Forest Fire Photography: March 2015

Friday, March 20, 2015

Pan-aurora-rama!

I finally got my panoramic images of the March 17th aurora stitched together. Microsoft ICE!

Two panos stacked; 8 images total; 180 degrees of awesome!

Veiled Aurora

Northern lights peaking through a veil of clouds. The red ray here was the only one I saw between 1:15 and 2:30am.

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Halo Morning! Halo Afternoon!

A halo-of-a-day! Started out with a solar halo this morning with faint sundogs as viewed from Pike Lake Elementary.

Followed by a full circle halo with upper tangent arc in the afternoon, as viewed from the UMD campus. The halo was visible for several hours this afternoon.

Some light on the subject

Halo and arc viewed with the Kathryn A. Martin Library on the UMD campus.

Solar Globetrotter

Halo and arc around a campus light fixture.

Sieur Du Sol

The Sieur Du Luth statue on the UMD campus with halo, arc, and jet contrail.

Sorta looks planetary, like Saturn and its rings.

Upper tangent arc very visible here.

The Untamed Sun and the Wild Ricing Moon

The very large Wild Ricing Moon sculpture on the UMD campus with solar halo and upper tangent arc.

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Amazing Aurora

Wow. I haven't seen aurora borealis like this in a long while. The northern lights are so amazing.

See the time lapse video at the bottom of the page! And check out the panoramas!

Reflecting in the ice/water on Caribou Lake

30 second exposure as the lights were fading.

Crazy activity!!

To the panoramas!

Monday, March 16, 2015

Or rather, the land of blue water skies. I have seen this phenomena a number of times, but this is my chance to photograph it. The sky appears to show a lake and land formations. I wish I would have been able to take a photo about 10 minutes earlier but I did not have a good vantage point. Even this shot is spoiled with power lines.

Parking unstructured

Ramping up demolition on an old parking structure near the Essentia St. Mary hospital.

Reflected in the tinted glass across the street

Not so pointless

This buck is hanging on to one of its spikes. This is most likely the 3-pointer (2x1) that frequented this hay field last fall and that I have photoed a number of times. Including sparing with another 3-pointer (1x2).

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Enjoying these March nights

On March 4th I was standing on Grand Lake in my heavy boots because it was 0 degrees or so, capturing the conjunction of Venus and Uranus, with Mars leading the way for a Triple Play.

Tonight, March 10th, I was standing on Grand Lake in my heavy boots again. Not because it was cold (35F at night is quite warm for March), but because my boots are waterproof and Grand Lake is a slushy mess.

Standing in several inches of water, I captured the conjunction of Mars and Uranus, with Venus trailing behind. This second Triple Play was wonderfully lit by the Zodiac Lights!!!

This picture shows Venus, Uranus, and Mars, as well as sparkle trails from Venus and Mars in the water sitting on the ice on Grand Lake

Here is a composite of stacked images that is still in the works. This image shows the Zodiac Lights along with the Milky Way, with Pleiades, Venus, and mars visible.

Enjoying these March skies

The sky is so amazing when there is actually moisture in the atmosphere!

Saturday, March 7, 2015

I see blue skies...

The temperature reach over freezing today and we had sunny, partly cloudy skies. The skies look so much different when it is not cold!

Friday, March 6, 2015

Iridescent morning

Every February and March as the sun rises earlier everyday, my morning drive in darkness becomes a blinding drive into the sunrise. Just as the sun starts to reach a height in the sky where the angle of glare is more favorable, it is time for Daylight Saving Time to begin. Then I start the process all over again. See you on Monday an hour earlier, Sun. *glaring intently*