I actually took this photo a month ago while roaming Morton County. I was on my way back into town and found myself northwest of Mandan, so I decided to stop over and catch some shots of this church before bouncing down a section line. The clouds were pretty remarkable, giving an excellent background to this place of worship.
I’d had a fruitful day with the camera, but when I had the combination of this church and this sky to play with, this was one of the most fun stops of my entire day!
We were treated to quite a show here in Bismarck-Mandan tonight. I was on the east end of Bismarck when I spotted this building cloud to the west. The sun had just moved behind it, making that “silver lining” glow like a bolt of lightning. And oh, the rays!
My little boy thought it looked like God was playing hide and seek behind the cloud, and I couldn’t argue that assessment.
Before long it was in full bloom and moving overhead, so I grabbed my camera from the back of the truck (the previous photos were from my iPod) and snapped one more shot before the cloud dissipated even more.
Wow, what a beautiful sky tonight, eh?
Several nights ago a photo pal and I went out to catch the sunset. It came together rather suddenly and with very little time before the sun actually set, but we hastily set out to see what we could capture.
We were heading toward a little spot I’ve rediscovered north of Bismarck, but due to time constraints we stopped at Double Ditch instead. The sky was ready to deliver an amazing sunset, with brilliant colors already developing and dramatic clouds. That’s when it happened: two opposing clouds crossed each other from our perspective, essentially covering the sun and snuffing out the aforementioned brilliance. Bummer.
We made the best of it (in fact, my last post came from this trip) and came away with some pretty cool shots. Then we saw the rising moon behind us. We had an idea for another familiar spot down the road with that moon in the background, also dancing with some dramatic clouds, so we hopped in the Monster Truck and headed back that way.
That’s when it happened: in exactly the same fashion, two clouds scissored together and sliced our beautiful moon from view just as we were rolling up to our stop. Really. We hiked a little anyway to see if something would develop, but all that we got for our efforts was a few dozen fresh mosquito bites.
The trip home involved a stop at the Hoge Island boat landing parking lot. There wasn’t much to see…or was there? The moon began to peek out, and there was an interesting line of trees…so, what the heck. We hopped out in the middle of the gravel parking lot, set up the sticks, and took a crack at it.
We had a brief moment of luminescence in the clouds and an unobstructed moon before hopping in the truck and making our way home. I often say that any photo trip resulting in even one pleasing shot is a success. This one, bug bites and all, certainly fit that category. When you’ve got the fellowship of a dear friend, even coming home empty handed would be just fine, too.
Clouds can make or break a photo. Sometimes they obscure the sun just as the skids are about to get interesting. Other times they provide just the right circumstances for a dramatic photo. This is obviously the latter.
Taking a sunrise or sunset photo without any clouds just doesn’t work. They perform an essential service in making the skies more interesting. Whoa..did I just stumble upon a metaphor for life just now?
I was out running errands on my way home and happened to see an interesting alignment of Venus, Mercury, and the moon as I was near the capitol. I whipped around to the northwest path on the grounds, took out a camera and tripod, and caught the three celestial bodies arranged around the tower.
I’ve had some great shots of the ISS over the years…passing over a Fort Lincoln blockhouse, streaking across the sunrise above the Double Ditch post, and above the Pioneers statue at the capitol mall. Tonight I opted to grab a shot of it passing over the tower from the north, and it didn’t disappoint.
I like those direct overhead passes because they take longer. There’s more to see. But sometimes that poses a photographic challenge, even with a 10mm lens. When it’s lower on the horizon it’s easier to get a nice arc over your foreground subject. In any case, I’m relishing every photo opportunity I can get these days!
The sky sometimes, so unkind
Then again, he’s my best friend…
– Crocodiles, “Sleep Forever”
See that point where the K index plummets from a tasty 7, indicating a geomagnetic storm, to a serene 4, indicating bubkes? That’s the point where a friend and I loaded up the truck and blazed north to catch those auroras that we’ve been anticipating. That’s okay…my photo buddy and I had a backup plan, and it worked out quite nicely.
Step One: I had this spot in mind, along a little lake northeast of town. Even though the auroras weren’t cooperating, the moon and sky sure were. There was a fantastic lunar corona which actually manifested as a couple of paraselenae, or moondogs as the sky conditions mutated.
We played around at this dock for a little bit, allowing the sky to do some things and letting long exposures turn the rippling lake to glass. At this point we were still hopeful for some auroral activity, but moved on to the next stage in our backup plan since it didn’t require Northern Lights to bear fruit.
This is the abandoned church at Arena. It looks like daylight, even though it was around midnight or so, because the full moon was a-blazin’. I grabbed my big 6-D-Cell Maglite and did some light painting of the cross atop the church’s steeple, and we let the stars and clouds do their thing in the background.
In this shot it almost looked like I could see some splashes of color in the clouds, as if the auroras were trying to peek through, but even at full size I wasn’t able to tell definitively. It was cool to be able to visit this ghost town in the dark, though, and it was another excellent consolation prize since the Northern Lights trip was otherwise a bust.
I have the attitude that any time I return from a photo trip with even one image that I really like, that trip has been a success. It doesn’t even matter if the photo is relevant to the purpose of the trip. In this case, I have a few such photos, and they were the result of a solid backup plan, so I’m pleased not only with the results we captured but the success of that plan.
When I returned from my recent Aurora Borealis photo trip, it was around 4am. On a work day. I hastily grabbed and processed a few shots to share, grabbed a combat nap, and went on with my day. This weekend was busy, but I had the opportunity to peruse the shots from the day and found a couple more that I really like. The above shot is one that I used for this blog’s Facebook page.
While the layout looks a little jumbled, this one by far had the best colors. The Northern Lights are a fleeting target, and you don’t often get the same light twice. In fact, I don’t have a whole lot of different angles from the night because the peak of the lights came and left so suddenly.
I’m going to take another look to see if I have anything else that I haven’t shown already. Hopefully the next time they come along, I’ll be ready!
After dozing off early in my recliner tonight I woke up to a text from a friend who was out on patrol tonight. He noticed that the Northern Lights were in full swing. I grabbed a good friend, hopped in the truck, and took off. We were not disappointed.
As I mentioned recently, I’ve had some health issues and other things that have just plain sidelined me as far as photography and blogging. This was a great way to get back in the saddle for a bit as much as my pain would allow, and happens to have been one of the better aurora borealis nights in a long time. Just because I’ve been in my recliner doesn’t mean I haven’t been watching what the sun and skies are up to.
We appear to have arrived along one of my favorite rural roads just in time to see some very spectacular lights. We saw spikes, we saw ripples, and we saw a lot of them. I worked the area the best I could within the time allowed, and we pointed the truck back toward the Bizzo once things began to taper off.
I can’t speculate on the frequency with which I ease back into my beloved photo hobby, but hopefully this is a harbinger of good things to come. With the weather changing in our favor and another spring and summer on the way, things are looking pretty good. I hope to be on the mend in time for mountain bike and volleyball season, too!
You can bet I’ll have a better plan for the next time the auroras spike! I have dozens of places marked in my GPS, it’s just a matter of being ready to bolt there at a moment’s notice.
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