Mars rising over the Dragoons

Mars rises over the Dragoon Mountains from our ranch  in the foothills west of the Dragoons.  Mars is just right of center and there's a nice rainstorm in the twilight skies off to the right.  This is a 5 image HDR combine using a 2 stop exposure sequence using my 17-70mm Sigma lens on my Canon 70D.

Mars is easier to see in this image taken a bit later than the one above, again an HDR combine using a 2 stop exposure sequence with my 17-70mm Sigma lens on my Canon 70D.

Monsoon Storm from Kitt Peak

Last night while between local storms on Kitt Peak, I watched some storms around the area.  This one to the northwest of Kitt Peak was quite pretty and spectacular at the same time.  I took a series of five exposures in an HDR sequence and this is the middle exposure at ISO 400, f/8, 1/400 seconds at a focal length of 17mm on my Canon 70D.

This is a combination of 5 frames from 1/1000 second to 1/160 second exposures which shows the range of activity from the rays from the sun behind the clouds to the mountains and valley in the foreground.  Note the area in between the anvil and the local mountains which is covered in water from rainfall in that area.

A storm in the desert

A rainshower falls in the desert north of Kitt Peak. The Spacewatch 36 inch telescope is in the dome on the right. This image was taken with the kit lens at 25mm focal length with an exposure of 1/640 seconds at f/8, ISO 200.

Stormy Sunset - the southwest ridge

Stormclouds move across the desert beyond the southwest ridge of Kitt Peak. This image was taken at 18mm focal length with an exposure of 1/40 seconds at f/8, ISO 400.

Stormy Sunset, colorful domes

The Spacewatch 36 inch telescope dome is in the foreground lit by the sunset with storm clouds in the background. The Kitt Peak 36 inch telescope, visitors center 16 inch dome and WIYN telescope domes (left to right) are on the south ridge in the background. This image was taken at 18mm focal length with and exposure of 1/50 seconds at f/8, ISO 400.

Rain in the desert

It's raining in the distance as the sun sets. This image was taken at 18mm focal length with an exposure 1/50 seconds at f/8, ISO 400.

Stormy Sunset - portrait view

Did I say that the clouds were spectacularly lit by the setting sun? It was all I could do to run around snapping picture after picture of the changing colors. This image was taken at 18mm focal length with an exposure of 1/100 seconds at f/8, ISO 400.

Stormy Sunset - looking southeast

This view towards the southeast shows spectacular lighting with shadows across the clouds and color galor. The spacewatch 1.8-m telescope dome is on the right with the McMath solar telescope in the distance. This image was taken at 24mm focal length with an exposure of 1/25 seconds at f/8, ISO 100.

Stormy Sunset

Kitt Peak got hammered by a couple storms last night. This one was right at sunset. Gotta love some good lightning bolts - especially when they don't hit you. This image was taken at 18mm focal length with an exposure of 10 seconds at f/8, ISO 100.

I get a charge out of thunderstorms

...but hopefully not too much charge. I took this self portrait moments before realizing that the hair on my head and arms was standing on end. I was standing on the top of our Spacewatch 36 inch dome watching and photographing the storm some 30 miles to the southeast. You won't see someone move much faster than I did (even in the sprints at the Olympics in the coming days!) to get off the top of the dome once I realized the charge had built up so much. This shot was taken with my A570is at arms length with the many domes on the mountain in the background as well as the dark clouds of the approaching storm.

Rainstorm

I was biking home the other night when it started raining - then pouring. I pulled into a Circle K and hid there for a while. The wind blew rain into the area I was seeking shelter when it was coming down the hardest. I had one of my A570s handy, so I pulled it out and took a couple shots.

Rainbow

Summer Monsoons make for pretty sunsets as well as great lightning shots. Here is a rainbow from the other night, taken with my A570is.

Downtown storm

I took the long way to my bus stop last night on the way home, doing about a 2 mile hike before catching a slightly later bus home. I walked through the presidio park next to the old courthouse and looked back at the ominuous looking clouds brewing towards the northeast. This image was taken at 18mm focal length with an exposure of 1/500 seconds at f/8, ISO 100.

Afternoon storm

We had a storm after dinner on Tuesday which produced some lightning and a lot of impressive clouds. This is the view to the southeast after the storm had passed. This image was taken at 18mm focal length with an exposure of 1/200 seconds at f/8, ISO 200.

Stormy skies

The last day of my last observing run last month had an impressive lightning storm with the usual dark storm clouds. Here, the 1.8-m dome is lit by the sun poking through the clouds low in the west making an impressive contrast with the storm behind. This image was taken at 35mm focal length with an exposure of 1/800 seconds at f/8, ISO 200.