The Milky Way over Trona Pinnacles, with a bonus meteor.

Hi folks, haven't been around much for a week or two.

Recently I had a chance to do one of my favorite things, which is shooting the night sky in the California Desert. The experience was made even better by being able to share it with three other astrophotographers. Milky Way season has arrived, which meant a quick camping trip out to the Trona Pinnacles, a location made famous in many movies, TV shows and car commercials. It helps to have a 4WD truck set up for camping for expeditions like this.

I knew there was a meteor shower going on that evening. I didn't see any with my naked eye, but was excited to spot this one while going through my files. This is a single frame taken from a thirty second timelapse shot from about 12:30 A.M. to 4:00 A.M.

Here is a link to the full timelapse video for those who have Instagram. Be sure to play it with the audio.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXd2sUZDmc9/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

I'm open to suggestions for the next photo contest.

My favorite topic is wildlife and animals, but I've already done that one at least once. I'm open to suggestions for the theme of the next photography contest.

Thanks,

Grumpy

Baby owls and their mom

Here are a few pics of a local great horned owl family. The color shift between the pics is probably due to the changing light, or me not paying attention in post. I was pretty tired when I processed these.





Mom keeps a watchful eye out.

Still no word from California Peggy?

Has anyone heard anything? I have her phone number but I don't want to disturb her with a call.

Still no word from Peggy?

The Blue Angels and Thunderbirds.

It always amazes me how the right wing thinks they're the only ones who are patriotic. On that note, please enjoy these photos of your Blue Angels and Thunderbirds. I shot these at the Naval Airfield near El Centro, California where the teams are preparing for this year's air shows.

The Queen Mary 2 leaving L.A. Harbor

Here is an interesting factoid. The QM2 was actually backing out of the harbor. There wasn't enough room in the channel for it to turn around. It did a 360 once it got into the outer harbor.

Bobcat!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while.

Here are some pics of a bobcat I encountered in Northern California. I have some nice landscapes and bird shots coming soon too.

Time for a new computer

My seven year old laptop just can't keep up with Photoshop or Premiere anymore. I'm looking to invest in a real graphics powerhouse PC. I'm even thinking of going back to using a desktop PC for future expandability, and because I enjoy tinkering with computers. No Macs, this is a PC household. LOL!

Does anyone have a computer they're really in love with these days? Right now I'm leaning towards a Dell or Alienware with a superstrong graphics card and an I7 CPU.

Thanks!

Grumpy

Please check out my photos of last week's Geminid Meteor Shower in the California Desert.

Here is a link to my post in the Photography forum.

https://democraticunderground.com/1036156900