First off, sorry. I already missed the first of the weekly blogs. It’s going to happen, but hopefully I won’t miss them too often in the future…
Comet NEOWISE, Laguna Beach, CA / 15 July 2020
I thought I’d start with an image that I don’t believe I have posted on here. In July 2020, those of us space nerds were gifted with a newly discovered comet. Like many others, I spent a couple weeks chasing it, trying to get some great images. I tried three different locations: Signal Hill, CA, Laguna Beach, CA and Joshua Tree National Park. I definitely got the best images in Joshua Tree, but the ones in Laguna Beach were the most fun and surprising.
After going to Signal Hill with some friends the night before with very poor results (very faint due to light pollution), I decided to go to Laguna Beach to make an attempt. After some research, I figured that for a short amount of time after sunset, I should be able to capture it next to the famous pirate tower. I got there before sunset and it was pretty crazy as usual…sunset photographers, wedding photographers, engagement photographers, Quinceanera photographers, etc. It was a madhouse, but that’s nothing new for that spot. I was able to sneak in a few images at sunset, but otherwise it was a lost cause. I had to wait a bit anyway until the comet was supposed to be visible.
In order to estimate where the comet would be, there are a couple apps I utilize, PhotoPills and more so, Stellarium. These are a couple of the apps I use for planning for many of my astrophotography and I’ll probably talk about these in future. I knew it was going to be visible just to the left of the tower, but would be setting below the horizon after and hour or two. I set up my camera in the direction I estimated it should be. I couldn’t see anything, but I knew it should be in the general vicinity. Finally, I saw a little smudge. I zoomed in and realized I found it. I adjusted my composition and settings and was able to get a number of nice images including this one. In fact this was one of the last ones I was able to get that night. The comet never was visible to the naked eye, but it proved to me that there could be potential for future images including the possibility of Milky Way images in that location (I’ve actually seen some from there).
I was finally able to see it the following week in Joshua Tree and I got some great images from there. It was a pretty fun couple of weeks in an otherwise dreary Covid filled summer.
I hope you enjoyed this view “Inside the Image”. Be sure to check back often for more blogs. Also, feel free to comment and maybe drop a “like”…it would mean a lot!!