The Milkyway from Lost Park in Pike National Forest, Colorado.
Lost Park Milkyway
2010 Perseid Meteor Shower
Today’s digital cameras provide a huge advantage over the old days of film for night sky photography. High ISO capabilities and the immediate feedback of LCD playback allow for experimentation and dialing in your settings. The results are amazing compared to what I used to get, struggling with film.
I (re)discovered the joy of night sky and star photography several months ago during a trip to New Mexico’s Bisti Wilderness. My results were satisfactory, but I knew I’d do better with a faster lens. After doing some research and weighing the options, I compromised on quality vs. price and found a good deal on a used Canon EF 28mm f/1.8.
Last weekend I (finally) had a chance to really try out my new fast lens. I headed to the Colorado mountains for a family camping trip, far away from city lights. And although it wasn’t peak timing for the 2010 Perseid Meteor shower, Friday night still provided a good number of meteors. I didn’t capture many – there’s still that factor of having your lens pointed in the right direction and your shutter open 
, but I enjoyed the evening and got to experiment with the Canon 28mm.
Here’s an image showing a faint Perseid.
2010 Perseid Meteor
Here’s a close-up crop of the meteor streak…
2010 Perseid Meteor Close-up
Also hiding out in that first image is a faint showing of the Andromeda Galaxy (that little fuzzy spot) …
Andromeda Galaxy
So what did I find out when experimenting with my new-to-me 28mm? Focusing in the dark is still difficult, and LiveView simply doesn’t work – not enough light. But I found the best focus setting by taking a shot, checking focus on the LCD playback, tweaking, checking, etc. until it looked good. The exposure settings that worked best for this lens and sky conditions were the following:
- ISO 1600
- f/1.8 and 15-20 seconds
I’m quite happy with the performance of the lens. The corners are pretty sharp and the CA isn’t too bad. I’m sure the image quality of the Canon 24mm f/1.4 L is better, but its also considerably more expensive. I’m happy with my compromise and so far happy with the results. I can’t wait to get out and do some more night sky photography!
Posted in Recent Images, Reviews.
– August 20, 2010
Avalanche Detritus
Nature is often messy, drab, dirty, harsh and chaotic. Powerful forces are at work and sometimes they wreak havoc, leaving paths of destruction.
You’ve probably seen videos showing the immense power of an avalanche racing down a steep mountainside – a white, roiling tumble of powdery acceleration, engulfing all in its path. They are beautiful and awe-inspiring to watch, from a distance. But at ground level, underneath all that pure white energy, rock and earth and tundra and spruce are being scoured off the mountain, shredded to bits and strewn in a jumble at the bottom of a pile when everything comes to rest.
Sometimes the true wrath isn’t visible until spring, and then summer arrive. As the snow melts, the detritus is slowly revealed. All of these bits once belonged to the environment high above.
Avalanche Detritus
Posted in Recent Images.
– August 11, 2010
Glacier Lilies
One of my favorite wildflowers and some of the first to appear as the snow recedes…
Glacier Lilies
Posted in Recent Images.
– August 9, 2010
Mirror Lake – Snowy Range
I wonder how many lakes are named “Mirror Lake?” Â Â ;-)
Mirror Lake - Snowy Range
Posted in Locations, Recent Images.
– August 8, 2010
Snowy Range Sunset
After several days of photographing completely cloudless skies in the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming (bummer), we headed south to the Snowy Range. And we arrived just in time for a magnificent sunset – what a treat!
Snowy Range Sunset Pano
Please click on the image above to view a larger size. Really! Go ahead and click, its worth it… Â :-)
Posted in Locations, Recent Images.
– August 6, 2010
Tower Reflections
Here are a few more images from my recent backpacking trip to Cirque of the Towers. Each peak, or tower, in the cirque has its own look – its own character. Each has a different, dramatic face rising from a rock-jumble base. And each pierces the sky with a different spear-shaped summit. This is part of the cirque’s appeal. Spires of the same material uniquely carved by wind, water and ice.
War Bonnet Reflection
Watch Tower Reflection
Warrior Peaks Reflection
I’m sure you noticed that each image above reflects a peak in a tarn, pool or stream. This type of image was one of my goals for this trip, so I tried it with many of the towers in different compositions. This is a classic (and popular) landscape technique – and something I had a lot of fun with while shooting in the cirque.
Posted in Locations, Recent Images.
– August 5, 2010
College Hill Library Show
The Rocky Mountain Nature Photographers group has a print exhibition at the College Hill Library this month. My Early Morning at Unnamed Tarn panorama from the Snowy Range in Wyoming is on display along with 34 other prints from some very talented photographers.
The show runs from August 2 to August 30. The College Hill Library is located at 112 Avenue and Stuart Street in Westminster, CO and is open Mon-Thurs: 9am – 9pm, Fri-Sat: 10am – 5pm, Sunday: 1pm – 5pm.
If you’re in the area, stop by and check it out!
Posted in News.
– August 4, 2010
Pingora and Hidden Lake
Hidden Lake lies right-smack at the base of Warrior Peaks in the Cirque of the Towers. Its name comes from the fact that its not visible from the lower parts of the cirque. But this turquoise colored gem can be seen from Jackass Pass and we could see it from our camp high on the southern rim of the cirque. The route we took to get to the lake had us scaling the edge of the waterfall that forms Hidden Lake’s outlet and hopping over, through and even under some of the giant, granite boulders that form the moraine hiding the lake. Most of the lake is surrounded by this rocky terrain, but there is a small patch of tundra on the lake’s south side. And it offers incredible morning views of Pylon and Watchtower Peaks, as well as Wolfs Head and Pingora seen here…
Hidden Lake and Pingora
Posted in Locations, Recent Images.
– August 3, 2010
First Light on Warrior Peaks
I just returned from a backpack trip to Cirque of the Towers – Popo Agie Wilderness in the southern Wind River Mountains of Wyoming. This was my second trip to “The Cirque” and the conditions were very different due to several factors – wildflowers, weather and mosquitoes. 4 years ago, during the first week of August, it appears we missed most of the wildflower bloom, the weather was variable with morning sun and afternoon thunderstorms, and we didn’t use a drop of insect repellent. This year, towards the end of July, the wildflowers were at peak bloom, the weather was hot, windless and totally-perfectly-endlessly-horizon-to-horizon-clear (not a good thing photogenically), and the mosquitoes were unbearable – no amount of deet could ward off the swarms.
Regardless of the conditions, the cirque is an amazing place. With the dramatic granite spires, abundant tarns and glowing sunrise light, its hard for a photographer to go wrong.
Here’s one of my favorites from the trip, so far. I still have hundreds of images to look through…
First Light on Warrior Peaks
Or if you’re one who likes waterfalls…
Cirque Waterfall & Warrior I
Posted in Locations, Recent Images.
– July 27, 2010
