A continuation of the theme of the previous image - the Florida fire in the Santa Ritas continued to burn and I got this image on the night of July 16th during a lightning storm. This time exposure caught a pair of bolts hitting in the mountains, one lights up the smoke in Madera Canyon and both light up the clouds above. The fire also appears as orange hot spots on the western flank of the Santa Ritas. Mount Wrightson is the tallest peak near center, just left of the leftmost bolt while Mount Hopkins is just left of the rightmost bolt. You can just barely see the MMT telescope sitting at the summit of Mt. Hopkins. This is a 30 second exposure using my 24mm lens at f/4, ISO 400.
9 comments:
Tremendous photo. Have you seen that Canon are releasing a limited edition 20D for astronomy shots?
Thanks Richard. That was my favorite shot from that evening, though there were a couple of strong competitors....
Yes, I saw the 20Da - it does not have the IR blocking filter, as I understand. I also spent all my money on the 20D I have now, so I won't likely be buying the 20Da anytime soon.... :-)
Awesome picture even though it shows the remains of the tragic fire. BTW, I was on the mountain last week....Found the impact site for the big bolt you caught in the picture between Josephine Peak and Wrightson.. Interested in a copy when I get the developed?
Hey Steve, sure I'd love to see the picture. I'd be a little surprised, however if it was a sure thing that my picture shows the spot you found, considering how many bolts of lightning must have hit in the area and how hard it would be to identify the spot the bolt I caught from just the photo.... How much of the mountain is open for hiking these days? How badly was the area burned?
Jim, how do I get a picture to you? I am almost certain I found the tree--right in the middle of Riley Saddle, where the left bolt would have hit (unless there were several hits there) The Old Trail is open to the top. I got a waiver to go up the Super Trail for photographing the after effects on the 25th of March. Very sad images. I am in the process of posting them on Webshots at
http://community.webshots.com/user/longwalker9453
Later...Steve in Prescott AZ
my email
courteol@yahoo.com
Steve - can you post the picture to webshots with the other images you mentioned? Then just tell me the URL and I'll look at it. Even if the strike isn't the one from my photo, it is certainly representative of what must have happened during the strike in my photo. I'd be interested to see the images from your survey. That's one of my favorite areas to hike in.
Here is a link to my Webshots albums covering the Florida Fire.
In the album labelled, "Riley Saddle" there is an image of the tree that may have been the target.
"Jim's Tree"
Boy, those pictures are sure hard to look at - so much devistation. I remember one hike with a couple friends where we lounged around near Riley Saddle on a pine needle covered hillside, enjoying the quiet.... What does the area around Josephine Saddle look like? Did it survive? One of our favorite camping areas is on the little hill west of the saddle between there and Jack mountain. Thanks for posting those pictures. I added you to my webshots favorites.....
Glad you found the images. They are devastating. I have not yet reached the Florida Canyon side but it is the most severe. Madera Canyon and the lower trails, even the Old Baldy Trail, are, for all practical purposes, unscathed. Yes, there were a few hot spots, but compared to the rest, just fine. No noticable fire damage in Josephine Saddle itself. A slight scorch is evident in the area. I will post more images of this soon. Check back.
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