Time Lapse Comet NEOWISE
Comet NEOWISE put on quite a show in the Eastern Sierras July 18-20, 2020. My time lapses consist of dozens of still photos put into a video editor, then sped up about 2000 percent.
Because each exposure is 8-10 seconds, and the intervals are 15 seconds, the transitions are not smooth as they would be with professional astrophotography equipment. But they are still revealing. There was a lot of airplane traffic, and even a flyby of the International Space Station, which is the brightest streak. This was from my third night on the road at the Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California. I used the tungsten white balance setting to record a more natural looking blue sky.
There was no moon so it made for spectacular Milky Way photography as well. Oddly there aren’t nearly so many airliner streaks. The white balance was set on sunshine.
On the second night of my mini-road trip, I went to Mono Lake, as I had seen some amazing photos of the comet with the otherworldly tufa formations. But the sky was so cloudy I thought I’d have a better experience just camping on a hillside on forest service land and seeing if the sky would clear. I was all by myself, save a few singing coyotes, and it was lovely. However, the clouds only partially cleared for a few minutes before shrouding the comet again.
It was an amazing experience in an amazing place. So long, NEOWISE. See you in 6,800 years or so.
Photos and text copyrighted by Cindy McIntyre
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Website: CindyMcIntyre.com
Online gallery: Smugmug and Fine Art America
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Total Eclipse of the Sun
Solar eclipse as viewed from the Rowe Audubon Sanctuary along the banks of the Platte River, Gibbon, Nebraska, August 21. I used a Nikon D750 with an 80-400mm lens for the stills and the video of the eclipse’s ending, and a Nikon D600 and Canon SX60 for landscape videos. A solar filter was used on the lens prior to totality.
Since I live a day’s drive from the path of totality of the solar eclipse of August 21, 2017, I decided to make the trip to near Kearney, Nebraska to see what may be a once-in-a-lifetime event. Read the rest of this entry »
My New Favorite Place
Rainbow over Rainbow Park
I had my weekend (Mon-Tues) all planned out: get my aging minivan serviced at the Ford place in Vernal, Utah, visit the nearby McConkie Ranch’s petroglyphs, then swing south through Nine Mile Canyon (really 70 miles long) to see more rock art. Car muffler repaired, check. Car engine problems – still ongoing. (Sigh!) Drive up Dry Fork Canyon Road north of Vernal, Utah to McConkie Ranch. Scramble up to see a handful of unimpressive petroglyphs. Climb a ladder over a fence to follow a trail that mysteriously ends at a gate to see the more impressive Three Kings petroglyphs. Give up on that idea since there’s nobody to ask. See a magnificent peregrine falcon. Then head west and south through several miles of oil/gas fields with muscular turbo-charged diesel trucks impatient to pass on these tight turns. Feliciana (my 2000 Ford Windstar) has already whined and complained about going down this road, and my gut instinct tells me I don’t really want to do this. When the road turns to gravel I realize I don’t have the heart to deal with the oil field traffic for who-knows-how-many-dirt-miles. I turn around and pick another destination from my long list of places I want to see before my job at Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado ends in six weeks. Read the rest of this entry »
Stars 1, Satellite 1, Meteors 0
Satellite streaking through the stars in 15 second exposure
I went to the High Uintas in Utah (north of Vernal) to watch the Perseid meteor shower. The moon rose an hour after sunset so I thought I might have a chance before its brilliant light washed out the visibility. I did several hours’ worth of time lapse photographs to capture any that might streak by. Zip. Nada. I did catch a satellite though.
See the stars move through the sky – 50 minutes in 22 seconds
Dusk settles on Spirit Lake, the stars appear, then the moonlight tints the lake and trees onshore.
Text and photographs copyrighted by Cindy McIntyre
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Website: CindyMcIntyre.com
Online gallery: Smugmug and Fine Art America
Original hand-painted BW photographs for sale: Etsy
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Contact: cindy at cindymcintyre.com
