Melodies of the Heart

Reblogged from quantumaniac

sagansense:

Stunning Starry Nights of Lincoln Harrison

Victoria, Australia-based photographer Lincoln Harrison has been taking pictures for just two years. Harrison says his images are created by taking one shot during twilight and then up to 500 shots in complete darkness throughout the night. Harrison says most of his pictures are of star trails and landscapes usually around Lake Eppalock in Victoria, Australia.

“Locations are chosen in pretty much the same way as I would choose landscape locations,” says Harrison. “I just drive or walk around until I see something that looks good.”

After Harrison returns from his night shoot, he processes the image in Adobe Photoshop, stacking the images using the lighten and blend modes, to create his spectacular images. He then adds the twilight image, sometimes shot using HDR (High Dynamic Range) and a combination of layer masks.

His favorite? At the moment Wormhole. You can see more of his incredible images at his website or at 500px.com

We’d like to see your star trails. Send us your photos or post it on our Flickr page.

Reblogged from mysticplaces

Bioluminsecent Phytoplankton - Dinoflagellates

The biological light, or bioluminescence, in the waves is the product of marine microbes called phytoplankton—and now scientists think they know how some of these life-forms create their brilliant blue glow.

The most common type of marine bioluminescence is generated by phytoplankton known as dinoflagellates. A recent study co-authored by Hastings has for the first time identified a special channel in the dinoflagellate cell membrane that responds to electrical signals—offering a potential mechanism for how the algae create their unique illumination.