Man On Fire…

Posted by Dan Mitchell on September 10, 2011

Maybe it’s just me watching too much anime as a kid (and into adulthood), but when I got home and pulled this image out of the camera, it looked to me like a figure getting struck by lightning.

Am I the only one? Well, if there are any sightings of Voltron, Optimus Prime, or VF-1 Valkyries around Phoenix in the next couple of days, I’ll know I was right!

Taken September 9, 2011, looking Southwest over South Mountain Park, Phoenix, AZ. 10:30 PM.

Details:

Nikon D200 dSLR
AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED Lens
18mm (27mm equivalent)
ISO 100
f/3.5
10-second exposure

Enjoy!

Dan, aka @PHXPhoto

Fire in the Sky…

Posted by Dan Mitchell on September 10, 2011

…or “The one where I again put myself in danger to get another amazing photo*”.

Quite a few cells rolled into Phoenix last night from the Southwest, and the lightning was hit or miss. There were periods where it was relatively quiet, then there were short bursts of lots of activity. The photo below shows cloud-to-cloud lightning propagating across the sky.

(*since my family and friends read this, I have to add the disclaimer that I wasn’t really in danger- the lightning was actually quite far away)

Taken September 9, 2011, looking Southwest over South Mountain Park, Phoenix, AZ. 10:28 PM.

Details:

Nikon D200 dSLR
AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED Lens
18mm (27mm equivalent)
ISO 100
f/3.5
10-second exposure

Enjoy!

Dan, aka @PHXPhoto

Photo Ops In Phoenix This Weekend: The ‘Super Moon’

Posted by Dan Mitchell on March 14, 2011

This one is for all of the astronomers out there.

By now, you may have heard about the ‘Super Moon‘; if you haven’t, this Saturday, March 19, 2011, the moon will not only be at ‘Perigee’ (the closest point to the Earth in its elliptical orbit); at 221,567 miles, it will be closer than it’s been in 19 years.

The moon’s average distance from Earth is 238,857 miles, so Saturday it will be 17,290 miles closer to the Earth than average. Consequently, the full moon will appear about 14 percent larger than a ‘normal’ full moon.

If you miss it this time around, you’ll have another chance in November 2016. If you miss that one, though, the next one won’t be until January 2036; after that, you’ll be waiting until December 2052.

The forecast for Saturday is perfect for viewing the full moon, and the moonrise should occur around 7:02 p.m. local time.

I’ll be outside with my camera Saturday. How about you?

If you take any photos, please share them below.

-Dan, a.k.a. PHX Photo

Lightning over the Valley of the Sun

Posted by Dan Mitchell on September 3, 2009

There are less than two weeks left in Arizona’s official monsoon season, and up until now, it’s been a relatively quiet one. This week, however, we’ve had a couple of storms, with a couple more predicted throughout the weekend. I got a chance tonight to try and catch a couple of lightning strikes.

I didn’t have a great angle, which means a couple of things: 1) I need t make friends with someone with a south-facing balcony, and 2) I need to buy a house with a flat roof, or somehow be allowed roof access to a few buildings in the valley so I can have unrestricted views in every direction.

Oh, and I need to buy one of those little umbrellas for my camera.