Matt Hickling

The afternoon moon always gives me Star Wars vibes. Here is a stack of 20 exposures around a hazy 3.30pm. • • • Celestron Astromaster 90/1000mm Equatorial CG-3 Mount Sony Alpha a6100 F/11, ISO100, 1/400 #astrophotography #themoon #lunarphotography #sonyalphasclub

Slightly more cropped and processed version. • • Sony Alpha a6100 Sony 70-350mm F4.5-6.3 G OSS iOptron Skyguider Pro 50x 60s subs F/6.3, ISO1600 10x flat, 10x darks, 10x bias #astrophotography #sonyalpha #ioptronskyguiderpro #orionnebula

Annual January new moon go at M42 Orion. Slightly longer subs this time at the slight expense of sharpness. • • Sony Alpha a6100 Sony 70-350mm iOptron Skyguider Pro 50x 60s subs F/6.3, ISO1600 10xflat, 10xdarks, 10xbias #astrophotography #ioptronskyguiderpro #m42 #orionnebula

Milky Way shot last night from a fixed tripod. Tried to take advantage of the new moon, but the light pollution is unfortunately still hard to beat. 20x 30s stills, stacked in Sequator and processed in PS. #astrophotography #sonyalpha #samyanguk #milkyway #milkywaychasers

Zebra jumping spider in the garden. Check out that red fang! 5-7mm in length and can jump around 10cm to catch their prey. • • • Sony a6100 Samyang f2.8 100mm Macro ISO100 | 1/400| f4 #macrophotography #sonyalpha #sonyalphasclub #samyanguk #wildlifephotography

Congratulations to my MSc project student @compliance4buildings on graduating today. You achieved all this through the challenges of hybrid learning, running a business and maintaining time for family life. Great work and a great bloke! #mscthesis #acoustics #solentuniversity

Glastonbury happened! A lot of hard work but a great time too. Arcadia was another level! #glastonbury #arcadia #solentuniversity #production #documentary #outsidebroadcast

I wanted to grab a photo of this weevil as I liked his snout, but after reading about black vine weevils it turns out they are a bit of a pest... • • • Sony a6100 Samyang f2.8 100mm Macro ISO100 | 1/400 | f4 #macrophotography #sonyalpha #samyanguk #wildlifephotography #insects

Today's ants were distracted by some green grub so took my chances whilst they were at 95% normal speed! • • • Sony a6100 Samyang f2.8 100mm Macro ISO100 | 1/800 | f5.6 #macrophotography #sonyalpha #sonyalphasclub #samyanguk #wildlifephotography #antsofinstagram

Found this green dude in the garden this afternoon. I think this is an Araniella Cucurbitina Sensu Strictu or 'Cucumber green orb spider'. • Sony a6100 Samyang f2.8 100mm Macro ISO200 | 1/400 | f4.6 #macrophotography #sonyalpha #sonyalphasclub #samyanguk #orbspider

Having a practice with the #sonysel70350g and Topaz Labs Sharpen AI in Newton Tony Village. A pair of Goldfinch, a Blue Tit and what I think is a Dunnock. #sonyalphasclub #sonya6100 #birdphotography #wildlifephotography #sony70350 #topazlabs #sharpenai

Now it feels like the start of spring. Swapping the star tracker for the macro now the garden is getting busier. This is 1:1.5 and cropped in. • • • Sony a6100 Samyang f2.8 100mm Macro ISO400 | 1/400 | f4 #macrophotography #sonyalpha #sonyalphasclub #insects #beesofinstagram

Final one from last night was a quick go on the Flame Nebula NGC2024 and a very faint Horsehead Nebula B33, just down from Alnitak on Orion's Belt. Stretched to the limit! #astrophotography #sonyalpha #ioptronskyguiderpro #NGC2024 #horseheadnebula #orionsbelt #skyatnight

Back onto M42 Orion whilst the sky was clear last night. Still needs more exposure time to really pull out the faint data but a good night courtesy of @A_Lee_Davison #astrophotography #sonyalpha #ioptronskyguiderpro #m42 #orionnebula #skyatnight

My 2021 resolution was to try and get a pic of the moon in each 10th percentile. Didn't quite make it in 2021 mostly due to cloud cover, but managed to get the last shot today. Still counts right? #Astrophotography #SonyAlpha #skyatnight #lunarphotography #celestron

My first go at M31 Andromeda Galaxy. 30mins of exposure time shot from the New Forest. •Sony a6100 + Sony 70-350mm •ISO1600 | f6.3 | 60s #astrophotogrqphy #andromedagalaxy #sonyalphasclub #sony70350 #ioptronskyguiderpro #newforest #skyatnight

A composite image (not to scale...) from last night. The moon shot was with a Sony 70-350mm lens @350mm. Jupiter and Saturn were taken with the telescope, cropped, and added to the moon image. @SonyAlphasClub @celestronuk #astrophotogrqphy #lunarphotography #jupiter #Saturn

Close ups from last night. Saturn up top and Jupiter (plus what I think are Io, Europa and Callisto moons). These are heavily cropped and zoomed. With the 1000mm scope they were no bigger than 25px and 40px wide respectively. @sonyalphasclub @celestronuk #Astrophotography

Felt good to have some normality again! Running cameras and IMAG feeds for Boardmasters main stage with an awesome team. What's not to love about cider, sea, pasties and live music?? #boardmasters #festival #liveevents #broadcast #solentuniversity

Jumping spiders are awesome. They have four pairs of eyes, each with different acuity and field of view. You can see the individual LEDs from my @lumecube reflecting in those anterior eyes. #sonyalphasclub #samyang100mmmacro #macrophotography #insectsofinstagram #lumecube