2/11-2/25/12 Fires, rescues, and outhouses!

The title says it all! It was a exciting month with many things to shoot! Throughout the month I have collected a few images of various things that I got to witness around Rapid City and South Dakota.

First up was a wildfire on the 11th. It was only a few acres and started from a few kids playing with matches. It is really dry in South Dakota, as it usually is, and when there is gusty winds (every other day) any fire that starts with available fuels will take off pretty quick. I didn't get there in time to see the flames but arrived on the scene shortly after they got the flames knocked down. They were still putting out hotspots. Here are a few images:


The next week, on the 18th the fire department was practicing water rescues on the ice of Canyon Lake on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. I wandered down to the lake and got a few shots from a distance.


There was also the usual critters on the lake (they don't go anywhere no matter how cold it is!):


That same night, the Atmos Department got together for a bonfire. Here are are couple from that night:


A week later, on the 25th Dan D'Amico and I went up to Deadwood for the annual Nemo Outhouse Races. It was another gorgous day in South Dakota!


Well that is about it for now! If you liked this be sure to share it with your friends!

Storm chase season is nearly upon us and we are watching the models closely anxious for our first chase of the year! With spring break next week for SDSMT, we have high hopes for a system mid to late week so we shall see!

Stop by again!

Chip

12/12/11 Rime in the Black Hills

Rime, rime, oh how I have dreamed about you. I always wanted to get macro shots of rime but have never had the opportunity to see it. With a moist, stagnant air mass in place over much of the northern Plains, I finally had the chance to see some. We actually went searching for a high point that put us above the massive layer of fog to get the moon above the clouds but couldn't find a place, it was just to thick. So here are a few pictures of rime that developed on the trees, weeds, and a park bench. The guy gold panning was a interesting foreground as well!



















Hope ya like em! Check back here every once in awhile for new pics! I will probably try to get more rime tomorrow before the pattern shifts and the fog moves out, taking the rime with it, and bringing even colder air. By the way, it was about 15F when I was taking these pictures. I also learned a valuable lesson, steel toe boots=bad idea in that cold of air.

Chip

9/28/11 Auroras

After a very unsatisfying Monday with really high hopes (and turning out we missed a big show by a mere 15-30 mins), I ventured back out on Tuesday hoping to see an aurora. I watched the aurora observation charts and maps very closely, and was pleasantly surprised. I ventured out in the Black Hills, aka, the backyard and looked and looked for a view. After avoiding about 20 deer, I found a decent lookout and sure enough, aurora!

Here are a few pictures of the auroras:


In the image below, you can see a vivid pillar to the right side.



The pillar moved more westward and is pretty cool looking.


I put all the images together with a photoshop action and you can see the entire event put together in one image.



And then one final image taken from the road. This is about three miles from the city and you can still see the green from the aurora. The red is my tail lights as I had my foot on the brake. Pretty neat you can see them so close to the city.



And as mandatory with any aurora, here is the video:

Hopefully there is another CME from the sun soon. I really enjoy shooting auroras under the clear sky. It is so peaceful and tranquil under all the stars of the universe. A few more blog updates are to come soon as well. Tomorrow I will be out shooting a prescribed fire in the Black Hills and then this weekend I will probably get some shots of the waxing moon. Stay tuned!

Chip!