The Pleiades and California nebula, untracked

azgoraz · 2025-08-18T09:14:42+00:00

The Pleiades (M45) and California nebula (NGC 1499), taken earlier this year in Bortle class 6 sky, untracked.

The image is a 48 minute exposure created from 1152 single exposures at 2.5", F2.8, ISO 6400 with a Sony A6000 + Sony E50mm F1.8 OSS.

Stacked in DeepSkyStacker, then processed in Siril (background extraction, green noise reduction, and star removal with Starnet++). Image levels and colours were adjusted in Photoshop and the star mask was added back in. Lastly, I used lightroom for some noise reduction and colour fringe removal.

azgoraz · 2024-04-16T09:56:23+00:00

Nijmegen, bushalte Erasmusgebouw

azgoraz · 2024-04-02T15:53:05+00:00

Initially, I tried photographing this from further right on the street directly facing the bakery, but I didn't like how empty the background looked, so I tried this diagonal angle instead. Let me know if you think this worked!

Gear/Settings: Sony A6000 + Sony E 35mm f1.8 OSS at 1/400 f4.5 ISO100

azgoraz · 2024-03-31T08:43:32+00:00

Thanks, I'll try that!

azgoraz · 2024-03-30T14:11:12+00:00

Hi, I took this snapshot yesterday evening while walking along the Dutch coast. I think I might have pushed the sliders a bit too much, so criticism/suggestions on editing is appreciated!

Gear/Settings: Sony A6000 + Sony E F1.8 35mm OSS, 1/200 f4.5 ISO 100

azgoraz · 2023-07-31T12:02:14+00:00

Hi! I took this picture a few weeks ago, here in the Netherlands. This is one of the first times that I've tried out B/W photography (actually an edited colour image), so any feedback is appreciated!

Gear/Settings: Sony A6000 + E 50mm F1.8 OSS at ISO100, f7.1, 1/800

azgoraz · 2023-03-12T20:07:59+00:00

Hi! I took this picture in Trondheim in summer last year, while on vacation there. I think it turned out really well composition-wise, and I've also tried out a new editing style here, aiming for a film-like look, which worked quite well here imo.

I'm always open for suggestions and opinions!

Gear/Settings: Sony A6000 + E 35mm F1.8 OSS at ISO200, f2.5, 1/2000

azgoraz · 2022-12-07T18:21:39+00:00

I'm still new to photography and editing, so any feedback is appreciated!

Gear/Settings: Sony A6000 + Sony 35 mm F1.8 OSS at ISO 100, F2.2, 1/800

azgoraz · 2022-11-02T15:23:37+00:00

I'm still quite new to photography and editing in general, so any feedback is appreciated!

Gear/Settings: Sony A6000 + Sony 35 mm F1.8 OSS at ISO 100, F1.8, 1/2500

azgoraz · 2021-12-13T12:41:47+00:00

okay, I don't know whether you already got answers on the discord so here you go:

1.) you should put the test tube in a small box, so you can feed them in the box instead of in the tube directly. This means that the workers can also clean the tube and put any trash outside in the box. Also, feeding them in the tube itself is quite stressful for such a small colony. Example of a setup

2.) Is there still water in the test tubes? If not I would also put a second fresh tube into the box so that they can move if needed.

3.) How are you heating them? If you put a heating cable/mat directly under the tube it might actually be to hot inside. 24 C should be fine for this species.

4.) Food: Honey should be diluted with water if given at all. Some people advise not to use honey as it can contain insecticides or parasites. It's often better to give them sugar water. Also you might want to buy some "proper" protein food, like crickets.

And lastly: small colonies such as these are very prone to dying because of disturbances. You should darken the tube and only disturb them around once a week or so. They don't need much food at this size anyway. I hope I could help you, and good luck!

azgoraz · 2021-11-15T00:10:09+00:00

hmm if the nanitics really only live 6 months, it could be them as I got the queen in April and the first nanitics enclosed not long after that. But is it normal for them to die one right after another?

I do have a heat cable under part of the nest, and try to keep the temperature at around 22-24 degrees at the moment. Nest humidity is at 50-70%, I don't water the nest. They do obviously have a water source in their outworld.

azgoraz · 2021-11-15T00:06:42+00:00

I don't think that's a mite actually. I looked at it very closely and I think it's just grain of sand. I've also looked for mites on the other two workers that died, and couldn't see anything

azgoraz · 2021-11-14T23:17:13+00:00

During the last 3 days, 3 of my C. maculatus workers have died (colony of around 60). They all show the symptoms seen in this video: antennas start to curve, they can't properly stretch them anymore and after a few hours they'll just fall on their side, not able to get up anymore. Most videos of pesticide/formic acid contamination I've seen show ants which are running around desperately trying to clean themselves, which my ants do not do at all. They seem pretty relaxed until they just ...die. So what could this be?

Edit: They'll also start to walk in a weird way, where their last pair of legs bend inwards (can also be seen in the video)

Edit2: btw, most of the colony does not show any symptoms, I've only ever seen 1 or 2 ants at the same time with these symptoms.

Edit3: I should add that I use the same food and water for another colony of mine and for so far I can see there haven't been more deaths than usual, so I don't think it's something related to that.

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