Kevin Palmer

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  • From the moment I woke up a deep red glow was visible through my tent walls. As I stepped outside a lone elk bounded away into the woods. There was so much color both in the sky and in the foliage below Cement Ridge in the Black Hills. It was the start of a beautiful fall day with temperatures in the 70's. But this season is short. By the next day it would be snowing heavily with subzero wind chills. The mountain in the distance is Terry Peak, the highest in the northern Black Hills.
    Explosion of Color
  • For most of the night the northern lights glowed brightly to the north. But it was just a green band that didn't show much movement. Then at 2AM the sky exploded into color, with purple pillars reaching all the way up to the zenith. I've seen the northern lights dozens of times, but this was only the 3rd time I've seen them reach that high. Unfortunately 2AM is when I decided to change locations so I missed out on the best part of the show.
    Bursting With Color
  • This is the kind of view that you can stare at all day. The Big Carp River flows through a colorful forest valley in Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: 9/30/14
    Valley of Color
  • This rainbow appeared in a small thunderstorm just outside of Sheridan. I used a telephoto lens to get a close-up view as it changed by the second.
    Color Beams
  • Iceland has no shortage of scenic waterfalls. This one is called Hraunfossar (meaning Lava Falls) and it's located near Húsafell in the western interior. The water splits into numerous cascades as it trickles through the mossy lava field and flows into the Hvítá River. Volcanic activity still heats the many hot springs found in this valley, which includes the most powerful one in Europe. The river is fed by the Langjökull Glacier, the 2nd largest in Iceland. Glacial silt suspended in the water gives it the beautiful turquoise color. A forest of short but colorful birch trees grew around the river, an unusual sight in this mostly treeless country.
    Hraunfossar
  • Thanksgiving morning at Bighorn Canyon brought the best sunrise I've seen this year. Even an hour before the sun rose, the clouds in the east were already showing a deep pink color, and it only got better. The clouds were sculpted by strong winds and showed lots of texture. This view is from the Hillsboro Ranch trailhead at Barry's Landing.
    Hillsboro Sunrise
  • After a rough 35 mile drive on rocky dirt roads, I reached the Dry Fork Overlook at the top of the Pryor Mountains just before sunset. There was a large thunderstorm to the south in Wyoming, which lit up with color.
    Pryor Experience
  • I wasn't really expecting the northern lights to be this active. It was a beautiful night for stargazing, and I was only planning to shoot the milky way, but I never got to that. A slight breeze disturbed the surface of the lake most of the night. But at 3AM it became perfectly calm and the surface of Lake DeSmet looked like glass. A long exposure from a camera always picks up more colors in the aurora than the human eye can see. Oftentimes only the color green is visible. But the purple pillar on the right was very noticeable and it hardly moved at all.
    Purple Pillar
  • If you have never seen the aurora, you should definitely make it a goal. This was a once in a lifetime show for me as I have never seen a better geomagnetic storm. I was only in Wisconsin but it felt like I was in Alaska. The aurora was pulsating, moving rapidly and it covered much of the sky. Most of my pictures were taken with a 10mm lens which tells you just how much of the sky was filled with color. This was taken from the top of Blue Mound, which is the highest point in southern Wisconsin.
    Rising Intensity
  • If you have never seen the aurora, you should definitely make it a goal. This was a once in a lifetime show for me as I have never seen a better geomagnetic storm. I was only in Wisconsin but it felt like I was in Alaska. The aurora was pulsating, moving rapidly and it covered much of the sky. Most of my pictures were taken with a 10mm lens which tells you just how much of the sky was filled with color. This was taken from the top of Blue Mound, which is the highest point in southern Wisconsin.
    Once in a Lifetime
  • I was surprised to find this large grove of aspen trees on the 70 Mile Butte trail. There are very few trees in Grasslands National Park. The late evening sunlight intensified the color of the leaves.
    Prairie Aspen
  • Iceland has no shortage of scenic waterfalls. This one is called Hraunfossar (meaning Lava Falls) and it's located near Húsafell in the western interior. The water splits into numerous cascades as it trickles through the mossy lava field and flows into the Hvítá River. Volcanic activity still heats the many hot springs found in this valley, which includes the most powerful one in Europe. The river is fed by the Langjökull Glacier, the 2nd largest in Iceland. Glacial silt suspended in the water gives it the beautiful turquoise color. A forest of short but colorful birch trees grew around the river, an unusual sight in this mostly treeless country.
    Lava Falls
  • I've seen pictures of this arch at Bighorn Canyon before, and haven't been able to locate it. But after visiting a 3rd time, I finally found it. The arch frames an incredible view of what is sometimes called Montana's Grand Canyon. After waiting here until 9PM, I gave up on seeing any color in the sky. But before I could make it back to my car, an orange glow emerged in the west and pink clouds briefly overtook the sky. I hurried back to the arch to take this final picture. It always amazes me just how empty this place is. It's not unusual to see more wild horses than people. I had to drive very carefully back to the campground to avoid hitting the mustangs that were standing on the road in the dark.
    Through a Window
  • I've seen pictures taken from this arch above Bighorn Canyon, but I've never been able to locate it until now. And it's not too difficult to reach. Compositions are limited because of the way the arch is set against the cliff and you can't get very far back. Just as I started to leave, the sky unexpectedly took on a pink glow and I ran back to the arch to capture the color before it faded away.
    Bighorn Canyon Arch
  • After riding out this severe thunderstorm outside of Faith, South Dakota, the conditions came together for a spectacular sunset. I stopped on this two-track road in the middle of a prairie, trying not to get stuck in the mud. Gorgeous colors filled the sky in every direction, with occasional flashes of lightning.
    Unreal Sunset Colors
  • It didn't appear there would be any color at sunset, but then this lenticular cloud formed above Elk Lake in the Cloud Peak Wilderness. The cloud took on a fiery glow, giving the entire landscape a soft orange color as I hopped from rock to rock trying to find the perfect reflection. A lenticular cloud is nearly stationary and is formed by strong winds after encountering an obstacle like a mountain peak. It was calm at the moment, but the winds would soon descend and rage for most of the night. My tent was flattened and I was forced to relocate it to a more sheltered area. Ice was pushed across the lake and piled up. The shore would look very different in the morning.
    Sky Fire
  • On my way back from Canada, I stopped at James Kipp Recreaton Area in northern Montana. The cottonwood trees around the Missouri River were at peak color.
    Golden Riverbank
  • On my way back from Canada, I stopped at James Kipp Recreaton Area in northern Montana. The cottonwood trees around the Missouri River were at peak color.
    James Kipp Road
  • I've seen pictures of this arch at Bighorn Canyon before, and haven't been able to locate it. But after visiting a 3rd time, I finally found it. The arch frames an incredible view of what is sometimes called Montana's Grand Canyon. After waiting here until 9PM, I gave up on seeing any color in the sky. But before I could make it back to my car, an orange glow emerged in the west and pink clouds briefly overtook the sky. I hurried back to the arch to take this final picture. It always amazes me just how empty this place is. It's not unusual to see more wild horses than people. I had to drive very carefully back to the campground to avoid hitting the mustangs that were standing on the road in the dark.
    Overarching
  • After the mini supercell died it led to a very vibrant sunset near Ucross. It's always challenging capturing scenes like this, because the pictures almost look oversaturated. But it really was this colorful.
    Almost Too Colorful
  • It didn't appear there would be any color at sunset, but then this lenticular cloud formed above Elk Lake in the Cloud Peak Wilderness. The cloud took on a fiery glow, giving the entire landscape a soft orange color as I hopped from rock to rock trying to find the perfect reflection. A lenticular cloud is nearly stationary and is formed by strong winds after encountering an obstacle like a mountain peak. It was calm at the moment, but the winds would soon descend and rage for most of the night. My tent was flattened and I was forced to relocate it to a more sheltered area. Ice was pushed across the lake and piled up. The shore would look very different in the morning. This is a 6 shot panorama.
    Elk Lake Sunset
  • The views at sunrise were stunning from the Granite Butte fire lookout on Montana's continental divide. All the whitebark pine trees were coated with thick rime ice and fog drifted around the valleys. I had to use my widest lens to capture all the color.
    Morning on the Divide
  • I was surprised to find this large grove of aspen trees on the 70 Mile Butte trail. There are very few trees in Grasslands National Park. The late evening sunlight intensified the color of the leaves.
    Between Buttes
  • When I got to Lake DeSmet for a night of stargazing, the aurora was glowing a deep red color. I ran to this point of the lake so I could look north and capture the reflection.
    Lake DeSmet Aurora
  • The sunrise filled the sky with color as seen from Font's Point in Anza Borrego Desert State Park.
    Across the Sky
  • If you have never seen the aurora, you should definitely make it a goal. This was a once in a lifetime show for me as I have never seen a better geomagnetic storm. I was only in Wisconsin but it felt like I was in Alaska. The aurora was pulsating, moving rapidly and it covered much of the sky. Most of my pictures were taken with a 10mm lens which tells you just how much of the sky was filled with color. This was taken from the top of Blue Mound, which is the highest point in southern Wisconsin.
    Full Spectrum
  • I was driving along the incredibly beautiful Elk Meadows Road. Just after crossing the Montana border the road went through a thick evergreen forest with no views. But then I drove around a corner and saw this view. My jaw just dropped. Being from Illinois I had never seen larch trees before. In the summer their needles are green and blend in with the rest of the trees. But in mid-October they completely stand out as they burst into color. The clouds above Lolo Peak were turning to pink as the sun set. I jumped out of my car and tried to capture the light on Lolo Peak before it faded.
    Lolo Larch
  • Sunsets with a purple hue like this one have been common lately. They are caused by extra ash in the stratosphere from the eruptions of Raikoke and Ulawan Volcanoes this past summer. The purple color usually peaks 15 minutes after sunset or before sunrise. When there are clouds at the horizon their shadows can cast long crepuscular rays across the sky.
    Volcanic Rays
  • For most of the night the northern lights glowed brightly to the north. But it was just a green band that didn't show much movement. Then at 2AM the sky exploded into color, with purple pillars reaching all the way up to the zenith. I've seen the northern lights dozens of times, but this was only the 3rd time I've seen them reach that high. Unfortunately 2AM is when I decided to change locations so I missed out on the best part of the show.
    Subsiding Substorm
  • The colors were very muted as the sun set over Soda Butte Creek in the Lamar Valley.  But it was the only hint of color I saw in the sky while I was in Yellowstone.
    Soda Butte Creek
  • A dying supercell created this colorful sky as the sun set near Norfolk, Nebraska.
    Norfolk Road Sunset
  • I stayed at Poker Jim Butte to watch the sunset. While trees block the views in most directions, there was a pretty good view towards the west.
    Before the Colors Fade
  • Last month I visited Devils Tower when the fall colors were at their peak. Although the tower is mostly surrounded by a pine forest, there are some deciduous trees to the south by the Belle Fourche River. While wandering around before sunset I found this view of the tower above the oak and cottonwood trees. Established in 1906 by Theodore Roosevelt, this was the first national monument in the US. Devils Tower is actually a mistranslation of the Native American name "Mato Tipila," which means Bear Lodge.
    Tower Woodland
  • Intense colors fill the sky after a summer thunderstorm in Sheridan, Wyoming.
    Sky on Fire
  • Near the center of town in Presque Isle, Wisconsin, lies a small park on Little Horsehead Lake. I loved the variety of colors in the trees surrounding the lake.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: September 30 2014
    Little Horsehead Lake
  • I could tell there was a colorful sunset on the way so I drove outside of Sheridan to photograph it. There was nobody else around on this empty dirt road between ranches.
    Super Sunset
  • A partial rainbow hangs above the buttes and mesas of eastern Arizona. On this early November afternoon, scattered rain showers drifted across the landscape. The shadows and patches of sunlight revealed the full range of colors that the Painted Desert is known for. This desert was once a forest with a much wetter climate, and a wide variety of wildlife. But now it's filled with petrified logs and fossils. Also found in Petrified Forest National Park are many archaeological sites including pueblos, petroglyphs, and other artifacts, some of which are thousands of years old.
    Painted Desert Rainbow
  • It was nearly 11pm in southern Saskatchewan. I had just watched a bright auroral substorm send colorful arcs high into the northern sky, but it was starting to fade. Then I turned around, looking south, and this is what I saw. A bright pinkish strip of light stretched from east to west, while the crescent moon hung low on the horizon. It's one of the most unusual things I've ever seen in the night sky. This strange type of aurora is called Steve. The name started as a joke, but it stuck.  Steve was first captured last year by a group of aurora photographers in Alberta. After ESA flew a satellite through it earlier this year, it was discovered that it's comprised of very hot (10,800°F) ionized gases moving along at 4 miles per second. This ribbon of light is 16 miles wide and thousands of miles long. I watched as Steve started overhead nearly paralleling the US-Canada border, before slowly moving south. It turned into a green "picket fence" pattern before fading away. It was awesome to see such a mysterious phenomena which is still being studied by scientists.
    An Aurora Named Steve
  • There was a very colorful sunset on this evening over the badlands east of Cody. McCullough Peak on the upper right is the highest point in these remote badlands on BLM land.
    McCullough Peak Sunset
  • The trees at Welch Ranch Recreation Area were very colorful on this September afternoon.
    Welch Ranch Fall
  • This was the view above Mistymoon Lake in the Cloud Peak Wilderness on Friday night. After hiking past this spot on the first day of my backpacking trip, I knew I would have to pitch my tent here the second night. When storms rolled through around 6:30, I was beginning to doubt if there would be a good sunset. But then the sun broke through in the west. First the sunlight painted the lower slopes of Bomber Mountain a salmon hue, but then the colors intensified further. There's something magical about a sunset at 10,000 feet. The mountain got it's name after a B-17 bomber crashed there during World War II. The crash site wasn't found until after the war and the wreckage still remains today.
    Mistymoon Panorama
  • Colorful clouds light up the sky over the Loess Hills at dawn. On this morning, the best colors happened before the sunrise, the sun came out for a few minutes, and then the light went flat as it went behind the clouds. This view is from the top of Murray Hill.
    Loess Hills Sunrise
  • A colorful pink sunset fills the sky on the evening of Summer Solstice. This scenic view is from the top of Blue Mound, the highest point in southern Wisconsin.
    Blue Mounds Sunset
  • Vivid fall colors fill the valley of the Porcupine Mountains in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. This state park preserves one of the largest areas of wilderness left in the Midwest The steep cliffs known as The Escarpment rises 500 feet above the Lake of the Clouds. It is a fitting name since I never did see this lake without a cloudy sky above it. On the other side of the cliffs is Lake Superior. It can just barely be seen in between two hills at the top of the picture. This picture was taken at the beginning of a 28 mile backpacking trip into the wilderness.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: 9/30/14
    Escarpment View
  • After snow showers hid the sun for most of the day, this brilliant sunset in Norway caught me off guard. I rushed to find a west-facing viewpoint, while slipping and sliding on an icy pathway. This view was captured from the brand new Hålogaland Bridge, which has the longest span in the entire Arctic. By the time I got my camera out, colors had already started to fade and the ice pillar which appeared above the sun was gone.<br />
<br />
While it may look peaceful now, it was not so 80 years ago. A significant naval battle was fought here during World War II. The depths of this fjord still holds the wreckage of sunken ships. Narvik has long been a strategic ice-free port where iron ore is transported by rail from Sweden. The Germans invaded this small seaside town in the spring of 1940, but they didn't occupy it for long. The Battles of Narvik and the recapture of the town cost thousands of lives, but it was one of the first Allied victories of the war.
    Arctic Ocean Sunset
  • It was a beautiful time of year in southern California. After an unusually wet winter, the hills are verdant, the mountains are snowcapped, and wildflowers are abundant. Chino Hills State Park is one of my favorite places to hike in the area. Even though it's surrounded by millions of people, its surprisingly quiet and uncrowded. Of course the main reason I only saw 2 other people here was probably because this particular trail (Scully Ridge) was severely overgrown. At times I was hiking through a tunnel of brush 10 feet high, which covered me in pollen. But I made it to this viewpoint just in time to catch the last wispy colors of sunset over Mount Baldy to the north. Even though I didn't capture the more popular poppy blooms this year, these golden wildflowers are almost as nice.
    Verdant Hills and Sunset
  • It was a very colorful sunset above the fall foliage on Cement Ridge in the Black Hills. The birch trees were knocked over by a tornado in June of 2018.
    Black Hills Foliage Sunset
  • It looked like there wouldn't be a colorful sunset since a snowstorm lingered into the evening. But then it started to break, revealing the peaks of the Alaska Range underneath fiery clouds. As far as I can tell this peak has no name but it is in front of Mount Moffet which remained mostly hidden.
    Sunset Over the Alaska Range
  • After riding out this severe thunderstorm outside of Faith, South Dakota, the conditions came together for a spectacular sunset. I stopped on this two-track road in the middle of a prairie, trying not to get stuck in the mud. Gorgeous colors filled the sky in every direction, with occasional flashes of lightning.
    Tumultuous Sky
  • After riding out this severe thunderstorm outside of Faith, South Dakota, the conditions came together for a spectacular sunset. I stopped on this two-track road in the middle of a prairie, trying not to get stuck in the mud. Gorgeous colors filled the sky in every direction, with occasional flashes of lightning.
    Two Track Heaven
  • The aurora borealis caused red and green pillars to fill the northern sky above the Bighorn Mountains.
    Christmas Colored Sky
  • With both clear skies and a geomagnetic storm in the forecast, I headed north of the border to Saskatchewan. Grasslands National Park is a long ways from anywhere. During the day the landscape seems stark and desolate, especially after a very dry summer. But the real beauty of this park comes after sunset. It is one of the darkest places on the continent. With no sources of light pollution at all, the stars appear the same as they did to the Plains Indians hundreds of years ago. The aurora was already bright and colorful earlier in the evening. But at midnight after the moon set, the northern lights went insane. I've never seen such rapid motion before. If you could imagine a campfire with the flames rising upward and flickering on and off, that's what it looked like. Except instead of orange, it was green, and instead of it being confined to a fire ring, it filled the entire sky. I don't think any camera could fully capture it, it just has to be experienced.
    Two Tipis
  • After a very cloudy day, the clouds broke just enough to allow for a colorful sunset over Lake Geneva near Veytaux.
    Lake Geneva Sunset
  • At 4AM, I was ready to head home. The aurora had mostly faded away hours earlier. But then it came back. The crescent moon was gently lighting up the snow. This time, the colors were more of a deep purple and blue as twilight began to overtake the sky.
    4AM Aurora
  • A colorful sunrise glows above Lake DeSmet where a small amount of winter ice remained.
    Last of the Ice
  • After coming around a bend in the trail in Tongue River Canyon, the Keyhole Arch came into view with some colorful clouds behind it.
    Keyhole Arch Sunset
  • A colorful sunset fills the sky as seen from an unnamed peak in the Bighorn Mountains. To get here required snowshoeing up Red Grade Road.
    Top of the Burn
  • On my last morning in Anza Borrego Desert State Park, I drove to Fonts Point to shoot the sunrise. To get here you have to drive up a dry wash while avoiding the sandy areas. The colors were amazing, even 45 minutes before the sun rose, the clouds in the east were lit up with an intense red glow. The clouds are reflected in the Salton Sea, California's largest lake. The lake was created in 1905 when engineers accidentally diverted the flow of the entire Colorado River for 2 years.
    Sliver of Gold
  • Colorful wildflowers cover the desert floor in Anza Borrego Desert State Park. I was on my way to Panorama Outlook which is the short hill on the left.
    Borrego Bloom
  • A soft pink glow hangs in the east as seen from Telescope Peak, the top of Death Valley National Park. The views from this 11,049 feet high mountain are outstanding. Nowhere else can you see both the highest and the lowest point in the continental US. On the upper slopes of the Panamint Range grow bristlecone pines, a tree with a lifespan measured in millennia. The pink glow in the sky is known as the Belt of Venus, and it's caused by the backscattering of reddened light from the setting sun. The blue band beneath it is the shadow of the earth projected out onto the earth's atmosphere. If I had taken a panorama you could see that this shadow is curved, matching the curvature of the earth. This phenomena can be seen on any clear evening in the east after the sun sets (or in the west before the sun rises). But the colors were especially vivid here, above all the dust and aerosols in the lower atmosphere. I wanted to stay on the summit to watch the stars come out, but I still had to hike 8 miles and descend 3600 feet to get back to the Thorndike Campground where I started.
    Highest to Lowest
  • Shadows and sunlight reveal the range of colors that the Painted Desert in eastern Arizona is known for.
    Kachina Point
  • A colorful sunset fills the sky as seen from Welch Ranch Recreation Area. The Tongue River flows is in the lower right and the snow capped Bighorn Mountains are in the background.
    A Change of Seasons
  • This was the view above Mistymoon Lake in the Cloud Peak Wilderness on Friday night. After hiking past this spot on the first day of my backpacking trip, I knew I would have to pitch my tent here the second night. When storms rolled through around 6:30, I was beginning to doubt if there would be a good sunset. But then the sun broke through in the west. First the sunlight painted the lower slopes of Bomber Mountain a salmon hue, but then the colors intensified further. There's something magical about a sunset at 10,000 feet. The mountain got it's name after a B-17 bomber crashed there during World War II. The crash site wasn't found until after the war and the wreckage still remains today.
    Mistymoon Sunset
  • Vibrant sunset colors fill the sky as rain falls from a cloud but does not touch the ground. This is known as virga.
    Sheridan Virga Sunset
  • A small herd of horses graze in a mountain pasture, backlit by a fiery sky. It was an early July evening and the colors of sunset lingered long after 9PM. When I saw these horses lining up at the top of a hill I knew I had to get a picture before the colors faded. They wouldn't stay still for me, but I kind of like the effect of the motion blur on their legs and tails. The horses were my alarm clock the next morning when they wandered by my tent and started snorting loudly.
    Pasture Bedtime
  • Because of the lack of rain lately, the fall colors have not been as widespread this year in Illinois. Many of the leaves are just drying up and falling. But there is still some colorful foliage to be found, you just have to look for it. I found this bright red tree in a local park just before the setting sun painted the sky a soft pink and purple.
    Fall Meadow
  • The northern lights are reflected in the waters of Lake Superior as clouds move in. During a very cloudy week in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, there was only one night that was partially clear. After hiking 10 miles to a campsite on the lake, I waited for it to get dark. The aurora was initially visible as twilight ended, but then it faded away. After midnight it became brighter, and the colorful pillars rose up and drifted from left to right.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: 10/1/14
    Lake Superior Aurora
  • On this morning there was a spectacular sunrise at Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge. I can't remember the last time I saw a sky this colorful. Both ends of the sky were lighting up, in the east and in the west. It's funny that a couple hours earlier I considered these same clouds an annoyance while I was trying to photograph the milky way. <br />
Emiquon is located in the Illinois River floodplain north of Havana. It was formerly used as farmland, and pumps were used to keep it dry. But recently the pumps were turned off and the land was restored to its natural state. Thompson Lake is now 2,000 acres and supports a large population of fish and waterfowl.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: June 6, 2014
    Emiquon Dawn
  • With a name like Paradise Valley, my expectations were high for this hike. The scenery did not disappoint with views of the fjord, waterfalls, and amazing fall colors. No trees needed.
    Mixed With Moss
  • After the sun went down, the entire sky lit up with colorful orange and pink clouds. This was at Mallard's Landing next to the Bighorn River in Montana.
    Last Sunset of January
  • Mammatus clouds are a common sight while storm chasing, but never have I seen them in a sunset like this. They seemed to become more defined and filled nearly the entire sky as the sun sank lower. The fiery colors were so intense that I had to cut back on the saturation. A strong MCS (mesoscale convective system) had moved off to the east as I was passing through Wheatland on my way home. When I noticed this sunset developing I searched for something nearby to serve as a foreground and this old tractor did the trick. Mammatus clouds usually form beneath the anvil of a strong thunderstorm, which means they can be either ahead of or behind the storm. The lobes are about 500m wide on average and show a sinking motion, making it look like the sky is falling. Pilots typically give mammatus a wide berth because of the turbulence they bring. Even though they happen frequently, their formation is not very well understood.
    Farmer's Delight
  • A colorful sunset fills the western sky above the Grand Canyon as seen from Yavapai Point
    Orange Glow at Yavapai
  • It was a beautiful afternoon for a hike in Little Horn Canyon. This rarely visited canyon had better fall colors than anywhere else I've been in the Bighorn Mountains. These aspen trees were some of the tallest I've seen.
    Tall Aspens
  • The fall colors were at their peak in this meadow above Little Horn Canyon.
    Autumn Wonderland
  • It was nearly 11pm in southern Saskatchewan. I had just watched a bright auroral substorm send colorful arcs high into the northern sky, but it was starting to fade. Then I turned around, looking south, and this is what I saw. A bright pinkish strip of light stretched from east to west, while the crescent moon hung low on the horizon. It's one of the most unusual things I've ever seen in the night sky. This strange type of aurora is called Steve. The name started as a joke, but it stuck.  Steve was first captured last year by a group of aurora photographers in Alberta. After ESA flew a satellite through it earlier this year, it was discovered that it's comprised of very hot (10,800°F) ionized gases moving along at 4 miles per second. This ribbon of light is 16 miles wide and thousands of miles long. I watched as Steve started overhead nearly paralleling the US-Canada border, before slowly moving south. It turned into a green "picket fence" pattern before fading away. It was awesome to see such a mysterious phenomena which is still being studied by scientists.
    Steve and the Moon
  • Fall colors are not very widespread in the Bighorn Mountains with the vast majority of trees being evergreens. But I found this colorful grove of quaking aspen trees a few weeks ago next to Long Lake. They are called quaking because of the way the leaves shake in the slightest breeze. Aspen trees are interesting because even though they appear to be individual trees, they are all clones of each other interconnected by an extensive root system. This means they are very hardy and able to quickly grow back after forest fires. Some of the largest and oldest organisms on Earth are groves of aspen trees.
    Long Lake Aspen
  • Intense golden colors filled the sky at sunset above Soldier Ridge near Sheridan.
    Yucca Gold
  • On my last morning in Anza Borrego Desert State Park, I drove to Fonts Point to shoot the sunrise. To get here you have to drive up a dry wash while avoiding the sandy areas. The colors were amazing, even 45 minutes before the sun rose, the clouds in the east were lit up with an intense red glow. The Borrego Badlands look similar to those found in South Dakota.
    Fonts Point Sunrise
  • On my last morning in Anza Borrego Desert State Park, I drove to Fonts Point to shoot the sunrise. To get here you have to drive up a dry wash while avoiding the sandy areas. The colors were amazing, even 45 minutes before the sun rose, the clouds in the east were lit up with an intense red glow. The clouds are reflected in the Salton Sea, California's largest lake. The lake was created in 1905 when engineers accidentally diverted the flow of the entire Colorado River for 2 years.
    Salton Sunrise
  • A tornado-warned supercell is the last thing I expected to see in Arizona in November. When I stopped in Petrified Forest National Park for a few hours, I noticed a strong storm heading for the Holbrook area. I briefly considered chasing it when I saw a velocity couplet on radar indicating rotation, but decided to stay in the national park instead. I forgot about it until later when I went up to Blue Mesa to shoot the sunset. I immediately noticed this mesocyclone to the west, backlit by the colors of sunset. A tornado never touched down. But I was glad I was able to photograph this storm with a beautiful landscape of colorful eroded buttes and mesas, even though I was 40 miles away.
    Arizona Mesocyclone
  • A colorful lenticular cloud hovers above the grasslands of Wind Cave National Park at sunset.
    Layered Lenticular
  • I've seen spectacular sunsets and I've seen breathtaking views. But to see them both at the same time was an incredible experience. This thunderstorm moved off of the Beartooth Mountains and settled over Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area in southern Montana. Here eagles, raptors, and hawks swoop through one of the deepest canyons in the US. Bighorn sheep scale the cliff walls, and wild horses roam free in the neighboring Pryor Mountains. 'Wow' was a word I said and heard often this evening. I also heard someone exclaim "These colors look fake." I was surprised there weren't more people here on a summer weekend. But without a boat, much of the canyon is difficult to access. The northern end of the park is less than 20 miles from the southern end where this was taken. Yet it takes over 3 hours to drive that distance, going over and around mountain ranges, rivers, and the Crow Indian Reservation.
    Devil Canyon Sunset
  • Colorful clouds hang above the 13,005 feet high Black Tooth Mountain on a July evening.
    Black Tooth Sunset
  • A colorful sunset fills the sky south of Casper Mountain.
    Behind Casper Mountain
  • With a name like Paradise Valley, my expectations were high for this hike. The scenery did not disappoint with views of the fjord, waterfalls, and amazing fall colors. No trees needed.
    Last of the Yellows
  • On this quick overnight backpacking trip to High Park I had the best of both worlds. Scattered clouds made for a very colorful sunset and sunrise, while the night was clear enough to see the stars. This view is looking south off of the cliff.
    High Park Sunset
  • In October I visited Devils Tower when the fall colors were at their peak. Although the tower is mostly surrounded by a pine forest, there are some deciduous trees to the south by the Belle Fourche River. While wandering around before sunset I found this view with the tower framed in between two trees. Established in 1906 by Theodore Roosevelt, this was the first national monument in the US. Devils Tower is actually a mistranslation of the Native American name "Mato Tipila," which means Bear Lodge.
    Autumn Evening Light
  • Before leaving the East Block of Grasslands National Park I made a stop at the Killdeer Badlands. In contrast to other parts of the park, here there were some very colorful trees in between the hills.
    Killdeer Badlands
  • This was my first time visiting Starved Rock in the fall. The colors were gorgeous, especially in the area just west of LaSalle Canyon.
    Rooted
  • The Big Carp River flows through a colorful part of Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: 9/30/14
    Big Carp Rapids
  • Reeds shake in the wind as the colors of sunrise fill the sky above. This view is from the boardwalk at Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge.<br />
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Date Taken: June 6, 2014
    Shaking Reeds
  • A colorful sunset fills the sky above the McCullough Peak Badlands. This view is looking west towards Cody.
    McCullough Badlands Sunset
  • I spotted these vivid iridescent clouds above the sun in Ranchester, Wyoming. The colors were more easily seen with sunglasses since the clouds were bright. It looked like an oil slick in the sky. There were plenty of lenticular clouds around, and it's common for those to show iridescence when they're in the right place.
    Iridescence
  • The Grand Prismatic Spring is 370 feet around making it the biggest hot spring in the US. The microbial mats give the spring it's intense colors.
    Grand Prismatic Spring
  • I've seen spectacular sunsets and I've seen breathtaking views. But to see them both at the same time was an incredible experience. This thunderstorm moved off of the Beartooth Mountains and settled over Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area in southern Montana. Here eagles, raptors, and hawks swoop through one of the deepest canyons in the US. Bighorn sheep scale the cliff walls, and wild horses roam free in the neighboring Pryor Mountains. 'Wow' was a word I said and heard often this evening. I also heard someone exclaim "These colors look fake." I was surprised there weren't more people here on a summer weekend. But without a boat, much of the canyon is difficult to access. The northern end of the park is less than 20 miles from the southern end where this was taken. Yet it takes over 3 hours to drive that distance, going over and around mountain ranges, rivers, and the Crow Indian Reservation.
    One of Those Moments
  • A colorful sunset fills the sky over the Pacific Ocean. This was taken at Crystal Cove State Park in California during low tide. Many of the tide pools were exposed and hermit crabs, anemones and other sea creatures could be seen. Both low and high tide usually occur twice a day approximately 6 hours apart. During a quarter moon, when the moon is at a right angle with the earth and the sun there is less variation between high and low tides. This is called a neap tide. But when there is a full moon or a new moon the tides are especially high and low. The gravitational force of the sun and the moon combine to generate more of a pull on earth's oceans. This is called a spring tide.
    Reflected Tidepool
  • The fall colors contrasted strongly with the dull gray sky. The views from the Big Carp River Trail were incredible.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: 9/30/14
    Western Escarpment
  • With both clear skies and a geomagnetic storm in the forecast, I headed north of the border to Saskatchewan. Grasslands National Park is a long ways from anywhere. During the day the landscape seems stark and desolate, especially after a very dry summer. But the real beauty of this park comes after sunset. It is one of the darkest places on the continent. With no sources of light pollution at all, the stars appear the same as they did to the Plains Indians hundreds of years ago. The aurora was already bright and colorful earlier in the evening. But at midnight after the moon set, the northern lights went insane. I've never seen such rapid motion before. If you could imagine a campfire with the flames rising upward and flickering on and off, that's what it looked like. Except instead of orange, it was green, and instead of it being confined to a fire ring, it filled the entire sky. I don't think any camera could fully capture it, it just has to be experienced.
    Tipi Aurora
  • The remnants of a low-precipitation supercell moves past a prairie outside of Norfolk, Nebraska. This storm dropped large hail earlier on, but started to die shortly before the sun set. After watching the sun slip beneath the horizon in the other direction, I went up the road a little bit and came across this stunning sky. I was fortunate to find these purple wildflowers on the side of the road to include in the foreground. The sun sets late here this time of year, this was shot after 9:00.
    Dying Beauty
  • After shooting the aurora over Nuuk Fjord for hours, it moved more to the southern sky. So I setup my camera over this small pond which was in the process of freezing over. During the brightest bursts of aurora the ground turned green. Jupiter is seen in the center of the photo and reflected on the ice.
    Jovian Ice
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