Sunset

I was out chasing lightning storms the other night, but the storm never really did much, happily, the sunset in the opposite direction looked much better. This view looks to the west-northwest about 20 minutes after sunset. It was quite windy as well as you can see with the blowing palo verde tree on the left side of the image. That's one nice thing about Saguaro cacti - they don't move much, even in a strong wind. This exposure was taken at 18mm focal length with an exposure of 25 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 100.

Found a gem...

I found this gem while watching our 1.8-m mirror get re-aluminized a week or so ago. This photo is taken from one of my favorite spots to take pictures of our 36 inch on Kitt Peak but it was taken in the 1960s before the 4-meter Mayall telescope and the Steward Observatory 90 inch telescope were built. You can see the site testing towers for the 4-meter on the summit of Kitt Peak behind our 36 inch prior to its construction. Click on this link to see one of my images from that location.

IR Canyon de Chelly, take 2

Here's another IR shot of Canyon de Chelly. This iamge was taken at 5.8mm focal length (37mm equivalent) with an exposure of 1.0 seconds at f/2.6, ISO 200 with a Hoya R72 filter on my Canon A570is.

IR Canyon de Chelly

This view of Canyon de Chelly was taken with my Canon A570is (not in stereo mode...) with a Hoya R72 filter. This image was taken at 5.8mm focal length (37mm equivalent in 35mm) with an exposure of 1.0 seconds at f/2.6, ISO 200.

Hummingbird again

Here's the same hummingbird from last week. I got lots of images that look a lot like this with him sitting on a branch. This one stands out a little since I used my on camera flash to brighten him up and give hima little twinkle in his eye. This image was taken at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/125 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 400 with fill flash at about -2/3 stop.

Space Station sunset

It was sunset time aboard the International Space Station during this photo taken on Tuesday night (June 10) from Kitt Peak. The ISS (with shuttle still docked) was moving from the upper right to the lower left as the sun set below the horizon for them. The bright local moonlit sky provides an interesting contrast. Notice how the trail of the ISS goes from white to a redish brown before disappearing completely. This image was taken at 24mm focal length with an exposure of 30 seconds at f/2.2, ISO 400. BTW, if you look at the full resolution image, you'll see a fuzzy blob almost directly below the ISS trail - that is the huge globular cluster "Omega Centauri" and the ISS is trailing through the northern part of the well known southern constellation Centaurus.

Hummingbird in action

I caught this hummingbird in action last week at the Krutch Cactus Garden on the UofA campus. I got lots of shots of him sitting on branches but finally caught him working on the flowers on this plant. This image was taken at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/250 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 400.

Spider Rock

This is the Spider Rock formation in Canyon de Chelly. This image was taken at 30mm focal length with an exposure of 1/250 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 100.

Face Rock overlook ruins

Here are some more archeological ruins in Canyon de Chelly that are visible from Face Rock overlook. This image was taken at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/400 seconds at f/8, ISO 400. Converted to B&W with a red filter in Picasa.

Sliding House ruins closeup

Here's a closer view of the Sliding House ruins in Canyon de Chelly. You can see two of the sets of ruins a little better here, both are along the same level of the canyon wall where the canyon has eroded inward just above center here. This image was taken at 70mm focal ength with an exposure of 1/100 seconds at f/8, ISO 100.