/ July 24, 2020/ Uncategorized/ 0 comments

Last night I headed out for what’s likely to have been the last imaging session of Comet NEOWISE, which is now starting to get visibly fainter (and the moon’s increasing brightness will also start interfering).     Firstly, a few words about the tower in this photograph. Grandmaster Lascaris had commissioned a number of these, which were designed by Vincenzo

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Comet NEOWISE and a crescent moon

Joseph/ July 23, 2020/ Uncategorized/ 0 comments

Another long trek with the equipment yesterday evening – and the lack of sleep is definitely beginning to take its toll – but happy to be able to share the outcome! Comet NEOWISE was joined by a crescent moon gracing the horizon at twilight. Even though only a sliver of its face was illuminated, the rest of it can be

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Comet NEOWISE and the Milky Way

Joseph/ July 22, 2020/ Uncategorized/ 0 comments

This was the most demanding image of it so far, for two reasons – one physical, the other technical. Firstly, it was quite a tricky adventure lugging all the gear (camera, lenses, tripod, mount, heavy power supply, etc.) over jagged rock all the way to this site in the dark (and back). Secondly, it is fairly challening to record this

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Comet NEOWISE and the Blue Hole

Joseph/ July 21, 2020/ Uncategorized/ 0 comments

This image, captured on the 20th of July, shows comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) setting over the sea at twilight with a backdrop of Dwejra’s majestic cliffs and the Blue Hole or – as it is known in Maltese – Il-Ħofra tal-Berwin.

The comet and the galaxy

Joseph/ July 20, 2020/ Uncategorized/ 2 comments

Yesterday night I imaged the comet again, this time round acquiring a deeper exposure. While I was happy with the synchronous banding showing quite clearly in the dust tail, I was even happier to realise that I had also bagged a spiral galaxy: NGC 2841!    Known as ‘Tiger’s eye’, you can see it feebly shining from behind the dust

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A tale of two tails

Joseph/ July 19, 2020/ Uncategorized/ 0 comments

Yesterday night, Comet NEOWISE was a fabulous sight at Dwejra! With the unaided eye I could make out a stunning, 5-degree tail! As soon as I acquired the first image, both tails leapt out with discernible colour. From then on, it was a rush to acquire as much data as I could in between cloudy moments. Dust streaming from the

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Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE)

Joseph/ July 15, 2020/ Uncategorized/ 0 comments

Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) is currently making for a splendid sight. Following its appearance in the early morning sky, it has now transitioned to being an evening object. The last time it visited us was 4,500 years ago, right about the end of the Temple period in Malta. It will not visit us again for another 6,800 years.

Partial Lunar Eclipse from Dwejra

Joseph/ July 17, 2019/ Astronomy, Landscapes, Seascapes/ 0 comments

I was after two photographs from this partial lunar eclipse. Firstly, I wanted to capture a close-up of the moon suspended in a star field. Secondly, I wanted to attempt a wide-angle shot that would capture both the unfolding eclipse and the nearby Milky Way. Both represented a technical challenge due to the wide dynamic range involved. The two results

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The Starry Sky of Mgarr ix-Xini

Joseph/ June 18, 2018/ Astronomy, Landscapes, Seascapes/ 0 comments

I have shared with you images of this place before, mostly of its underwater habitat with its myriad creatures, but also of its splendour above water during daylight hours. However, I have long wished to capture and share an image of this site during the darkness of night, when not a single human soul is present – and all that

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Lunar Eclipse 2017

Joseph/ August 7, 2017/ Astronomy, Landscapes, Seascapes/ 0 comments

Here goes a picture of this evening’s partial lunar eclipse as seen from Gozo.  This photograph was shot from Gozo and shows the ferry crossing through a pool of eclipsed moonlight with the island of Comino in the background.  This image is a single exposure (not a composite).

The Splendour of our Home Galaxy from Dwejra

Joseph/ July 19, 2017/ Uncategorized/ 1 comments

The Milky Way arches majestically above the cliffs and Fungus Rock of Dwejra, in Gozo.  Dwejra, which is a dark sky heritage area,  is the best site on the Maltese islands from where to observe our home galaxy.  Light pollution is a problem afflicting the vast majority of the islands, with only a few places left from where to enjoy

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The Golden Hour

Joseph/ June 26, 2017/ Landscapes/ 0 comments

Flying the drone at the golden hour is a truly breathtaking experience. This was a shot that I had been meaning to take for a while; finally I had a good opportunity as a sailing boat also featured in the background.

Nature giveth, nature taketh away.

Joseph/ March 8, 2017/ Uncategorized/ 0 comments

The number of posts on social media related to the collapse of the Azure Window, or ‘Tieqa tad-Dwejra’ as it is known in Maltese, reached uncountable levels soon after the incident. Pictures of ‘the arch that had been’ flooded news portals, Facebook, and everything else in between. It is understandable, of course. This was a spectacular and iconic natural landmark

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Ghawdex (Gozo)

Joseph/ February 26, 2017/ Uncategorized/ 0 comments

So here goes my first aerial video feature showcasing some of my favourite sites in Gozo. This was entirely shot using a DJI Mavic Pro over the past couple of months. Enjoy, folks!

Diving Gozo

Joseph/ April 28, 2015/ Uncategorized/ 0 comments

Here is a short video feature assembled from footage acquired over a total of 9 dives in April 2015, shot in the crystal clear waters of the island of Gozo.   Dive sites featured in the clip include the Blue Hole, Inland Sea, Wied l-Ghasri, Mgarr ix-Xini and Cathedral Cave. Topside footage was acquired with a Nikon D800, whereas a GoPro

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A bite of the sun

Joseph/ March 20, 2015/ Uncategorized/ 0 comments

Here’s a sequence of images of today’s solar eclipse, as viewed from Potsdam, Germany.  I hope you all had a safe peek at the sun!

Encounter with a Seahorse

Joseph/ December 26, 2014/ Uncategorized/ 0 comments

This picture was taken last Monday during a dive at Il-Kantra, Gozo – and shows Brian Azzopardi from Atlantis Diving Centre photographing a seahorse that we encountered during our dive.

Catching up

Joseph/ November 21, 2014/ Uncategorized/ 0 comments

Alas, I have been away from my blog for way longer than I should have.  There’s a lot of catching up to do.  So I will be uploading (in separate posts) some pictures I took over the past few weeks.  Here goes the first one, which shows fading light on an Autumn evening.

This is it

Joseph/ August 29, 2014/ Uncategorized/ 0 comments

This is it.  This is the view we would be able to enjoy if we installed properly designed lighting on our roads and limited the spread of light pollution.

August Supermoon

Joseph/ August 11, 2014/ Uncategorized/ 0 comments

In keeping with my earlier resolution that I will update this blog regularly, here goes another post.  This time, the picture is of the “supermoon” from yesterday evening.  Enjoy!

A post back from home

Joseph/ August 11, 2014/ Uncategorized/ 0 comments

So dear blog followers, it’s been no less than three whole months since my last update here – and admittedly,  I do feel quite bad about this.  It was a period packed with activity, from shooting weddings to hiking in the Alps and seeing my work published in National Geographic.  Also, MUSE (which is this really cool camera/spectrograph I’m working on at

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The making of an image: some tips & tricks

Joseph/ April 28, 2014/ Uncategorized/ 0 comments

Many of you were interested in my last post, particularly with regards to the process that led to the resulting image. Given the curiosity and the fact that it’s been a while since the last time I shared a few thoughts about the process that goes into creating an image, I thought I’d take some time to write a post

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The ever interesting Dwejra

Joseph/ April 26, 2014/ Uncategorized/ 0 comments

I arrived on site a bit too early for this one, a couple of hours too early, in fact. But I think the wait was well worth it. I then waited for a couple more hours after snapping this picture to see what sunset would be like, but thick clouds on the horizon ensured a very dull sunset at best.

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Gozo

Joseph/ April 20, 2014/ Uncategorized/ 0 comments

Currently back home in Gozo for a break – I realize now how much I had missed the sun and the sea!

Sunday afternoon in Prenzlauerberg

Joseph/ March 2, 2014/ Uncategorized/ 0 comments

As I mentioned in my previous post, lately I have returned to shooting street photography with the trusty 50mm f/1.4 lens. For a long time, I went about using three other lenses, often referred to as the ‘holy trinity’ of f/2.8 lenses. I’m talking about the Nikkor 14-24mm wide angle lens, the 24-70mm mid-zoom, and the 70-200mm telephoto. The wide-angle

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3 Years!

Joseph/ January 27, 2014/ Uncategorized/ 1 comments

Today marks precisely three years since my very first blog post. As with so many things in life, starting this blog was a spur of the moment thing. I thought it might be a good idea to share pictures on a semi-regular basis and to give a short account of the story behind them. Today I couldn’t be happier that

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Lens on Gozo – a second instalment

Joseph/ January 7, 2014/ Uncategorized/ 0 comments

Here goes the second short video featuring the island of Gozo located in the centre of the Mediterranean. This was shot with the Nikon D800 and 14-24mm f/2.8G lens, 3LT Eddie tripod and Glidecam HD-4000. Enjoy!

Wild Sky

Joseph/ October 6, 2013/ Uncategorized/ 0 comments

The great thing about the sky is that it’s always changing and no two sky photos ever look the same. I have admitted before that I have a fascination with clouds. For as long as I can remember, I’ve looked up to enjoy ever-changing cloud formations, which unfailingly remind me of the dynamic beauty our planet has to offer.

Stockholm

Joseph/ September 18, 2013/ Uncategorized/ 0 comments

So last week I was in Stockholm for an astrophysics workshop titled “Lyman-alpha as an astrophysical tool“. I took plenty of pictures both during the meeting and in our free time. I still need to go through the whole set, but here goes just one of the pictures for the time being.

Iceland: A portrait

Joseph/ August 19, 2013/ Uncategorized/ 0 comments

I have recently been on a camping trip to Iceland, where (needless to say) I took hundreds of pictures. I have compiled a few of my favourite ones so far (as I’m still going through the pictures I snapped) into a short video-presentation which you can view here. Make sure you choose the 1080p resolution setting and enter full-screen mode.

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Pattern on the Wall

Joseph/ June 17, 2013/ Uncategorized/ 0 comments

I like to get somewhat geometric shots when the opportunity presents itself. This row of doors was quite striking, and the cyclist passing by seemed to have noticed them too. Speaking of cycling, I wonder how many of you have realized by now that I do quite like photographing bicycles. For a collection of photos featuring bicycles, be they the

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MUSE Meeting in Aussois

Joseph/ June 10, 2013/ Uncategorized/ 0 comments

Last week I was at a meeting in Aussois about an upcoming spectrograph for the VLT called MUSE (which stands for Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer). Members of the consortium met to share the latest developments and update each other on various aspects of the instrument. It was my first time in Aussois, an incredibly beautiful small town in the Rhône-Alpes

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Reflections at Sunset

Joseph/ May 9, 2013/ Uncategorized/ 0 comments

A picture taken at sunset showing three of the main buildings at Potsdamer Platz as they catch scattered light from the last rays of the setting sun. This one involved quite some pacing around until the window panes appeared sparkling.

Uphill

Joseph/ May 5, 2013/ Uncategorized/ 1 comments

It’s been a while since I posted a somewhat graphical or semi-geometric photo to this blog, so here goes one. This was taken this afternoon while strolling around Berlin with a friend. Both of us were looking for picture opportunities. The first thing that captured my attention was the architectural detail in the background, which, by the way, really is

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The Cyclist

Joseph/ April 15, 2013/ Uncategorized/ 0 comments

The return of nice weather marks my return to street photography – in one of the best places for street photography you could hope for, at that: Berlin! I waited between half an hour and 45 minutes to capture this one, in the process prompting many to doubt my sanity, I’m sure. At least, from the confused expression on their

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Spring comes to Berlin – and about time it did too!

Joseph/ April 13, 2013/ Uncategorized/ 0 comments

So at long last, the below-zero temperatures have subsided, all the snow has melted, the sun has reappeared and everyone is much happier. Not kidding! I’m suddenly seeing so many smiles around. So either nobody was smiling during Winter, or it was simply too dark to notice. Anyway, whatever. What matters is that the sun is back and Berlin has

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Lens on Gozo

Joseph/ March 28, 2013/ Uncategorized/ 1 comments

For some unexplainable reason, I had never gotten around posting on this blog my first venture into filming. So here it goes, a couple of months delayed! This was a rough edit of some experimental footage using the Nikon D800e + Glidecam combo. A new project is currently in the making. For the time being, enjoy this one! Oh, and

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The Sun returns to Berlin

Joseph/ March 2, 2013/ Uncategorized/ 0 comments

For the first time in weeks, months even – the sun has returned to Berlin. It goes without saying that my spirits were lifted to the heights they used to occupy before the Wintry misery set in. (Each sentence I write drips with my love for Winter, doesn’t it?) Anyway, so this afternoon I went for the first proper photo-walk

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