Photographing Meteors

Perseid meteor photo by Wayne Woodcock

Guest post by Wayne Woodcock

(Research Assistant for the Detective Scott McGregor mystery, Forever After)

2 cameras.

5 nights.

13.25 hours.

12,225 exposures.

10 really good pictures, maybe.

I used two cameras shooting the nighttime Perseid meteor showers. A Sony a6300 with Olympus 55mm f1.2 lens using an OM to E mount adapter, shooting wide open, four second exposures ISO 1000. The other camera was a Sony a6500 with 16mm f2.8 lens and fisheye adapter, shooting wide open, 25 second exposures ISO 1250. Both cameras were set to manual focus and exposure and continuous shooting, locked on using a wired cable release. Shutter speed was calculated using the 300 Rule to reduce the star trail movement in each picture and exposure adjusted by changing the ISO setting.

Images were recorded continuously for at least two hours each night. The morning after each photo session, I spent hours backing up to an external HD and processing the still images.

Using the Sony Imaging Edge Viewer program, I was able to create time lapse movies from the thousands of exposures as videos that lasted a few seconds to a few minutes, depending on the number of exposures in a session. Meteors streaked partially across the sky. Planes and satellites crossed the entire view region, both moving slower than the meteors.

StarStaX Perseid meteor photo by Wayne Woodcock

Using StarStax, I created star tracks that showed the circular movement of the stars around the North star. Meteors, planes, and satellites showed up as straight lines crossing the concentric star paths. The StarStaX photo was compiled from 327 exposures taken over 23 minutes (elapsed time).

Every night I saw spectacular meteors in one direction while the camera lenses were pointed to a different quadrant of the sky. I got about ten really good still shots. The time lapse movies are fun to watch trying to spot the meteors.

It has been about 30 years since I had last done any nighttime photography. Way back in the days when rolls of film were sent off to be processed before you could see what you had as images. So I looked on the internet, read some articles and watched some videos. That is where I found out about the 300 Rule, StarStax and tying a hand warmer to the camera lens to keep it from fogging up.

Wayne Woodcock is an amateur photographer who has traveled the world and seen all seven continents through his camera viewfinder.

Wayne and Joan, of husband-wife “Team Woodcock,” added depth and different perspectives to the research gained from the August on-site exploration of the settings for Detective Scott McGregor’s third case. As experienced researchers, they are occasionally available for assignments to exotic locations.

Book Research

Moran State Park, Orcas Island, WA

My third Detective Scott McGregor mystery is set in the San Juan Islands in Washington State’s Puget Sound during the annual mid-August Perseid meteor showers. I visited the setting so I could write about it more convincingly.

My research assistants and I explored the islands for dastardly locations and situations to make the heroine of my story suffer immeasurable agonies: being hungry, injured, and scared while lost in the forest and pursued by someone with evil intentions. All of this sadistic behavior on my part is supposed to make for good reading.

Book research is hard work. My assistants and I stayed in bed & breakfast inns on two different islands. We trekked countless miles through dense forests. We viewed fabulous scenery from scarily high overlooks. We braved the midnight cold to watch meteor showers. We consumed alcohol in waterfront taverns and island breweries. Ya gotta feel sorry for authors, right?

Story Structure in TV Shows

Halfway through the season of a recently binge-watched mystery drama, I realized it was a cozy. It met the major requirements for the genre described in a Nancy Curteman blog: an amateur sleuth; a murder occurring before the story began; a small pool of suspects; the sleuth becoming a target for murder; and no sex, violence, or cussing.

And halfway through the season I knew whodunnit. It wasn’t the actions the character did or didn’t do, but how the actions were presented. I recognized the approach from studying the craft and writing mysteries myself. I enjoy watching mystery shows and observing how plot points are played out, especially when it’s accomplished in a subtle manner.

Recently I’ve been re-watching Midsomer Murders, an English detective series based on the books by Caroline Graham. The detective, DCI Barnaby, has a seemingly endless supply of village suspects, and there are often multiple murders. Keeping track of clues and connections in this series can be difficult, and the identity of the guilty person can be a surprise until the end.

The Midsomer Murders scenery is beautiful, but before you pack your bags for a lovely English countryside vacation, you may want to read this blog post: Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village.

Writing and Procrastination

Sometimes the words just won’t write themselves. If this month were a writing race, I’d still be at the starting gate. I haven’t been motivated enough to prod myself into action.

My favorite part of writing mysteries is designing the crime, creating clues, and implicating innocent people. Making the plot work is a skill transferred from developing countless flowcharts during my computer programming years. The plot structure for Forever After, the third McGregor mystery, is already in my current manuscript. Now I have to fill in the gaps, and that’s less exciting for me.

To feed my procrastination tendencies, an annoying time-wasting habit has crept back into my life: watching television. Several years ago, I cancelled the cable tv and rediscovered spare time. I used that time to write. I have access to old series, though, and recently I’ve binge-watched seasons of several English and New Zealand shows I’d previously never heard of.

If only a giant Monty Python (BBC comedy) foot would drop down from the sky and kick me back into action.

Déjà Vu, All Over Again

During March, I revised and re-edited the second McGregor mystery, Murder Goes on Vacation, and sent it to beta readers. The beta readers gave me emotional feedback on how the story worked for them: what they liked, what bombed, whether story elements were misplaced, etc.

During May and June, I used beta reader and critique group feedback to re-re-edit the second book. I just sent this version off to be reviewed with an eye toward literary errors, which will lead to yet another round of editing.

Sometimes I feel like a hamster on a wheel with all the editing passes required to massage a rough draft into something a reader would want to read. It would be easy to put the draft down and walk away from it. I entertain that thought from time to time. Just move on to the third book—the new and exciting story. But I’m writing a series, and I really need the second book.

The Yardwork Approach to Writing

Historic Craftsman in Houston, Texas

Yardwork, like housework, is often only noticed when it hasn’t been done. Fortunately, I have an excellent house cleaner. Yardwork, on the other hand, is up to me. Sometimes I get it done in a timely manner.

I spent seven hours Friday weeding, trimming, mowing, filling dog holes, and performing other overdue yardly duties in preparation for the Saturday doggy play date and human dinner party. I’m pleased to say the yard looked quite presentable for my canine and human guests.

That’s all well and good, but my publisher is probably wondering what yardwork has to do with a writing blog. During those seven hours, I had plenty of time to think about Detective Scott McGregor’s house and yard and wonder whether he does his own yardwork.

Scott has an old Craftsman house; he likes the clean, straight lines and no-nonsense architecture. His manicured yard has a neatly-trimmed, flowering hedge around his covered front porch. The back yard’s covered patio is a necessity in Fresno’s sweltering summer heat. A high-end barbeque grill—his pride and joy—is built into an outdoor kitchen island.

Does McGregor do his own yardwork? If I do, he does too. He just does a better job.

McGregor Mysteries in Three Sizes

Plot ideas come easy. Making the time and effort to write them, not so much.

My McGregor mystery series arc is already plotted, but book ideas keep materializing. Some of the ideas aren’t fully fleshed out with well-defined sub-plots complementing the main story line, but the back burner in my brain is always simmering some concoction. I decided to write the extras as stand-alone novels occurring after the series arc of character and relationship development.

One day, as I avoided revising and editing the second McGregor mystery, it occurred to me to write the stand-alones as short stories. That would make McGregor mysteries available in three sizes. The first book, The Disappearance of Millicent Hart, is a short novel; the second case, Murder Goes on Vacation, is a novella.

I mentioned the idea to my publisher, and she suggested a book title and cover image. The first short story has been plotted and its first scene written. Now I’m dividing writing time between revising and editing book two, writing the first draft for book three, and creating short stories.