Kevin Palmer

  • Portfolio
  • Time Lapse
  • About
  • Archive
    • All Galleries
    • Search
    • Cart
    • Lightbox
    • Client Area
  • Links
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
x

Search Results

Refine Search
Match all words
Match any word
Prints
Personal Use
Royalty-Free
Rights-Managed
(leave unchecked to
search all images)
6 images found
twitterlinkedinfacebook

Loading ()...

  • At the base of the 200' tall Skógafoss waterfall in Iceland I saw something I've never seen before: a 360° rainbow. Every rainbow is actually a full circle, but the lower part is almost always blocked by the horizon. There are only a few situations where a full 360° rainbow may become visible. One way is to have a very high vantage point, where you can clearly see below. A steep mountaintop or an airplane window would work under perfect weather conditions. But in this case, it was spray from the waterfall that caused the rare optical effect. The rainbow faded in and out depending on the wind and where I was standing. The amount of mist in the air had to be just right. The sun also needed to be low on the horizon, so that the light would be shining through the mist at just the right angle. The radius of a rainbow from the center (the antisolar point) to the outer edge is always 42°. Since my widest lens only had a field of view of 81°, I couldn't quite capture it in it's entirety.
    360° Rainbow
  • Though it was mid-March, the wind chill stayed near zero all day and the heavy snow pack had yet to start melting. Clouds gathered to the west before sunbeams broke through and danced across the mountain slopes. The sun disappeared a half hour early as it does here on the east side of the mountains, leaving behind a fiery glow. I didn’t know what I’d find down this road, but as I came around a corner there was a large herd of pronghorn antelope. Nearly half of all pronghorn reside in Wyoming, only barely outnumbered by people. Pronghorn are capable of running at 60 mph, far faster than any other animal in the Western Hemisphere, earning them the nickname “speedgoat”. With a field of vision near 360°, they are almost impossible to sneak up on. In search of winter grazing grounds, pronghorn migrate farther than any other North American mammal except the caribou. It’s been a long, tough winter for many local wildlife.
    Pronghorn Ahead
  • I spent the night at one of my favorite places: Diamond Butte fire lookout in southeast Montana. Once my wheels left the pavement, I drove for 100 miles without seeing another human. Open range cattle, pronghorn antelope, deer, and elk seemed to outnumber people 1,000 to 1. Here in the middle of nowhere are some of the darkest skies you'll ever see. 360° of sparkling stars over the rolling hills and grasslands makes it hard to get any sleep. After the moon set at 1AM I waited for the milky way to get into position. At 3:30 the core of the galaxy containing nebulae, dust clouds, and star clusters moved above the tower. Also visible is the bright planet Jupiter, in the middle of the Dark Horse Nebula.
    Looking Out
  • The storms of mid to late summer always have a different feel to them. Compared to June, moisture is harder to come by. Hot temperatures mean a greater dew point spread. This leads to higher cloud bases, which allows the sun to sneak in underneath, especially later in the evening. These monsoon-style storms can create truly stunning sunsets when the timing is right. There were 2 rounds of storms on this day. The first hit around 6pm, bringing a bit of lightning and a rainbow. But it was too early and too bright out to get the pictures I wanted, so I waited for the next round. After 8pm a line of thunderstorms descended out of the Bighorn Mountains. I went to a dead end road on a hilltop with a wide open view of the sky. The majority of lightning bolts struck to my north. But I pointed my camera west towards the golden light over the mountains, even though lightning was less frequent. After 360 some photos, I caught these 5 strikes which I stacked into 1 picture.
    Wyoming Monsoon Lightning
  • I went on an early morning hike so I could watch the sunrise from Mastodon Peak. It's not a very high peak, but it does provide a great 360° view of the southern part of Joshua Tree National Park. There is also an abandoned gold mine below the mountain.
    Light On Mastodon
  • Stars appear to rotate above this abandoned barn in 3 hours time. In reality it is the stars that are stationary and the earth that is rotating. In 23 hours and 56 minutes, the stars make one counterclockwise rotation of 360 degrees. This 4 minute difference is what causes the stars to change position from night to night, and the constellations to change from season to season. Earth's northern axis happens to be pointed at Polaris, or the North Star. It hardly moves at all in the course of a night. For thousands of years people have been using Polaris to navigate. It not only tells you which way is north, but it also tells you your latitude. In this case the North Star was 40 degrees above the horizon. Those in the southern hemisphere do not have such a star to guide them.<br />
I found this old barn in Jim Edgar State Park a couple nights ago.
    Dark Barn Startrail