I'm an amateur astronomer and often make photos of the night sky.
In the past, that has meant using my Pentax K1000 on a tripod to make quick snaps of interesting conjunctions of the planets with the Moon or nightscapes.
I've also made countless digital images of the Milky Way and star fields that I like to look at.
For the past few years I've been making what I call "loonies".
I hand trim a piece of Harmon Direct positive photo paper to fit in a 35mm film camera, then hold it up to the eyepiece of my telescope and make a lunar portrait.
They are each one of a kind since the Moon is an always changing dynamic body.
Harmon Direct Positive makes as you see below, a positive print. It's a favorite of pinhole photographers because it's a slow emulsion and eliminates the step of making a contact print.
Load, expose, develop, and viola, a print as you see here.
When the Moon is near full, like it was last night, the exposure is one second long.
When it is full, the exposure will be 1/2 second.
Last night I made this one.
I like it. To flatten them after drying I stick them in heavy books, and sometimes forget one, so it's a great surprise to serendipitously have one fall out in my lap when I open one of those books and find a forgotten "loonie".
Life is good.!
Wow! Cool!
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