Chilled Fire

With air temperatures hovering around the freezing mark on Sunday, November 19, 2017, post-sunset skies as seen from Marion, Iowa were nevertheless fiery. The image above looks west from Hampshire Drive, about one-tenth mile south of East Robins Road at 4:56 pm. Image is a 1/25-second exposure at f/5.6, 320 ISO and 122mm focal length.

Also looking west at 5:03 pm. 1/40-second exposure at f/8, 640 ISO and 190mm focal length.

5:23 pm. Looking southwest. Sky in this image includes a waxing crescent moon. 1/6-second exposure at f/5.6, 320 ISO, 95mm focal length. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

Read more...

Too Late For Halloween

Looking perfect for a Halloween setting--but three days too late--is this full moon veiled by a thin layer of clouds and behind the branches of a bare tree. Image looks east from Brentwood Drive NE in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It was shot at 1/60 second at f/5.6, 800 ISO and 300mm focal length. 8:17 pm CDT, Friday, November 3, 2017. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

Read more...

Badlands Dark Skies Leftovers

Capturing early morning skies from the Badlands Door Trail in South Dakota on Monday, September 18, 2017 also included these two miscellaneous images. There were so many stars in this dark location that it was somewhat difficult to identify the constellation Orion. Conversely, in the light polluted skies of eastern Iowa, Orion is very obvious. The image above looks southeast at 4:15 am MDT. Just to the right of the Milky Way at center is Orion, with the -1.47 magnitude star Sirius seen just above and left of the horizon glow. Image is a 20 second exposure at f/2.8, 5000 ISO and 11mm focal length.

Looking east at 5:26 am from the same location. Just above the horizon glow at center is the -3.94 magnitude planet Venus, rising ahead of an eventual conjunction that included the star Regulus, crescent moon, and planets Mars & Mercury respectively. Also visible above and right of Venus is the Beehive Cluster (M44). Identical settings to the top image, with the exception of an ISO of 2000. Nikon D7200 DSLR, Tokina Lens.

Read more...

Badlands Beauty

An opening in the clouds near Panorama Point in the Badlands of South Dakota at the start of golden hour provided a reddish tint to rock strata seen in the image above. Image captured at 5:39 pm MDT, Saturday, September 16, 2017.

A panorama at Pinnacles Overlook two minutes after sunset on September 16. Official sunset was at 6:57 pm MDT.

Entering Door Trail from the parking lot at the Badlands, 6:11 am MDT, Sunday, September 17, 2017. Official sunrise was at 6:31. Visible in the eastern sky in this image is the -3.94 magnitude planet Venus, and the waning crescent moon.

Moving farther into Door Trail moments later. The brilliant red sky was probably augmented by distant wildfires.

Rock pinnacles, tinted red from the rising sun at Badlands Door Trail are contrasted by white wispy cirrus clouds in a west-viewed blue background sky. Image captured at 6:51 am MDT, 20 minutes after official sunrise. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera. 1/160 second, f/16, ISO 320, 16mm focal length.

Read more...

Blazing Start To Vacation

Just over an hour into our drive westward to our intended destination at Badlands National Park in South Dakota on Saturday morning, September 16, 2017, the sky became ablaze just before and at sunrise. Quickly pulling off US Highway 20 on Grundy Road, about 3.5 miles west of Cedar Falls, Iowa, I was able to capture the brief but brilliant display before rains came only minutes later. Image above captured at 6:57 am, and below, a minute later. Official sunrise was at 6:58 am. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

Read more...

More September Badlands Skies

The Pinnacles Overlook at Badlands National Park in South Dakota provides for many a beautiful vista for sunrise/sunsets. Saturday evening, September 16, 2017 was no exception. The location shown above was about a .2-mile walk over hummocky hills from the parking lot. Time was 6:40 pm MDT. The image was shot using Aperture Priority setting at f/11.

Similar shot at 6:51 pm. 1/100 second at f/9, 250 ISO and 28mm focal length. Official sunset was at 6:57 pm.

Two minutes after sunset. A panorama of the same area, including the overlook's lookout (left). 1/100 second at f/9, 250 ISO and 18mm focal length.

Door Trail area of the Badlands. 6:33 am MDT, Sunday, September 17, 2017. Official sunrise was 6:31 am. This image looks southwest and includes wisps of cirrus clouds. Perched on the red hillocks in the background with her iPad is Sue Alliss. The hillocks were reflecting the rising sun.

Similar image at 6:35 am. 1/40 second at f/10, 320 ISO, 11mm focal length. Tokina AT-X 116 Pro DX II lens, Vanguard Alta Pro 263 AT tripod with SBH-100 ballhead.

Vertically-cropped variant of an earlier posted image from the Door Trail area to create a more dynamic  image of the Milky Way rising over a light-painted foreground area looking west. 4:12 am MDT, Monday, September 18, 2017. 20 second exposure at f/2.8, 5000 ISO and 11mm focal length. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

Read more...

Brilliant Halo Over Devil's Tower

Walking the inner perimeter trail at Devil's Tower in Wyoming on Monday afternoon, September 18, 2017, the sky was mostly clear blue. Around 12:54 pm MDT, a small bank of cirrus clouds drifted directly overhead and began to create the sun halo seen in the iPhone camera image above. I had of course seen sun halos before, but this particular one was the most colorful and vivid as I had ever seen, and it was especially striking materializing over Devil's Tower-- (you know, with the Close Encounters of the Third Kind thing). Sun halos are produced by light interacting with ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere.

In just a few minutes the bank of cirrus clouds had passed, and with it the beautiful halo.

Read more...