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

1/22/12 Auroras in Rapid City

We were the only ones in the contiguous United States! Three waves were visible from 5-9pm local time (0-4z on the 23rd). I captured all three with the second wave around 8pm being the most prominent. Below is a few stills with the overall time lapse at the bottom. Enjoy!

I will be updating the blog with some other stuff soon too so check back and share it with your friends! I also started a twitter for anyone interested, you can find me at "@wx_chip".

Thanks again for checking it out!

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