Alamere Falls in Point Reyes National Seashore, lit by flashlight at night

 

We attempted to determine if Point Reyes's Alamere Falls could produce a moonbow during the July full moon period. We hiked along the beach from Wildcat Camp while the tide was changing from high to low. This also was one day before the full moon, which means an earlier start to the moonbow, if it happens. We didn't find a moonbow, but we may have arrived too late. We still have hope that it can happen here. 

While near the base of the falls, we set up our cameras and tried taking moonlit images and light-painted images. Light painting involves using a source of light combined with a long exposure to artificially light up a night-time scene. This one worked out quite well.

Fuji GFX100S: 30 sec, f5.6, ISO 1600, 45mm (36mm equivalent)

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Yosemite, Lower Falls Moonbow in June 23-24, 2024, from bridge and "the wall"

Here's an image of Yosemite's moonbow in the lower falls as viewed from the bridge over Yosemite Creek. Moonlight tends to make soft shadows and a less sharp photo. Here's the link to our YouTube video: What is a Moonbow? - https://youtu.be/S_ay06ZPjqA

ISO 3200, f4, 60 seconds

And this is an image of the moonbow in the Lower Falls of Yosemite from straight on. You can even see some of the Upper Falls at the top of the frame, along with some stars. We were up well past 3am getting these moonbow images. There is a predicted time online for viewing it from the bridge, but we found that moving to a different perspective allowed for much more time to view the moonbow. Most of the other photographers there that night had already left after the predicted time ended, but we kept at it and that action paid off.

ISO 3200, f8, 50 seconds

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

 

Rainbow Fall, Devils Postpile NM, taken at night

 

During a July visit to Devil's Postpile National Monument, Rick visited Rainbow Fall at night to see if he could get moonlit shots of the waterfall. Except for the top quarter, the rest of the fall was in moonshadow. The shadows of the trees along the left wall are from moonlight. You can see stars in the sky. Using a very bright flashlight, he lit the water during a long exposure and got this image.

18mm focal length, ISO 1600, f8, 30 seconds, Canon EOS 70D set on a tripod

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Moonbow in upper Yosemite Falls, from the trail.

After hiking up the Yosemite Falls trail in the dark, we were able to find a dramatic viewpoint from which to get images of the moonbow at the base of upper Yosemite Falls. Part of the Middle Cascades shows through the moonbow. This entire scene is lit by moonlight and you can see stars in the sky. This excursion took us well into the early morning hours. This photo was taken at 12:15 am.  We took photos from this spot for 3-1/2hours total, before hiking back down to Camp 4. Thanks to Brian Hawkins for his moonbow predictions which we verified by being on the scene. The most was starting to form a second moonbow above the first.  It's much fainter, though.

The photo details are ISO 1600, f6.7, 20 sec exposure. vertical orientation.

 Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

 

Mobius Arch moonlit at night with Mount Whitney underneath, and Jupiter

 On our trip to the Alabama Hills, which is east of the Sierra Nevada's highest peak, Mount Whitney, I got this nighttime photo of the world-famous Mobius Arch. Mount Whitney is seen underneath the arch to the far right (it's not the highest-looking peak from this view). Mobius Arch is named for the Mobius strip, a mathematical/topological concept of having a single twist in a strip linked to itself such that it has only one side. The thin portion of the arch must've made someone think it had a twist in it, hence the name. 

This feature is along the Arch Loop Trail, a little over 1.5 miles off of Movie Road, which is off of the Whitney Portal Road heading west out of Lone Pine, California. The trail also passes Lathe Arch, Heart Arch, and Behind the Heart Arch. You can see Heart Arch from the parking area before you even start to hike. Mobius Arch is the largest of these with the largest opening and span. Jupiter is brightest object in the sky.

This photo was taken by moonlight at 30 seconds, ISO 1600, f9.5.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Burney Falls, after midnight, light painting

 

Burney Falls is a waterfall famous for its unique geology. The stream, Burney Creek, flows over the brink after being split into two streams that fall to the pool below. The rest of the cliff face has springs gushing from it that make it look like a very wide waterfall. The estimated amount of water flowing from this cliff is 100 million gallons per day. We visited McArthur-Burney Falls State Park during spring break 2021. 

In a way, Burney Falls is challenging to photograph in that it is north-facing and doesn't receive direct sunlight. We managed to get a better image of the falls than usual by taking this picture after midnight and using a flashlight combined with a long exposure time to light the scene in a way that couldn't happen during the daytime. This image was actually taken around 12:43am with a 30-second exposure, ISO 800, f5.6, and a focal length of 18mm. It needed a wide-angle setting on the lens to get all of the falls in the frame, plus we wanted to be physically closer so the flashlight could be more effective. This process of using a flashlight (or torch as the British call it) to light the scene is called light painting. It appears to bring out the colors of the ferns better than a daytime photo when the cliff is in shadow.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

McArthur-Burney Falls State Park, Bob contemplating the flame

 

Bob decided to have a campfire on our spring break trip. We normally don't bother getting a fire going because we're usually out hiking or working on night photography and don't want to be tied to the responsibility. We were camped at the Rim Campground in McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park, in California.

Taken with a Motorola z4, 1/10sec, f1.7, 4.7mm, ISO 2480, Camera app using Night Vision feature. March 29, 2021, 9:35 pm

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!