Night Sky

Alien Structures

A starry night at an alien place.

Moon Dog & Chollas

This was my camping spot after arriving in Anza Borrego State Park just after sunset on a Friday night, pulling just off a dirt road. After setting up camp, having a dinner and a few beers, the full moon came out nicely lighting up the whole landscape. The sky was quite hazy and after seeing this moon dog for a while. A moondog is a relatively rare bright circular spot on a lunar halo caused by the refraction of moonlight by hexagonal-plate-shaped ice crystals in cirrus or cirrostratus clouds. It lasted probably for an hour (!), so I thought I better take a photo.

Santa Clarita Nights

This past winter we had above average rain/snow falls here in California and this has created a wonderful bloom of wild flowers in the last few weeks, which are of course a photographer's heaven. Two weeks ago, I caught up with my mate Matt and he was kind enough to show me 'his' local hill of lupines near Santa Clarita just north of Los Angeles. I left SoCal at 2pm to make it up the 60 miles trip on the Interstate 5 to this location in time for sunset. However, Friday afternoon LA traffic had other plans for me and I spent the next four (!) hours in a huge traffic jam!! When I finally arrived at the location 10 minutes after sunset, Matt was already up the hill and told me I had two options: directly up the hill or follow the trail........of course I was ready for the first option and started racing up the hill - until loaded with my backpack and tripod in my hand lost my balance and tumbled a few meters down the hill From then was covered in dirt and soot from the burned branches from last year's wildfires - great!! Nice to meet you Matt - yes I always look like this..... By now the good light was truly gone and so I could fire only off a few shots and be good with it......still a wonderful memory of this evening!

Moonlighting

I had an awesome (but cold) time capturing this image of Valley View in Yosemite National Park a few weeks back. It was such a serene scene and at 1am it was only me and the moon out there........oh well, maybe a coyote or two as well.....

Where will you go and see the stars?

Celebrating #internationaldarkskyweek with a selfie from #anzaborregostatepark!! Turn the #lightsoff and go outside to see the stars! It's a magical experience and with the new moon this week the conditions couldn't be better!

Ancient Giants

On top of the White Mountain range along the Eastern Sierras you can find these ancient Bristlecone Pines that are some of the oldest living organisms on Earth. They grow in really harsh environment at between 9,800 and 11,000 feet (3,000–3,400 m) above sea level and are in excess of 5000 years old. It's great to experience these ancient trees together under a night sky with even older objects.

A Special Night

This week I spontaneously drove to Joshua Tree National Park after work (like so many others) to watch the peak of this year's Perseid Meteor showers. Once the moon set at 1am, the meteors were better visible, but 'strong' ones could be seen before. It was my first time to see this annual event and I have to say, despite the enormous car traffic in the park, that it was just awesome to watch. I hope you enjoy!

Star struck in Alabama Hills

I took this image while camping in the Alabama Hills this spring. I had originally though this composition for some star trails, but the trails ended slightly offset to the main rock outcrop, so in the end I found this simpler composition more pleasing.