Cirrus Over Neal Smith Refuge

Cirrus fibratus lace the northern skies over the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge in Jasper County, about 13 miles east of Des Moines, Iowa on Saturday afternoon, April 22, 2017. This view, from Walnut Creek, was captured at 3:38 pm CDT. The photography actions at this location were part of the Bryan Hansel Photography Workshop, held here from April 22-23. The road above, Pacific Street, winds through the savanna toward the Neal Smith Center, beyond the horizon at upper left.

3:43 pm and from just north of the Walnut Creek bridge.

Closer to the road at 3:48 pm. The 3,600-acre refuge is named after Congressman Neal Edward Smith, who set its creation in motion with the Fish and Wildlife Service acquisition of the land in 1990. The land was previously owned by Iowa Power and Light Company and intended for a nuclear power plant. The area contains tallgrass prairie and oak savanna ecosystems that once graced most of the state of Iowa. Bison and elk live on the land. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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Sunup And The Main Event

With the planet Venus and the crescent moon fading into the gathering light of sunrise, the prime subject for the gathering of participants in the April 22-23, 2017 Bryan Hansel Photography Workshop finally appeared. The image above (6:25 am CDT, April 23) and below (6:27 am) looks east from W 129th Street S, just south of S 102nd Avenue W, about one mile SW of the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge Center, and about 13 miles east of Des Moines, Iowa. Official sunrise was at 6:13 am. Air temperature at this moment registered at 45 degrees F. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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Celestial Bodies Enhance Bryan Hansel Photography Workshop

The April 22-23, 2017 Bryan Hansel Photography Workshop was held at and near the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge, just east of Des Moines, Iowa. Part of the workshop, of which I was a participant of, was a sunrise photography session on Sunday morning, April 23. Official sunrise was 6:13 am CDT. Workshop attenders were asked to meet at the gravel road intersection of W 129th Street S and S 102nd Avenue W around 5:30 am to have ample time to set up. An added bonus shone in the eastern sky at this time: the -4.52 magnitude planet Venus and a beautiful thin crescent moon. The above image was captured at 5:40 am from S 102nd Avenue W, near the intersection. Air temperature was a chilly 45 degrees F.

5:44 am. Another (zoomed out) view of the display from the same location. Many arriving attenders
approached from the road's distant horizon with distracting headlights, forcing photographers to have to wait until the vehicles glided past them in the foreground.

This image shows workshop photographers setting up and capturing the celestial event (right), along W 129th Street S, just south of the intersection of S 102nd Avenue W a minute later. Vehicles parked along S 102nd Avenue can be seen in the background at left. This location was about one mile SW of the Neal Smith Wildlife Refuge Center. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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