Comet C/2023 A3 at Morro Bay, California

 

View of Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan, Atlas) from Morro Bay, California. Rick was camped next to Morro Creek for two nights hoping to get a photo of the comet with Morro Rock, but it was foggy for those two nights. The third morning appeared mostly sunny, so Rick paid for another night hoping for clear skies that night. He was fortunate that it worked out well that time. The nearly full moon helped to light the foreground for this long exposure. The end of Morro Rock and Pillar Rock appear on the left side of the photo.

October 16, 2024, Fuji GFX100S, 20 seconds, 45 mm (36 mm equivalent), f/5.7, ISO 800

You can watch our YouTube video about this project at: https://youtu.be/j-zvldptmLc

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

Comet NEOWISE over Sacramento, California

These photos are of Comet NEOWISE, aka C/2020 F3, taken at about 4:39 AM Sacramento time on July 12, 2020. I, Bob, had driven to the west end of the Yolo Bypass, which is between the cities of West Sacramento and Davis, California. I was looking northeasterly when I took this shot.  Other photographers were out in these predawn hours to get photos of it, like I was. The horizon is the Sierra foothills.

At this point Comet NEOWISE is on the outbound part of its orbit after already whipping past the sun. The tails of comets are created by and directed by solar radiation, which means they always point away from the sun. The sun is below the horizon in this view and the tail is pointing away from it.

While I was getting shots of the comet, a freight train passed by me on the nearby tracks.

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

Half Dome with a cloud on a bright sunny day

Half Dome is Yosemite's most iconic feature. It has many moods depending on the lighting, the presence of clouds, the season, and the angle from which you view it. This photo was taken from Sentinel Bridge, a popular spot from which to photograph Half Dome. The bridge connects the Southside Drive to the Northside Drive over the Merced River in Yosemite Valley. The face of Half Dome is in shadow in the mornings and isn't lit up by the sun until the afternoon.

Normally, we avoid visiting Yosemite in the summer because of how crowded it can be, but from time to time, we do make a summer time visit. This image was taken in early June, 2010. Rick lives close enough to Yosemite that he can make a day trip to visit the park. This was early enough in the season that there was still some snow on Half Dome. This was before the big five-year drought that California experienced. the dark trees in the image provide a nice framing effect and the cloud capping off Half Dome adds interest.

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

Delicate Arch with a sunny halo

Delicate Arch is probably Utah's most famous landmark. It stands on the rim of a huge bowl-shaped depression. So we traveled down into the bowl in order to look back up at it. We noticed how brightly the sun was glowing behind the arch, plus the bright wispy clouds. This side of the arch was in shadow, but we were able to bring out the details in the editing process. Bob accidentally dropped a lens cap that rolled all the way down to the base of the bowl. It turned out it wasn't as difficult to follow the slope down as it looked at first glance. He was able to get the lens cap back.

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

Window Arch in City of Rocks National Reserve

Window Arch is one of many arches and other granite features in the City of Rocks National Reserve, in southeastern Idaho. This feature can be reached by hiking an easy 0.1 mile trail from the parking spot for campsite number 37. It is situated along a ridge that allows for getting good photos of it from either side. I chose this side because of the interesting cloud formations in the sky that you can see under the arch.

To give you a better idea about the size of the arch, look at the picture below with Rick standing in it.

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

Great American Solar Eclipse from central Oregon

The solar eclipse during totality, with a couple of small stars shining below and to the left of the sun. Outside the frame of this picture, Venus and Saturn were also visible. Rick viewed the eclipse from central Oregon from Beech Creek Summit, near John Day, Oregon. The summit is actually north of the small town of Mount Vernon, Oregon, along Highway 395, but John Day was the biggest town in the area and it's where he camped. His fellow eclipse viewers at the summit were from parts of America, like California and Washington state, plus Germany, and Ireland. The diamond ring effect that you see just before totality starts and just as it is ending can't be compared in a photograph to the actual experience of seeing it. The best I can say is that when you see it in person, the little diamond sparkle is still bright enough to blind you. The corona itself is very bright and seems to display threads of light that don't show in typical photographs that well, but it also makes witnessing the eclipse in person a more dramatic experience than viewing a photo of it.

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

Half Dome at sunset in Yosemite Valley

Sunset at Yosemite Valley with the magnificent Half Dome as the main subject. There's North Dome at the left in this view. We've posted a photo of Half Dome as seen from the top of North Dome in an earlier section of our blog. We've been to the top of Half Dome three times, and Rick has been to the top of North Dome twice. One thing about the angle that Half Dome's face has in relation to the sun is that it is very often in shadow in the morning and isn't fully lit until the afternoon. There are now people hiking to the top of Half Dome at all hours of the day. We've met people started their hike to the top of Half Dome late at night because they wanted to witness the sunrise from the top the next morning.

Camera settings were 1/125 sec. f/5.6, ISO 100, 32 mm focal length.

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

Grand Teton cloud eruption!

On the horizon is the towering peak of Grand Teton, as viewed from the west looking east while still in Idaho. This caught Rick's attention because of the way the clouds appeared to be coming out of the peak, as though it was a volcano spewing ash. It reminded him of pictures of volcanic eruptions, so he pulled over to the shoulder of the road to get pictures of the peak and the clouds. There is another string of cloud reaching toward the ground to the right in this image, as well. This also helps to show that the west slope of the Teton Range is gradual and leads up to the peaks, unlike the eastern, more famous side of the range that is known for not having foothills at all.

The camera is a Canon Rebel EOS xSi at f/8, 1/180 sec, ISO 200, focal length 55mm (about 86mm equivalent).

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

Rays of Light From the Setting Sun Create a Silver Lining in the Clouds Over the Teton Range, Wyoming

On August 10, 2016, we were in Grand Teton National Park. After spending some time photographing 4 bull moose along the Gros Ventre River, we drove north along the range and noticed that the sun was setting and creating a fringed look to the clouds. In this image, you can see the silhouette of the Teton range, parts of which still have snow. In the clouds, the lobes of the clouds were creating a light and dark pattern to the sunlight. The clouds themselves appeared to have a silver lining.

The image was taken with a Canon PowerShot SX530 HS, ISO 100, f8, 1/640 sec. zoomed at 65.4mm. Taken on August 10th, at 7:50PM from the Teton Park Road.

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

The Moon rising in the Yosemite area before sunset

The nearly full moon will rise before the sun has completely set. Here's a picture in the Yosemite area taken from Yosemite Valley looking southeasterly at the rising moon with the landscape still being lit by the sun. We were in Yosemite to get moonbow pictures. Fortunately we were there early enough to get the moon rise, as well.

Camera was set at f/4 and 1/60 sec and was handheld. The ISO wasn't recorded. This image was taken using an ultra-high definition camcorder that can also take 20 megapixel stills.This was originally a 20 megapixel still image, but has been cropped and then resized for our blog.

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

A Mono Lake Tufa Tower "Pinching" the Moon

On our return from a trip to Death Valley, we camped south of Mono Lake, on the east side of the Sierra. Mono Lake is famous for its tufa towers, calcium carbonate structures that formed underwater, now exposed due to Los Angeles diverting 4 of the 5 fresh water streams that flow into the salty lake causing the lake level to drop. We were up early enough to get sunrise shots and while taking pictures of the tufa towers reflected in the water, we noticed that the moon was setting. Rick positioned himself near this tower that had two peaks that appeared to have a pinching action, so it would appear that the two peaks are pinching the moon between them.

The image was taken before 8 AM on March 27th, 2016 as the sun was rising to light the tower's east face and the moon was setting in the west. The camera settings were f22, 1/30 second, and ISO 100, with the camera set on a tripod and using the timer function to allow the camera to be still.

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

Mono Lake tufa tower pointing at the moon

It's all a matter of perspective! While returning to Sacramento from a trip to Death Valley, we stayed for one night in the Mono Lake area so that we could get early morning images in the Mono Lake basin. From the south shore, at what used to be the state park, we hiked out to the shore to look at the features and set up our tripods for photos of the lake and the tufa towers. Along the way, Rick noticed that the moon would be setting as the morning progressed and wanted to include it in some of his pictures. He lined up this image to include a tufa tower and the moon so that the tower appears to point to the moon. The early morning sun was lighting one side of the tower and the moon appears to be immediately above it.  In this shot, the moon appears to be the yin yang symbol.

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

Sunset silhouette of the Teton Range in Grand Teton NP

A sunset profile of the Teton Range in Grand Teton National Park. The peak named Grand Teton is the highest peak, third from the right.  The sun's rays are flaring over the southern end of the range.  The highest peak under the rays is Buck Mountain and the canyon to the right that is the low point is Avalanche Canyon. The timing worked out for this image as Bob was driving back to camp and saw the effect the peaks were having on the light from the setting sun, so he used one of the turnouts along the main road through the park.

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

Yosemite Falls by moonlight, reflected in Cook Meadow's pool, with the Big Dipper above

This image was taken in June 2011,  when there was still a large pool in Cook Meadow. We tried to get pictures of the moonbow in Yosemite Falls, the lower end, then moved back farther, to the Sentinel parking area, to see if the upper falls showed a moonbow, as well. After getting out of the car, Rick noticed that Yosemite Falls was being reflected in the pool. After spending some more time examining the scene, he noticed that the Big Dipper was just above the falls, as well. This image is the result of 3 images being merged seamlessly together, was lit by moonlight and each image was taken for 30 seconds. You can see the reflection and a little of the bottom of the pool at the same time. It has been cropped to an 11x17 ratio.

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

Upper Graveyard Lake reflection, High Sierra, John Muir Wilderness

This photo shows the upper Graveyard Lake with the surrounding ridge reflected in its still water. Rick explored this area during a backpacking trip to the John Muir Wilderness in California's High Sierra mountain range. He camped at the lower Graveyard Lake the first night and hiked to this lake the next day. The wind was surprisingly calm in the late morning when this image was taken. The area gets the name of Graveyard Lakes and Graveyard Meadow farther down-slope because all the granite boulders that were left behind when the glaciers retreated after the last Ice Age, that the area seems to be filled with "tombstones".

Rick took this image as a vertical in an attempt to get the top of the ridge and its reflection in the water.

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

Nearly full moon rising next to Half Dome, viewed from North Dome, July 11, 2014

After hiking about 4 and a half miles from Porcupine Flat to North Dome, I waited for the sun to set and the moon to rise. July 11th was the day before the full moon, so the scenery would still be lit by the sun, or at least still be bright, as the moon was rising. I had to reposition myself around North Dome until I saw the moon lined up the way I wanted it. I hoped to see the moon between Half Dome and the smaller high point to its left, called Sub Dome. Fortunately, that worked out. Then I hiked back out from 9PM to 11PM.

Getting the exposure on the moon and the landscape in the same image is very difficult. The moon at this phase is very bright, so a setting that properly exposes the landscape results in a washed-out moon. Properly exposing the moon results in a dark landscape with no detail. To solve this problem, you can take two images, one exposed for the landscape and the other exposed for the moon, then combine the moon from the one image into the washed-out moon in the other.

While atop North Dome, I decided to take a selfie with my smart phone as proof that I was there.

Richard Robinson standing on the highest point of North Dome with Half Dome over his shoulder.

The picture shown below is the bench mark for the highest point of North Dome, at 7531 feet elevation. On topographic maps, you'll see these labeled as BM and a plus sign or crosshair on the map, so that when you see this marker on the land and find that mark on the map, you know exactly where you are.

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

Yosemite's Half Dome with a nearly full moon rising during the winter

During a winter cross-country skiing trip, we were out during the time that the full moon wold be coming up alittle before the sun would set completely. That's what made this shot possible. To have the foreground lit up with the moon in the distance, you have to be out one or two days before the full moon. The Glacier Point Road is closed to cars during the winter, so one has to ski, snowshoe, or snow boot travel from Badger Pass to Glacier Point, a distance of about 10 and a half miles, one way. We camped out in the snow for one night, before heading back to Badger Pass.

In this image, you can see Half Dome, the Clark Range to the right, with Tenaya Canyon and North Dome to the left. The image is the result of merging 4 separate images together to get more detail.

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

Yosemite Valley's upper end from Glacier Point, with Tenaya Canyon and the Merced River

This panoramic image is made up of 6 combined images. The view is from Glacier Point looking basically eastward into Tenaya Canyon, but also including scenes to the north and south. On the left side of the image is North Dome and Basket Dome. Below those features is a feature called the Royal Arches. Tenaya Creek flows through Tenaya Canyon, in some places you can tell where that stream is located. In the lower part of the image, you can see the Merced River flowing through Yosemite Valley. To the right of Tenaya Canyon is Half Dome and Clouds Rest. The canyon to the right, or south, of Half Dome is Little Yosemite Valley, within which you can see Nevada Falls, the upper one, and Vernal Falls, the lower one. We've been to Glacier Point in all seasons, including skiing out to it during the winter, but these images were captured in September of 2011. This image is best printed at a 2 to 1 ratio, such as 8x16 or 10x20, and so on.

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

Sentinel Point, in Yosemite National Park, at sunset.

Sentinel Point towers over the south rim of Yosemite Valley. Not as famous as other features, like El Capitan or Half Dome, it can still offer some spectacular views. This image was taken as the sun was setting and Rick was looking for Horsetail Falls to the west of El Capitan picnic area. After gazing westward at the falls, Rick looked east and was surprised to see the moon rising near Sentinel Point, which is the left-most point of rock in this photo. The image was taken in February as the setting sun reflects from El Capitan's east flank, which only happens in November and February, each year. Because this was in February, you can see some  patches of snow on the cliff.

So many people know about Horsetail Falls glowing red from the setting sun in February, that the Park Service has started closing off one lane for parking, so all the photographers can park and be close to the waterfall feature. We've tried several times to get Horsetail Falls lit up by the setting sun in February, but there are other features around Yosemite to keep an eye out for, so don't fixate on one thing to the exclusion of others.

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

Yosemite Falls, upper and lower, with a lunar rainbow, or moonbow, with stars.

The mist from Yosemite Falls can turn moonlight into a moonbow, or lunar rainbow, around the time of the full moon. It also depends on how much precipitation the area had during the winter and sping, since the misting water droplets coming off the falls is what separates the white light into the spectrum of colors. The moon-caused bow is dim enough that human eyes can't distinguish the colors. We have rods and cones in our eyes, cells that respond to light. The rods respond to brightness and don't detect color, but the cones do respond to color, but only if their light has enough intensity. Moonlight isn't usually intense enough to trigger the cones. When looking at this moonbow, we only saw an arc of ghostly white light, but the camera's time exposure, 30 seconds, does pick up the colors that our eyes can't see.

This perspective also includes the upper falls and stars so that it's easier to tell that it was taken at night. To get here, you have to be willing to do a little scrambling off of the paved path over granite that is sometimes slick, right up to the base of the cliffs, but it's well worth it. You also should bring along a dry cloth to wipe the droplets off of your lens, since it will get wet. Wearing rain gear to keep yourself dry and protected from the wind is a good idea, too. Waterfalls create their wind. The falling water drags air down with it. 

This image was two shots, lower and upper, then merged together to create one larger image. The two were taken on June 2, 2012. We tried again this year, 2013, but last year's results were better.

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