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)
24 images found
twitterlinkedinfacebook

Loading ()...

  • Fog moves around a field as the milky way galaxy rises higher in the sky. This was taken near the Iowa and Missouri border in some of the darkest skies in the entire midwest. The only evidence of light pollution was in the yellow clouds lit up by a small town 15 miles away. The green dots on the bottom right are from a firefly fleeing the scene.
    Humid Summer Night
  • The two brightest objects in the night sky appear side by side in front of the milky way in a rare alignment. Venus is the blue object, and the yellow object is the moon. Even though the moon was only an 8% crescent, it was brighter than Venus. The band of yellow along the horizon is from the last colors of twilight before it was completely dark. This incredible sky is framed over the Colorado River in Utah. The 2000 foot deep canyon is part of Canyonlands National Park. But this view was actually shot from the edge of a cliff at Dead Horse Point State Park.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: 11/5/2013
    Canyon Alignment
  • It was a cold and moist night at Devil's Tower with a few too many clouds. But the milky way was visible for a short time.
    Galactic Tower
  • A misty fog covers a field as the milky way shines above. The patches of green in the sky are known as airglow, which is a very weak emission of light by a planetary atmosphere. I couldn't see the green light with my eyes but I could tell from the pictures it was quite active on this night. This self portrait was taken while camping at Sand Ridge State Forest, IL.
    Mist-ified
  • The milky way sets behind the peaks of the Biterroot Mountains, Montana. This view was seen from Lost Horse Overlook and the pointy peak on the right is Brandy Mountain. The clouds here were repeatedly forming in the same area on the left, hiding some of the milky way.
    Bitterroot Milky Way
  • 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
  • Fireflies buzz around under the milky way. This picture was taken in Weinberg King State Park in Illinois. This location has the darkest skies in the state.
    Lights of a Summer Night
  • The milky way is reflected over Kreis Pond in Montana as a campfire burns on the left. In October, the brightest part of the galaxy is only visible in the early evening before it sets for the night.
    Kreis Pond Milky Way
  • The milky way was shining brilliantly on the morning of summer solstice, the shortest night of the year. Thin clouds were making haloes around the brighter stars and the planet Saturn. A long exposure revealed colors invisible to the human eye, including green airglow and purple nebulae. There wasn't a meteor shower going on, but I captured this bright random meteor in one of the time lapse frames. On any given night there are an average of 6 sporadic meteors per hour visible under a dark sky. The skies here were very dark, with amazing views of the Bighorn Mountains in every direction. This was taken from a fire lookout tower on the 9,500' summit of Black Mountain.
    Solstice Meteor
  • Clouds blocked much of the milky way over Devil's Tower on this chilly April night. This view is from Joyner Ridge Road.
    Joyner 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
  • The milky way shines above the Bighorn Mountains as seen from Red Grade Road. The light pollution helped to light up the wildflowers in the foreground. Jupiter is the bright object on the upper right.
    Midnight Bouquet
  • I found this area while wondering the backroads north of Sheridan at night. The aurora I had tried to capture was a bust, but when I left the milky way was perfectly placed above these bluffs. Mars and Saturn were close together after their conjunction last week. I lit up the formation with my headlamp from the side to add depth.
    Planetary Bluff
  • The milky way glowed above Lake DeSmet, Wyoming, on a summer night. The red planet Mars is visible on the far right. I stood on a small rock in the lake for this self portrait.
    Counting the Stars
  • The milky way looked stunning at Lily Lake, Idaho. The stars were extra clear because there was no light pollution at all, the weather was perfect, the moon was out of the way, and this was at a higher elevation. The purple spot at the top is known as the North America nebula. The 3 brightest stars in this picture form the summer triangle.
    Lily Lake Milky Way
  • Even though I love thunderstorms, I was hoping for a clear sky to photograph the milky way since I was only in the Badlands one night. At 10 pm it didn't seem like it was going to happen so I returned to my campsite in Wall. But just before going to sleep at midnight I looked up and could see stars. So I drove the 20 minutes back to the overlook and saw this. Badlands National Park is one of the best places you can go for dark skies with very little light pollution. Although it wasn't very well defined, green airglow is visible in this shot. Even a very small town can have lights that reflect on the clouds and that is what the orange spots are.
    The Clearing
  • It was 4AM in the grasslands of southeast Montana. I was spending the night under the stars while my camera clicked away, but the cold breeze made sleep hard to come by. I thought I detected a bright flash of light, but wasn't sure if my eyes were playing tricks on me. It wasn't until I got home that I found the source: a fireball meteor. According to American Meteor Society reports, the meteorite (if it survived) likely fell near the CO/WY border some 300 miles away. It theoretically should have been visible from at least 10 states, I can only imagine how bright it must have been overhead. The green color reveals the composition to be mostly nickel, and it left behind a vapor trail (known as a persistent train) for over 10 minutes afterwards. My only goal was to capture the milky way for the first time this year after it hid behind the sun for the winter. The fireball was just an unexpected bonus.
    One In a Million
  • A sporadic meteor shoots through the sky while the milky way glows above Healy Reservoir.
    Healy Milky Way
  • As son as it got dark, the core of the Milky Way galaxy was centered directly behind Devils Tower.
    Galactic Monolith
  • 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
  • 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 milky way galaxy rises above Black Mountain while a Lyrid meteor pierces the sky.
    Milky Way and Lyrid
  • Thousands of stars forming the milky way galaxy are seen above a deep canyon in Utah. The Colorado River flows 2000 feet below the rim of Dead Horse Point into Canyonlands National Park. The bright light on the horizon is the planet Venus. There is no other object in the night sky brighter than Venus except for the moon. The clear weather, dry air, and dark skies make this area one of the best in the country for stargazing.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: 11/5/2013
    Dark Chasm
  • In June of 2013 I drove into southeast Iowa looking for the darkest sky I could find. The stars were breathtaking around Lake Sugema, Iowa. I could see more detail in the milky way than I had ever seen before. To the left is green airglow, which is a weak emission of light by the earth's atmosphere. On this night I also saw about 15 meteors.
    Lake Sugema Milky Way