Perseids: I decided to drive up to Silver Lake on Hwy 88, on Wednesday (not the peak night, but predicted to have about 80% of the peak night) to photograph the Perseids. I stayed at...

jblazar Loc: Sunnyvale, CA

I decided to drive up to Silver Lake on Hwy 88, on Wednesday (not the peak night, but predicted to have about 80% of the peak night) to photograph the Perseids. I stayed at Kit Carson Lodge overnight (or what was left of of the night by the time I got back). I chose Frog Lake at Carson Pass, at about 8500' for my location. Quite dark, with a little light pollution from the NE and SW, but not enough to interfere with visibility. I scouted in the afternoon, then came back about 8 pm. I underestimated the exertion required for a 2 mile hike at 8600-8900 ft., so was pretty tired (well, to be honest, I wasn't sure I was going to make it) going up there in the evening, especially since I was carrying about 40-50 lbs of equipment-2 cameras, 2 tripods, etc. There were 15-20 cars in the parking lot, so I was expecting to have to fight for a space to set up my cameras. But when I got there, the only people were a family camping above the lake. I had the lake all to myself. I set up my cameras, one at each end of the lake, and waited for it to get dark. At around 9:15, I happened to look up and saw the most amazing meteor I have ever seen, in person or in a photograph. It was bright green and red and stretched about 25% of the span from horizon to horizon. Absolutely wonderful! Then a couple of minutes later, I saw another like it, only about 1/4th the length. I should have had my cameras going, but even if I had, I think I only would have caught a small part of it, given where I was pointed. So I began taking pictures using my intervalometers and captured about 1450 images. I haven't gone through them in detail, but found one obvious nice one that I'm posting here.
So all in all, even after missing an amazing meteor, being cold and exhausted (the hike down at 2 am was pretty tiring as well), I am quite happy I made the trip. Seeing that amazing meteor, getting one good shot, and just sitting in my chair (yes, I brought a chair) looking up at the very bright Milky Way and meteors was an experience not to be missed. Next year I'll not make the initial scouting trip, but just leave a little earlier for the evening set up, and take warmer clothes.

I hope you like the image I got. I'm certainly happy with it.

(Download)

NMGal Loc: NE NM

Glad you persevered.

UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

Well done!

jblazar Loc: Sunnyvale, CA

Thanks. One thing I forgot to mention about the amazing green and red meteor. It was fully visible for what I would estimate to be 1 full second!

J-SPEIGHT Loc: Akron, Ohio

jblazar wrote:

I decided to drive up to Silver Lake on Hwy 88, on Wednesday (not the peak night, but predicted to have about 80% of the peak night) to photograph the Perseids. I stayed at Kit Carson Lodge overnight (or what was left of of the night by the time I got back). I chose Frog Lake at Carson Pass, at about 8500' for my location. Quite dark, with a little light pollution from the NE and SW, but not enough to interfere with visibility. I scouted in the afternoon, then came back about 8 pm. I underestimated the exertion required for a 2 mile hike at 8600-8900 ft., so was pretty tired (well, to be honest, I wasn't sure I was going to make it) going up there in the evening, especially since I was carrying about 40-50 lbs of equipment-2 cameras, 2 tripods, etc. There were 15-20 cars in the parking lot, so I was expecting to have to fight for a space to set up my cameras. But when I got there, the only people were a family camping above the lake. I had the lake all to myself. I set up my cameras, one at each end of the lake, and waited for it to get dark. At around 9:15, I happened to look up and saw the most amazing meteor I have ever seen, in person or in a photograph. It was bright green and red and stretched about 25% of the span from horizon to horizon. Absolutely wonderful! Then a couple of minutes later, I saw another like it, only about 1/4th the length. I should have had my cameras going, but even if I had, I think I only would have caught a small part of it, given where I was pointed. So I began taking pictures using my intervalometers and captured about 1450 images. I haven't gone through them in detail, but found one obvious nice one that I'm posting here.
So all in all, even after missing an amazing meteor, being cold and exhausted (the hike down at 2 am was pretty tiring as well), I am quite happy I made the trip. Seeing that amazing meteor, getting one good shot, and just sitting in my chair (yes, I brought a chair) looking up at the very bright Milky Way and meteors was an experience not to be missed. Next year I'll not make the initial scouting trip, but just leave a little earlier for the evening set up, and take warmer clothes.

I hope you like the image I got. I'm certainly happy with it.

I decided to drive up to Silver Lake on Hwy 88, on... (show quote)

Nice shot

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

That’s a nice one--beautiful!

Manglesphoto Loc: 70 miles south of St.Louis

jblazar wrote:

I decided to drive up to Silver Lake on Hwy 88, on Wednesday (not the peak night, but predicted to have about 80% of the peak night) to photograph the Perseids. I stayed at Kit Carson Lodge overnight (or what was left of of the night by the time I got back). I chose Frog Lake at Carson Pass, at about 8500' for my location. Quite dark, with a little light pollution from the NE and SW, but not enough to interfere with visibility. I scouted in the afternoon, then came back about 8 pm. I underestimated the exertion required for a 2 mile hike at 8600-8900 ft., so was pretty tired (well, to be honest, I wasn't sure I was going to make it) going up there in the evening, especially since I was carrying about 40-50 lbs of equipment-2 cameras, 2 tripods, etc. There were 15-20 cars in the parking lot, so I was expecting to have to fight for a space to set up my cameras. But when I got there, the only people were a family camping above the lake. I had the lake all to myself. I set up my cameras, one at each end of the lake, and waited for it to get dark. At around 9:15, I happened to look up and saw the most amazing meteor I have ever seen, in person or in a photograph. It was bright green and red and stretched about 25% of the span from horizon to horizon. Absolutely wonderful! Then a couple of minutes later, I saw another like it, only about 1/4th the length. I should have had my cameras going, but even if I had, I think I only would have caught a small part of it, given where I was pointed. So I began taking pictures using my intervalometers and captured about 1450 images. I haven't gone through them in detail, but found one obvious nice one that I'm posting here.
So all in all, even after missing an amazing meteor, being cold and exhausted (the hike down at 2 am was pretty tiring as well), I am quite happy I made the trip. Seeing that amazing meteor, getting one good shot, and just sitting in my chair (yes, I brought a chair) looking up at the very bright Milky Way and meteors was an experience not to be missed. Next year I'll not make the initial scouting trip, but just leave a little earlier for the evening set up, and take warmer clothes.

I hope you like the image I got. I'm certainly happy with it.

I decided to drive up to Silver Lake on Hwy 88, on... (show quote)

A great image!!!!