1/30/12 Rapid City Sunset

Nothing terribly amazing but it was pretty none-the-less. On an attempt to update my blog more often and to keep it updated with pictures I have most recently taken, I will post this account. Went up on Skyline Dr. again to watch the sunset. It was very warm today so it was an excuse to breathe some fresh air. There were some high clouds around as well that I thought would give the sunset a nice touch.


Here is the white balance warmer...


The high clouds began to thin out...


Clouds further south brought out some pink...


Mid-level clouds were advecting in from the northwest. At the outer edges some weak kelvin-helmholtz waves developed with the wind speed (shear) differences from the base of the cloud to the top...


The waves dissipated not long after...


The moon was nearly first quarter tonight as well and was quite bright. I tried to get the sneaky "lunar x" along the night/day line on the southern part of the moon formed from the shadows in the valleys but couldn't get it out. Its darn hard to accurately zoom into the moon and have it be in focus with a 100-300mm lense!



Well, that is all for now! Am hoping to get up to Spearfish area in the next week or so and take some pictures of ice off the waterfalls up there. Stay tuned for more!

Thanks for visiting!
Chip

4th of July Weekend

Lots of goings on last weekend including two races at Midway Speedway and Portsmouth Raceway Park that I shot. I also got some time before the Jim Dunn on Thursday night to shoot a few stars. Here is the stars revolving around the North Star in a 30 min exposure. I am not sure why light is in the corners, been trying to figure it out but can't find a reason for it.


Here is a shot of the stars moving with the 669er crew's bonfire atop of Hillbilly Hill.


Also the moon looked pretty cool in high cirrus clouds.



And finally a clean shot of the moon showing it's cool orange glow from the ozone on the hot summer night. The surface features can also been seen.


Here is a shot of a artistic shot from the race at Midway. The lone car in the pits at noon on raceday was that of Scott Bloomquist.


Don O'Neal hard in the gas down the back straightaway.


A brief glimpse of the massive crowd on hand at Midway. Can anyone find Keystone Korner?


Perhaps one of my favorite images, Drown in line at the chute to go out for qualifying.

The weekend went on after a night in Pittsburgh where I didn't have my camera and was greatly upset because the place we stayed at overlooked the city. Absolutely beautiful. The next day, a very hot Sunday, brought on Portsmouth Raceway Park. The racetrack looked very pretty with packed stands, the Ohio/Kentucky bridge in the background, flag blowing in the wind, and beautiful hot weather, perfect for the Fourth.


Here is a shot of a few late models lined up in the pits.


Dustin Linville wheeling it around turns three and four. By far the scariest infield I have been in.


Brad Neat flipped badly in turns one and two during qualifying, tearing up his car very bad. He was ok, but the car was trashed. They needed two tow trucks to get it off the track.


During the B-mains, the city of Portsmouth had their fireworks show. With the lights I wasn't able to get the kind of shots I have always wanted to get...but, late models in the foreground? Sweet. A photoshoot ensued. Here a couple of my favorites. I think they look pretty sweet!


You can see more of Midway Speedway and Portsmouth Raceway Park's photos on Ohio Valley Dirt Track Racing (www.ovdtr.com). What a great weekend!

Chip