Sedona sunset and lightning — Part 2

August 2, 2014

I had another opportunity to head on down the hill to Sedona the other day and try to capture lightning flashes as storms moved across the area. A friend had told me about a nice spot to photograph lightning near and behind Cathedral Rock. The location works well because the view of Cathedral Rock shows all the gaps between the various spires.

The following is a sequence of three shots fired off in rapid succession covering a time of between 1 and 2 seconds. The exposure settings were 1/4 second, ISO 200, 75mm, and f/8. The Lightning Trigger was used to trigger the camera. The EXIF data for the three images show times of 19:35:01, 19:35:02, and 19:35:02.

The first flash arced down from the cloud and to the right but did not strike ground.
The second flash followed the same channel as the first flash while a second channel to its right went from cloud to ground.
The third flash only contained the channel on the right.

The final image is a composite off all three images. Truly, it does not do full justice to how long-lasting and multi-stroked this lightning flash was.

Lightning flash #1 beyond Cathedral Rock.

Lightning flash #2 beyond Cathedral Rock.

Lightning flash #3 beyond Cathedral Rock.

Lightning flash (composite) beyond Cathedral Rock.

Sedona sunset and lightning

July 13, 2014

It’s the middle of July and the North American Monsoon is in full swing now with near-daily thunderstorms across northern Arizona. It was time for another photo shoot in Sedona in hopes of getting great lightning shots with Sedona’s famous redrocks as a background. A few nice sunset photos wouldn’t be too bad, either.

After a quiet afternoon in Flagstaff with little in the way of thunderstorm activity, clouds finally began to develop in the late afternoon. A quick check of the radar data using RadarScope showed that thunderstorms were developing over the higher terrain of the Mogollon Rim and were moving slowly to the south-southwest. This would put some of these storms near or over Sedona in an hour or two. Time to jump in the car and head south.

It began to rain as I drove down the switchbacks into Oak Creek Canyon. This was the site of the Slide Fire in May and the threat of flash flooding exists whenever moderate-to-heavy rain falls in the area. Luckily, rainfall remained light and there was no threat.

A blaze of color as the sun sets in Sedona, Arizona.

My first location was on Upper Red Rock Loop Road with a view to the east so that I could capture lightning along with some of Sedona’s famous rocks — Courthouse Butte and Cathedral Rock. No luck today — but I did get some good images the previous day from this same location. Still, I was able to get several lightning strokes over the cliffs and create a composite image.

Lightning ("anvil crawlers") after sunset. — Lightning (“anvil crawlers”) after sunset.

As the sun began to set, the activity shifted and it was time for another location and I headed to the Sedona Cultural Park. The sunset colors just got better…and better…and…well, you get the idea. And there was also plenty of lightning to shoot as twilight unfolded.

All-in-all, a very successful photo shoot.

And the rains (and hail) came…

July 7, 2014

It’s been a dry spring—and before that, a dry winter—but the rains have finally arrived. The North American Monsoon has started across Arizona and it’s right on time. The rains usually arrive during the first two weeks of July. Rain started falling on the 2nd of July and hasn’t stopped yet. The average rainfall for July at the Flagstaff airport is 2.61″. We have already had 2.64″ and it’s only the first week. At least one location around town has had even more as shown by the rainfall map below.

Some of these storms have produced copious amounts of small hail. As the vast quantities of hail on the ground chill the near-surface air fog forms and is known appropriately as hail fog.

Most of this hail was pea sized or smaller—nothing large or severe. Even hours after the hail fell there were still piles of it along the side of the road.

It’s only the first week of the rainy season and I’m ready for a day with sunshine.

Moon rise behind Cathedral Rock in Sedona: Part II

June 17, 2014

Here are another set of images of the moon rise behind Cathedral Rock in Sedona, Arizona. I had two locations preselected for the shots on this day. The first was located about one and one-half miles west of the rocks so that the moon’s disk would appear larger than the gaps between the rocks. We were on the eastern slopes of Pyramid Peak (the eastern summit of Scheurman Mountain). This setup worked as planned but since it was still early in the evening the sky was too bright and the moon appeared washed out. I did get the result I was seeking, however, which was the moon larger than the opening between the different rock columns.

Moon rise behind Cathedral Rock---1st location. — Moon rise behind Cathedral Rock—1st location.

Moon rise behind Cathedral Rock---2nd location. — Moon rise behind Cathedral Rock—2nd location.

We moved to our second location—closer to Cathedral Rock which was now only one mile away—at the Red Rock Crossing/Crescent Moon picnic area. Many other photographers were assembled here but were scattered over a large area so that it wasn’t hard to secure a good spot for the next series of images. This time, the sky was darker and the moon was perfectly framed between the rock columns. I admit that I did not know, in advance, that it would work out this well. The Photographers Ephemeris can tell you the times and geometry of the setup but it can’t reveal how the size of the moon will compare with the rocks.

Lots of planning—and a little bit of good luck.

Grand Canyon by Moonlight

June 8, 2014

Star trails track across the northern sky as the first quarter moon lights up the interior of the Grand Canyon as viewed from Yavapai Point. The sunset-viewing crowds had already departed leaving the point to ourselves to enjoy in the warm—and breezy—evening.

Star trails above the moonlit interior of the Grand Canyon.

The glow on the northwestern horizon is from the “Galahad” wildfire burning on the Kaibab Plateau. The spot of light farther east on the rim is from the North Rim facilities of the park. The streak of light just left of bottom center is from the headlamps of night time hikers. Given the very high temperatures encountered in the canyon at this time of the year, hiking at night can be a safe alternative to daytime travel. Finally, the spots of light towards the lower right are from Phantom Ranch where lodging and camping are available.