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)
Next
147 images found
twitterlinkedinfacebook

Loading ()...

  • After studying a topo map of the Cloud Peak Wilderness, one lake in particular caught my eye. Upper Crater Lake has a perennial snowfield at the end and I knew there was a chance part of the lake could still be frozen. It was a challenging 12 mile hike to reach it, involving detours around blowdowns, plenty of stream crossings, and a steep off-trail scramble. Trees don't grow at this altitude 2 miles above sea level, and it was tough finding enough grass to pitch my tent. Relentless swarms of mosquitoes, blisters on my feet, and gear breaking all added to the adventure. When I first arrived the ice was on the far side of the lake. But just before sunset the wind shifted and blew these icebergs to where I could reach them.
    Icebergs in July
  • After the heavy rain of a thunderstorm passed, this lightning slowly crawled across the sky. This type of lightning is amazing to watch since it lasts up to 5 seconds. The power lines above my head were buzzing at the time of this shot.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: July 18, 2012
    Electric Night
  • It was July 4th weekend, and most of the campgrounds in the Bighorn Mountains were full. But I didn't mind because I found a dispersed campsite instead with an amazing view of the milky way.
    Good Night
  • Cave-in-Rock is a cavern carved out of a limestone bluff along the Ohio River. The 500 foot long cave has a skylight at the end so it's not completely dark, and a side room where bats were sleeping on the ceiling. Discovered in 1739 by a French explorer, this place has a colorful history. It was first used as a hideout for pirates and outlaws. They would rob riverboats carrying their goods down the river to sell. In the centuries since, this unique cave has been used as a tavern, a church, a shelter, and is now preserved as a state park.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: July 23, 2014
    Ohio River Cave
  • Devil's Tower stands tall above the grassland on a July evening.
    Tower and Grassland
  • It’s a view I came across in early spring: a lone tree on top of a hill overlooking ranches, ponds, a canal, and the Bighorn Mountains. The milky way was the perfect backdrop when I returned to shoot it on a warm night in July. The green stripes in the sky are from a phenomenon called airglow. During the day sunlight ionizes oxygen atoms in the upper atmosphere, and their recombination at night emits a small amount of light. This chemical reaction occurs about 100km up at the same height as the aurora, which is caused by a different process. Ripples in the airglow come from gravity waves, which may originate from the jet stream or a particularly powerful thunderstorm complex. I often find airglow in my pictures anytime I’m shooting under a dark sky. But this night was the strongest I've ever seen it. The wave pattern was very apparent, although the color was undetectable to my eyes.
    Beckton Milky Way
  • At the end of July I had the chance to shoot the most detailed milky way nightscape photo I've ever taken. Ever since making a similar photo in Utah, I've wanted to repeat it, but finding the right location, the right weather, at the right time isn't easy. After a stunning sunset over Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, the clouds cleared out and the conditions began to come together. This image is a combination of 3 separate pictures, totaling nearly 1 hour of exposure time. First I placed my tripod on the edge of the canyon, then aligned my star tracking mount on Polaris (the north star), and then shot two 18-minute exposures of the milky way. Then I turned the tracking mount off, and shot a similar exposure of just the canyon, and later stitched the 3 shots together. Without a tracking mount, I'm normally limited to 30-second exposures before the stars start to blur. In addition to the milky way, the planets Saturn and Mars, and traces of green airglow are also visible. The light pollution along the horizon is from the towns of Lovell and Powell. While I was shooting this, bats kept fluttering around my head, eating all the gnats gathered around the puddles after a recent rain.
    Celestial River
  • The views are spectacular from Inspiration Point. You can see the cliffs of the LaRue Pine Hills and the marshy area beneath. The sunset colors were reflecting on the still waters of the ponds below.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: July 23, 2014
    LaRue Pine Hills
  • On the side of the road near Mantle Rock, Kentucky, lies this scenic area. McGilligan Creek flows between moss covered rocks which looked especially colorful after the rain.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: July 23, 2014
    McGilligan Creek
  • While camping at Garden of the Gods, I watched a storm roll through at 8am. I would have liked to make a time lapse but the storm was just approaching too slowly. A proper shelf cloud never formed, it was mostly dark scud clouds that drifted across the sky. Once the rain started falling, and the lightning started striking nearby, I quickly made it back to my car where I waited out the storm.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: July 23, 2014
    Garden of Gods Storm
  • I spent the fourth of July chasing tornadoes in Chugwater, Wyoming. Chugwater has a certain legendary status among storm chasers. Storms form over the Laramie Mountains to the west, and the local terrain seems to enhance tornadic potential. On at least 3 other occasions I've seen funnel clouds here. And having one of the few paved, east-west highways also makes it a great place to target. Luckily there is not much around for a tornado to damage. I had to pick a spot either below the bluff or on top. I chose on top, which put me a little over a mile away from the developing tornado. Powerful cloud to ground lightning bolts were dropping during tornadogenesis. My camera was left outside to shoot automatically while I stayed in my car.
    Chugwater Tornado
  • This severe thunderstorm rolled through Sheridan at the end of July, bringing heavy rain, strong winds, and hail. This was the view from the rest stop.
    Sheridan Rainfoot
  • It was 1AM when my alarm went off. Between shooting the sunset, the stars, and the sunrise, I wouldn't be getting much sleep tonight. After slipping into my shoes that were still damp from trudging through the snow, I stepped out of my tent into the cold air. With the temperature near freezing and a strong breeze blowing, it certainly didn't feel like the first day of July. But the weather couldn't be more perfect for shooting the milky way galaxy. The moon was setting in the west, leaving me 2 hours of darkness to shoot a time lapse before morning twilight set in. This is a shot I've wanted to take since last year when I first heard about this spot. It's an alpine meadow called Highland Park set at the base of the 13,000' Blacktooth Mountain in the Cloud Peak Wilderness. I've tried shooting the milky way over these peaks before, but they were always too far away, I had to get closer. But the conditions needed to be perfect before I made the 18 mile trek. Between the snow levels, moon phase, position of the milky way, and weather conditions I knew I may only have a couple chances to get this shot. The atmosphere is a lot thinner at 10,000 feet and the stars seemed just a little bit closer on this night.
    Close to Heaven
  • The sun sets behind two pillars at Garden of the Gods, Illinois. This part of the Shawnee Hills is filled with strange rock formations and extensive views of the surrounding forest.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: July 22, 2014
    Two Pillars
  • Inspiration Point is located in the Larue-Pine Hills in the far southern part of the state. Below the cliffs lies a marshy area that is part of the Mississippi River floodplain. In the distance the river itself can be seen, along with the hills of Missouri. The view can look different depending on the time of year and the water level. Even though the weather had been quite dry, a thunderstorm had just passed through a few hours earlier. The storm cleared the hazy air and seemed to make the colors even more vivid. Evening is the best time to visit this viewpoint as you can watch the sun set to the west and light up the cliffs and the wetlands below with a golden glow.<br />
Date Taken: July 23, 2014
    Inspiration Point Panorama
  • I wasn't expecting to see such a scene on this day, since the storm chances were low. But once I heard the thunder rumbling at 11am, I quickly left the house. After driving southeast I let the storm overtake me near the town of Kenney, and shot this panorama shortly before it started raining.  This time of year the corn is often 8 feet tall which restricts the view of approaching storms. I have to look for somewhere else to shoot such as this field of soybeans.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: July 14, 2014
    Kenney Thunderstorm
  • Bear Butte is a mountain outside of Sturgis, South Dakota. A severe thunderstorm was forming in the distance when I climbed it on a July afternoon.
    Bear Butte Storm
  • The stars of the milky way galaxy glow above Blacktooth Mountain at 1AM on a July night. From most places, clouds are easily visible at night because they are lit up by light pollution underneath. But under a sky this dark, you can't see the clouds. You only notice the absence of stars as a cloud passes by. These thin clouds gave halos to the brighter stars and planets. The bright red object on the right is Mars. To the left in the constellation Scorpius is the red supergiant star Antares. The name in Greek means "like-Mars" since it's a similar color, and often the same brightness as the red planet. Just above that is Saturn, the 2nd brightest object in the picture.
    Jewels of the Night
  • 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
  • Colorful clouds hang above the 13,005 feet high Black Tooth Mountain on a July evening.
    Black Tooth Sunset
  • Inspiration Point is located in the Larue-Pine Hills in the far southern part of the state. Below the cliffs lies a marshy area that is part of the Mississippi River floodplain. In the distance the river itself can be seen, along with the hills of Missouri. The view can look different depending on the time of year and the water level. Even though the weather had been quite dry, a thunderstorm had just passed through a few hours earlier. The storm cleared the hazy air and seemed to make the colors even more vivid. Evening is the best time to visit this viewpoint as you can watch the sun set to the west and light up the cliffs and the wetlands below with a golden glow. At the bottom center of the photo you can see Snake Road. Twice a year this road is closed to vehicle traffic to allow the large population of snakes to migrate back and forth from the cliffs to the swamp.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: July 23, 2014
    Inspiration Point
  • This swamp is among the northernmost cypress swamps in the country. It is one of the most unique sites in Illinois and it makes you feel like you're in the deep south. The Heron Pond trail takes you to a boardwalk where you can see the swamp up close. <br />
<br />
Date Taken: July 23, 2014
    Illinois Cypress
  • Mantle Rock is located in rural western Kentucky. The 188 foot long arch is the longest in the US east of the Mississippi River. A thick green moss covers the moist and shady sandstone walls. This place also has historical significance as well. In the harsh winter of 1838-1839 almost 2,000 Cherokee Indians camped in the area as they waited for the nearby Ohio River to thaw. These Native Americans were forced by the government to relocate from the Deep South to present-day Oklahoma. A large percentage of them tragically died during the long journey, on what is known as "The Trail of Tears."<br />
<br />
Date Taken: July 23, 2014
    Mantle Rock
  • Cave-in-Rock is a cavern carved out of a limestone bluff along the Ohio River. The 500 foot long cave has a skylight at the end so it's not completely dark, and a side room where bats were sleeping on the ceiling. Discovered in 1739 by a French explorer, this place has a colorful history. It was first used as a hideout for pirates and outlaws. They would rob riverboats carrying their goods down the river to sell. In the centuries since, this unique cave has been used as a tavern, a church, a shelter, and is now preserved as a state park. It was a challenge to stay out of the rain on this day, but I liked the way the stormy clouds matched the darkness of the cave.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: July 23, 2014
    Pirate's Lair
  • Date Taken: July 22, 2014
    Garden of Gods Panorama
  • The milky way shines in the dark skies behind a cliff at Garden of the Gods, Illinois. I used a flashlight to light paint the cliffs from an angle, which created shadows and texture. The sky was a bit hazy which made the stars a little less clear.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: July 22, 2014
    Behind the Cliff
  • Purple coneflowers bloom in the prairie as a nearly full moon rises in the east.The Nachusa Grasslands give you an idea of what Illinois looked like hundreds of years ago, before settlers arrived and converted it to farmland. 3,000 acres of this rolling grassland have been restored to their original state in this preserve. Less than 1% of the original tallgrass prairie remains, which makes this a rare sight in Illinois. Sandstone outcrops, many varieties of colorful wildflowers, and numerous wildlife make this a beautiful place. A herd of bison will soon be brought in from South Dakota as well. There are few paths in this preserve, so you have to go off-trail to explore the landscape.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: July 10, 2014
    Nachusa Coneflowers
  • Noctilucent (night shining) clouds are a rare and beautiful type of cloud. About 50 miles high in the mesosphere, no other cloud is higher. They are only seen in the summer, usually from high latitudes between 50°-65°. Occasionally they are  sighted from lower latitudes. After trying and failing many times to spot them from Wyoming, the morning of July 10th brought this incredible display.
    Treetop Noctilucent Clouds
  • Among the purple prairie clover, milkweed plants shoot up as well as a few coneflowers. Darkness had fallen on the Nachusa Grasslands as the nearly full moon rose higher in the east.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: July 10, 2014
    Moonlight Breeze
  • This severe thunderstorm rolled through Sheridan at the end of July, bringing heavy rain, strong winds, and hail. This was the view from the rest stop.
    Rain's Edge
  • Once you are in the middle of the Nachusa Grasslands, the views are expansive making the place feel much bigger than it is. On the top of the rolling hills are outcrops made of St. Peter Sandstone.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: July 10, 2014
    Sandstone Prairie
  • To the local rancher it might just be a random spot on the dirt road they drive everyday. But to me it was a place I had scouted out in advance after studying topo maps, to find the best north-facing view of the Crazy Mountains. Located in Central Montana, the Crazies are always an eye-catching sight. As the highest and most prominent of the state’s many island mountain ranges, it’s jagged peaks rise straight up out of the prairie and pierce the sky. The Crazies are sacred to the local Crow Tribe, and considered ominous and unpredictable. Somewhere up there is an old tripod of mine that mysteriously vanished one night. After a fiery sunset, the clouds cleared and Comet NEOWISE soon appeared. Before it rapidly faded, mid-July was the best time to view the comet. With no interference from moonlight, the enormous dual tails of NEOWISE were visible in all their glory. The blue ion tail consists of gases ionized by UV light and influenced by the magnetic field of the solar wind to point in a straight line. The white dust tail on the other hand, consists of neutral dust particles that are more widely dispersed.
    Crazy Comet
  • All summer long I had been waiting for a storm like this one. It seems like most of the thunderstorms this year would clear out in the evening, instead of persisting into the overnight hours. But it's a lot easier to capture lightning when it's dark. At night I can use a long exposure of 30 seconds, which increases the chances of capturing lightning. This wasn't a particularly strong storm cell, it produced no more than a couple dozen strikes. But that was enough. By positioning my tripod inside my car and shooting out the window, I was able to keep raindrops off my lens. This image is a stack of 5 separate pictures. The light trail curving around on the left is from a plane coming in for a landing at the Sheridan airport. The passengers would have had quite a view out the window.
    Last Night of July
  • The Big Horn fireworks display is seen with Blacktooth Mountain in the background.
    Fireworks Under Blacktooth
  • As I came back into Sundance, the sun came out and this rainbow appeared, perfectly aligned over Sundance Mountain.
    Sundance Mountain Rainbow
  • The Lost Twin Lakes are found at 10,300 feet  in the Cloud Peak Wilderness. A 6 mile hike from the West Tensleep Lake trailhead, it's the perfect spot for an overnight backpacking trip. The two lakes are in a glacial cirque surrounded by massive granite cliffs up to 2,000 feet high. This was a stitch of 6 pictures.
    Lost Twin Lake Panorama
  • A few minutes earlier this supercell produced a tornado, but I couldn't see it from my vantage point. I thought it was going to do it again here, but there was only this funnel cloud.
    Hulett Funnel
  • I couldn’t let NEOWISE leave without trying to capture it over Devils Tower. But this wasn’t the shot I had in mind. The forecast called for mostly clear skies after earlier severe weather exited. But sometimes what actually happens is so much better than what I can imagine. This supercell popped up to the west around 10PM and the anvil quickly blocked out the comet. But then just as the storm was showing its best mothership structure during a close encounter with the tower, a hole in the clouds opened up. It was perfectly placed to reveal the comet once again for just a few minutes. It’s a good thing that most of the lightning was intracloud. If bolts of lightning were jumping out they would have been too bright to expose for the comet. Every single flash highlighted or backlit a different part of the storm. While the lightning continued for most of the night, I was glad the large hail stayed away. I didn’t want to test the hailproofness of my tent.
    A Hole in the Clouds
  • I rarely stop to photograph deer since they are so common. But I liked the way these bucks were standing on top of a hill, with storm clouds behind them. Plus I rarely see bucks with antlers.
    Two Bucks On a Hill
  • One of my goals this summer was to capture a lightning storm from the Bighorn Mountains. But it’s not easy since by the time a storm pops up it may be too late to get to the right spot. And once I’m in the mountains, lack of cell data makes it hard to know what’s happening with the weather. But storms weren’t even expected on this night. I was camping near an overlook called Freeze Out Point. At 11PM I went up to the overlook one last time and was surprised to see flashes to the east. The cell was some 75 miles away in Montana, and at that distance lightning often appears red as it’s seen through the thicker lower atmosphere. Distant lightning strikes that are silent and without thunder are often called heat lightning. But heat lightning isn’t really a specific type, thunder simply can’t be heard from more than 10 miles away. There was just enough time to shoot a time lapse of this moonlit lightning storm before low clouds and fog came in and obscured the view.
    75 Mile Strike
  • This was my view while I ate lunch on Cloud Peak, the highest point of the Bighorn Mountains. I timed this 25 mile long, 3 day backpacking trip with the hottest day of the year. While the temperature topped 100°F down in the valley, up here at 13,167 feet it was much more pleasant in the 60's. At this high elevation the boiling point of water is 25° cooler than at sea level. In the cirque 1500 feet below lies the Cloud Peak Glacier. It is the only glacier in the Bighorns and is predicted to be gone 20 years from now. As the compressed snow and ice slowly slides down the mountain slope, it grinds up the bedrock beneath it and forms a very fine silt called "rock flour". This flour becomes suspended in the glacial meltwater and gives the lake it's greenish-turquoise color that changes with the lighting conditions. In the hour I spent on the summit I heard the sound of numerous rockfalls. Some of them would cause a chain-reaction lasting a minute or longer.
    Top of the Bighorns
  • A wall cloud descends behind Crow Peak in the Black Hills. Not long afterwards a tornado would knock down parts of the forest.
    Crow Peak Wall Cloud
  • Vedauwoo is a scenic spot filled with interesting rocky outcrops, located in between Cheyenne and Laramie. The area is popular with climbers. The last light of the day was casting a soft golden glow across the granite.
    Turtle Rock Sunset
  • I woke up early to hike to Lookout Lake and shoot the sunrise. Colorful fireweed flowers were blooming along the edge of the lake and the 12,014' Medicine Bow Peak can be seen on the left.
    Fireweed Sunrise
  • Yellow wildflowers bloom on the hillside above Lower Lost Twin Lake in the Cloud Peak Wilderness.
    Granite Wall Flowers
  • Before heading back, I wanted to make it to the Upper Lost Twin Lake. This was more difficult than I expected, since there was no trail, and I had to hop across boulders still wet from the morning storms. This was the view from the hill above the lower Lost Twin Lake.
    Taken for Granite
  • Late evening sunlight gave the plains of Southeast Montana a golden glow.
    Montana Plains
  • This was the best lightning storm I saw all year. A couple thunderstorms passed very close, but the rain stayed out of the way. Sometimes I stack lightning shots, but this is just one exposure. The two lightning crawlers occurred about 15 seconds apart within the 30 second exposure. After chasing some storms to the south and coming back home I think I saw about 10 thunderstorms on this day. There are often deer in this field at night, you can see a couple under the bright streetlight.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: June 25, 2013
    Night Crawler
  • The air felt heavy and still. As it rotated closer, this supercell seemed to grow wings. Within a couple of minutes Sundance Mountain was swallowed up by the precipation core. The 'calm before the storm' does not happen with every storm, but when it does it's very noticeable. Then a giant bolt of lightning struck out of frame, with a deafening thunder shattering the silence. An errant hailstone, big enough to leave a bruise, bounced off of the ground with a thud. It was time to move. This cell turned out to be an ice machine, piling up baseball-sized hail on the road, and making the temperature plummet which created hail fog. Chasing storms in and around the Black Hills has it's challenges. Winding roads through hilly terrain makes viewpoints limited and cell signal sporadic. But when everything comes together just right, the structure and color of the storms around here are incredible.
    Swallowing Mountains Whole
  • The time was after 11PM, yet still the light of sunset lingered in the northwestern sky. It gets dark quite late here in Montana in the middle of summer. This peak has been on my radar to climb for quite awhile. Like a spine, the long and narrow Bridger Range is situated in the middle of the state. The 9,665’ Sacagawea Peak, named after the famed guide of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, is the apex of the mountain range. Views stretched far and wide in every direction and were some of the best of any peak I’ve stood on. After sundown the lights of Bozeman and smaller towns came on. Then Comet NEOWISE slowly appeared through the deep blue twilight sky. Just a few minutes makes a big difference in visibility because while the coma is bright, the tail of the comet is faint even though it’s huge. After this more clouds moved in along with a couple flashes of lightning. It was time to leave, but I was thankful for the short window of opportunity I had. Descending the steep trail by headlamp was no small task. I made note of the tricky parts on my way up and was extra careful in the dark, trying not to butt heads with any mountain goats.
    Sacagawea Comet
  • This severe thunderstorm rolled into northern Wyoming from Montana after 8PM. This north-facing railroad track was the perfect place to shoot a time lapse of it approaching. The NWS warned of winds up to 70 mph as the gust front passed over.
    Off The Rails
  • Earlier in the spring I came across this overlook on a hilltop with a view of the mountains to the west. I knew it would be be the perfect spot to watch a storm roll out of the Bighorns, I just needed to wait for the right storm. My first attempt didn’t yield the pictures I wanted as the cell went too far south. But the second time’s a charm. This storm intensified after I got here and started spitting out dozens of close lightning bolts. It was dark enough that I could use a longer shutter speed, and capture about 40% of the strikes that occurred. But there were many more out of frame to the right. This is a composite image showing 5 of the best strikes. By the time I left there was a small stream running under my car as well as some minor street flooding in Sheridan.
    5 Strikes
  • The Lost Twin Lakes are found at 10,300 feet  in the Cloud Peak Wilderness. A 6 mile hike from the West Tensleep Lake trailhead, it's the perfect spot for an overnight backpacking trip. The two lakes are in a glacial cirque surrounded by massive granite cliffs up to 2,000 feet high. Treeline in the Bighorns is at about 10,500' feet so most of the trees were very short around the lake.
    Edge of Treeline
  • After descending Loaf Mountain, I came across these wildflowers at 11,000 feet.
    Loaf Mountain Wildflowers
  • When I left Highland Park I went off trail and climbed higher to avoid a very snowy section of trail. I decided to climb an unnamed 11,370' peak since I was so close. This was the view from the top.
    Peak 11370
  • I came to Laguna Beach to photograph the milky way. But the marine layer had other plans and only a few stars were visible in between clouds.
    Hole in the Sky
  • Chasing storms in and around the Black Hills is a challenge. Finding a good viewing spot isn't always easy, but I was lucky to find this overlook outside of Sundance. When everything comes together just right, the colors and structure of the supercells here are stunning.
    Sundance Supercell
  • Just outside of Brockway, I managed to get a few miles ahead of this ominous shelf cloud. The NWS would later classify this storm a derecho.
    Surging Shelf Cloud
  • After the main storm cleared out, this mini supercell popped up in the Black Hills behind it. It briefly reached severe limits before weakening.
    Black Hills Mini Supercell
  • After hearing about a comet named C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE), I finally got to see it for myself on this morning. Not really knowing what to expect, I set my alarm for 3AM. I was immediately blown away by how big and bright it is. Even after most of the stars had faded out against the light of dawn, it was still visible. The long tail stretched at least 5° across the northeast sky. I’m looking forward to getting more pictures of this comet, but that is assuming it holds together. Comets are very unpredictable. 2 of them were hyped up earlier this year, only to break apart before ever getting bright. Then Comet NEOWISE came as a bit of surprise. This was taken at Fort Peck Lake, the largest in Montana. With it’s many coves, arms, and inlets, the reservoir has a shoreline of more than 1,500 miles.
    Comet at Fort Peck Lake
  • All night long lightning flashed to the north over Steamboat Point in the Bighorn Mountains. Then at 2:30AM Comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE rose above the horizon. Finally as the first light of dawn came, noctilucent clouds appeared. It was the brightest display I've ever seen. Seeing all these things at the same time made it a night to remember.
    A Night to Remember
  • There are some things that just don't happen every day. One of the brightest comets in decades is swinging past Earth this month. As I brainstormed to figure out where to capture it, Steamboat Point seemed like an obvious choice. Anyone who has driven Highway 14 would recognize this iconic peak of the Bighorn Mountains. It gets its name because of the massive rock face that sticks into the air like the prow of a steamboat. Even though storms were around in the evening, I was not expecting them to last. But lightning flashed to the north for the entire night. The red color is an effect caused by viewing from a long distance through the thicker atmosphere. At 2:30AM, the comet rose above the northeast horizon, tail-first. A comet's tail always points away from the Sun. The 67% moon off to the right lit up the mountain, while shadows added depth to the scene. Soon after this, noctilucent clouds joined the show, but that's for another post. By the time the sun rose my memory card had 1400 new images. It was a night very much worth losing sleep over.
    Worth Losing Sleep Over
  • Crater Lake is a beautiful lake found at 10,300' in the Cloud Peak Wilderness. Reaching it requires a steep off-trail climb. I found it interesting how the color of the lake turned to emerald but only from this viewpoint. It must have had something to do with the height and angle of the sun.
    Emerald Water
  • Badlands are a type of terrain that experiences rapid erosion, estimated to be an inch per year at Badlands National Park. Much of that erosion happens during thunderstorms like this one. When the downpour first started I was disappointed because I didn’t get any shots of the storm structure beforehand. But then there was a break in the rain. It lasted just long enough for me to rush back to this overlook and capture the dark menacing clouds above surrounded by two blueish-green rain cores. Hidden in the ravine below were big horn sheep climbing the steep muddy terrain. The second wall of water hit even heavier than the first and dropped visibility to almost zero. A local told me they had never seen a spring with more rain. And they were right, 2019 was to become the wettest year on record in western South Dakota.
    Wall of Water
  • In front of me was a rainbow, lightning to the left, a colorful sunset behind me, and to my right were baby bighorn sheep prancing around. When the downpour ended and the sun came out, it was an overwhelming few minutes and I didn’t know where to point my camera. I was just lucky to be at this overlook in Badlands National Park. When the storm was closing in I made a bad decision to turn down a very muddy road. But somehow my car made it back out after spinning the wheels for 5 minutes. My last 2 visits to this South Dakota national park were both very short and involved waiting out heavy thunderstorms, which isn't all that enjoyable in a tent. One of these days I'll return when the weather is actually nice. But bad weather makes for the best pictures.
    Badlands Bow
  • There have only been a few times that airglow has been bright enough for me to see with my eyes. This was one of those times. The camera captured a lot more color than I could see, but the bands of light were very obvious. The airglow seemed to be most intense looking to the west.
    Crazy Airglow
  • It wasn't just a good night for watching lightning, there were plenty of Delta Aquarid meteors as well. This one was particularly colorful.
    Lightning and Delta Aquarid
  • South of Billings, Montana, rising up out of the Bighorn Basin, is the Pryor Mountains. These mountains are home to a herd of mustangs. Some of these wild horses hang out in the lower elevations near Bighorn Canyon, but the majority are found near the mountaintop at 8,000 feet where the grass is greener. Getting here requires traveling a long, rough, and steep dirt road. On my prior Pryor visit, I didn't get all the shots I wanted and was only able to capture the horses in the middle of the day. But this time I made sure to be in the right place at sunset. The views were amazing into the valley below, and the light was magical. The horses numbered at least 60, but I lost count as they moved around. In the last minutes before the sun set, many of them trotted past me. Shooting into the sun created a dreamy look, but I had to be careful not to blind myself.
    Walking Into the Light
  • The Lost Twin Lakes are found at 10,300 feet  in the Cloud Peak Wilderness. A 6 mile hike from the West Tensleep Lake trailhead, it's the perfect spot for an overnight backpacking trip. The two lakes are in a glacial cirque surrounded by massive granite cliffs up to 2,000 feet high. The light from the crescent moon was sparkling in the lake before it set. The planet Jupiter can also be seen just below the moon.
    Sparkling Lakeshore
  • Crazy Woman Canyon is is located south of Buffalo in the Bighorn Mountains. A steep, narrow, and bumpy road ascends the canyon all the way up to Highway 16. It's a fun drive, with lots of scenic cliffs and rock formations, and plenty of dispersed campsites available.
    Narrow Passage
  • As I was driving down Red Grade Road, I noticed this smoke plume in the distance. The fire seemed very active, forming pyrocumulus clouds above. But I never found out any info on the fire. It was somewhere in Montana on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation.
    Pyrocumulus
  • This might be my favorite campsite I've ever found while backpacking. The melodic sounds of elk would occasionally disturb the silence as dozens of them grazed in the meadow below. I awoke at 1AM just before the moon set so I could shoot the milky way.
    5,000 Star Hotel
  • 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
  • This severe thunderstorm rolled out of the Black Hills and approached Bear Butte Lake near Sturgis.
    Sturgis Storm
  • While on the summit of the 9,500 feet high Black Mountain, I watched this thunderstorm recede into the distance.
    Black Mountain View
  • The milky way shines brightly above Black Tooth Mountain while airglow gives a green tint to the sky.
    Blacktooth Milky Way
  • 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
  • After pitching my tent and eating dinner, I watched this thunderstorm roll into the Bighorn Mountains. There's always something special about a sunset at 10,000 feet.
    Paint Rock Valley Sunset
  • A severe thunderstorm roars across a corn field near Vale, South Dakota. Corn fields are not common in this area, it almost felt like I was back chasing in Illinois. Minutes earlier, 79 mph winds were recorded with this gust front in nearby Belle Fourche. The ragged, detached clouds underneath the storm (known as scud) were rapidly rising into the storm's updraft. I tried to get as close as I could to the core of the storm without getting pummeled by the 2" hail, which my car would not have liked.
    Under the Rising Scud
  • It was a very hot summer day in Illinois with oppressive humidity and extremely unstable air. At 5PM this storm exploded into existence near Utica and in less than an hour it was dropping 4" hail. After leaving the storm to cross the Illinois River and avoid getting caught in the hail, I met back up with it here. The supercell was showing some of the best structure I've seen with an obvious spiral shape. The clear slot caused by the rear flank downdraft made it easy to pinpoint where a potential tornado would form. A likely funnel cloud can be seen just above the distant group of trees. But even though conditions in the upper atmosphere were more than enough to support a tornado, the winds at the surface were too weak. I followed the supercell for most of it's life cycle but nothing ever touched down.
    Red Barn Supercell
  • As this supercell continued south of Sundance, it took on a very blue coloring. At the time it was dropping baseball-sized hail, which accumulated on the highway.
    Blue Ice Machine
  • Large hail began to fall from this supercell north of Gillette, with rays of sunlight in the background.
    Suspended Hail Stones
  • I got to Hulett just in time to watch two supercells pass to the north and to the south. Both of them had tornado warnings, and both produced very large hail. From the top of this bluff I had an excellent view of Devils Tower and the Missouri Buttes. It was almost a once in a lifetime chance to capture a tornado over the tower, but it didn't happen. It was still an awesome sight though.
    Making the Tower Look Small
  • After the two severe thunderstorms moved away from Hulett, one more little supercell popped up. It was very scenic with the sun out and it left behind this rainbow.
    Curving Road and Rainbow
  • This shelf cloud first blew over me outside of Jordan, Montana. It was very dusty and windy.
    Jordan Derecho
  • Outside of St Onge, this supercell started showing some ominous structure. It would soon be dropping very large hail and a tornado.
    Fleeing the Storm
  • This storm was at my heels, but I had to make a quick stop for this view near Whitewood before getting on I-90. A tornado warning was issued a few minutes later.
    Acorn Ridge Road
  • The core of the milky way galaxy was shining brilliantly as it set behind the Bighorn Mountains. This is a 2-image composite, with a 10 minute tracked exposure of the sky, and then another for the foreground.
    Core Over the Bighorns
  • This thunderstorm popped up west of Devils Tower around 10PM. Once I got to this overlook, I could only get a few shots of Comet NEOWISE before it was blocked out by the clouds.
    It's Coming This Way
  • For over 4 hours thunderstorms moved past Devils Tower, which was not even in the forecast. The lightning was difficult to expose for, because some flashes were super bright while others were dim. But this was my favorite shot of lightning jumping out from behind the clouds.
    Lightning Jumping Out
  • While backpacking at Upper Crater Lake in the Cloud Peak Wilderness, I set my alarm so I could wake up and capture the milky way. But since the cliffs in the cirque were so high, I couldn't see much of the milky way.
    Alpine Midnight
  • The Snowy Range, located in southern Wyoming, packs a lot of alpine scenery into a small area. The 2nd highest road in Wyoming makes this place easily accessible and you don't have to hike far to see some of the best views. Towering granite peaks, sparkling lakes, leftover snowdrifts, and hillsides carpeted with wildflowers all add to the beauty. I was perhaps slightly late in capturing the peak of the wildflower bloom, but I found this colorful patch of fireweed above Lookout Lake. I returned early the next morning to capture this scene under better lighting conditions. But the sunrise was a bit of a dud and this ended up being the better shot.
    Wildflowers of the Snowies
  • It was a beautiful night last night. A very active lightning storm receded into the distance underneath an otherwise clear and dark sky filled with stars. Mars was shining a brilliant red above the storm, and I was just barely able to fit the milky way in the frame.
    Flashing Galaxy
  • The sunset over South Gap Lake wasn't very colorful. But converting the picture to black and white gave it a more dramatic look.
    Ripple Effect
  • The views from the top of Medicine Bow Peak were stunning. This was a fairly easy hike considering the mountain is over 12,000 feet high. The 7 mile loop trail traverses the top of the ridge and descends next to the lakes.
    12,014 Feet
  • After waiting out a heavy thunderstorm at the Pinnacles Overlook, the sun began to come out. Beautiful golden light illuminated everything, a double rainbow appeared with lightning, and bighorn sheep wandered around. It was an overwhelming few minutes as I didn't know where to point my camera.
    Weathered
  • I woke up early to catch the sunrise at this overlook near Freeze Out Point. There weren't any colorful clouds, but the cliffs glowed gold.
    Cliffs Aglow
  • This storm rolled in on the Montana border at 8PM and was producing a lot of lightning.
    Lightning Near Aberdeen
  • Last summer I spent some 4 hours watching this thunderstorm. From the time it formed before sunset until it receded into the starry night, it was producing a ton of lightning. Even though the storm wasn't severe it provided plenty of time lapse opportunities as I shot over 1,000 pictures. The best part is I never had to go more than 30 minutes from home. This picture is a blend of 2 images since the lightning bolt struck a few minutes after the best storm structure. The old barn/shed is one of the few structures remaining at the nearby ghost town of Monarch. In the early 1900's this area was home to thousands of people, exceeding the population of Sheridan. But after the numerous coal mines closed it was mostly abandoned.
    Monarch Storm
  • 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
Next